The Philadelphia courts, reversing a long pattern of lax financial collections, are poised to aggressively go after more than $1.5 billion in forfeited bail, fines, and restitution owed by thousands of defendants.
Starting Monday, the courts will phase in a system to dun debtors and deploy collection lawyers to go after the worst deadbeats.
Those who have not made arrangements to pay could find themselves facing liens, attached wages, even sheriff's sales of their property.
Court administrators on Tuesday announced the imminent end of a "penalty-free period" put in place last month to encourage more than 400,000 people who owe the courts money to pay up.
That program included a temporary waiver of the steep collection costs traditionally associated with pursuing such debt. It will be replaced by a three-tier program that steadily rachets up the pressure and penalties on debtors.
"These people have been thumbing their noses at us," said David D. Wasson, chief deputy court administrator. "It's a court order, and we want compliance."
For decades, Philadelphia court officials have presided over an ineffective bail system that allowed accused criminals to skip court virtually without consequence. Defendants routinely failed to appear in court and just as routinely, failed to pay the forfeited bail that was supposed to come due as a result.
Over time, that debt grew so massive that court officials initially had difficulty tallying it. When they did so at The Inquirer's request, the total amount due came to $1 billion.
As The Inquirer reported in November, the Philadelphia courts have been similarly lenient in collecting tens of millions of dollars in restitution owed to crime victims, and they have lagged in dunning criminals for millions more in fines and court costs.
Philadelphia defendants are supposed to be paying $144 a million a year in fines, fees and restitution. Yet they are paying only $10 million a year, or about seven cents on the dollar. Most are months in arrears.
The new court effort aims to change that.
For most defendants, the payment plan will not be onerous. People who owe less than $9,000 - the average court debt is $3,750 - will be asked to pay a minimum of only $35 a month.
"Even if you're not working, you can afford to pay us something," Wasson said. "You could afford a dollar a day to your court. That's less than a bag of chips."
