Clearwater Debt Collection Attorneys

Quick summary: Clearwater is the Pinellas County seat, so it’s where much of the county’s civil work is filed. If a Clearwater business owes you money, the case is likely heard at the courthouse on Court Street.

Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County, one of Florida’s larger manufacturing counties. Defense and aerospace suppliers, medical device makers, electronics firms, and financial and technology companies work in and around the city. Many cluster along U.S. 19 and near St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. On the beaches, hotels and restaurants run on seasonal income.

That mix means a Clearwater creditor might be owed by a machine shop, a software company, or a beach hotel, and each one pays, or doesn’t, in its own way. The case goes to Pinellas County, in Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit.

For creditors and referring attorneys

Creditors in Clearwater files are often parts and materials suppliers to manufacturers, equipment lessors, and vendors to the hospitality trade. We start by telling you straight what’s collectible and what it will take. If it isn’t worth chasing, you hear that too.

Referring attorneys can send us Pinellas County enforcement work, including judgments from other states that must first be domesticated in Florida.

Collecting a debt or judgment in Clearwater

Timing matters more in Clearwater than in most places. A beach hotel or restaurant has the most cash during the busy season and the least in the slow months. A manufacturer’s money sits in equipment and in what its customers owe it. We plan enforcement around when and where the money actually is:

• Seasonal businesses: bank garnishment timed to the months when accounts are full
• Manufacturers and suppliers: garnishment of what their own customers owe them
• Machinery and equipment: a Sheriff’s levy, after checking what a lender already has a claim to
• Commercial property along U.S. 19: a recorded judgment lien in Pinellas County

More detail is on our judgment enforcement page.

The venue: Clearwater Courthouse

The Clearwater Courthouse on Court Street handles circuit and county civil cases for Pinellas County. The county also has a courthouse in St. Petersburg, and some matters are heard there, so where a case is heard depends on its division. Appeals go to the Second District Court of Appeal.

• Courthouse: Clearwater Courthouse, 315 Court Street, Clearwater, FL 33756
• Clerk: Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court
• Circuit: Sixth Judicial Circuit guide (official site)
• Appeals: Second District Court of Appeal

Frequently asked questions

The debtor runs a beach business. Does the time of year matter?

It can. Seasonal businesses carry the most cash during peak months. Garnishing a bank account in the off-season can come back nearly empty, so we time it when that’s possible.

Can equipment that’s financed still be reached?

Sometimes. A lender with a recorded security interest usually comes first. We check the filings, then tell you whether anything would be left after the lender is paid.

Bottom line: If a Clearwater business owes you money, contact us or call (813) 229-0900, and we’ll tell you whether the file is worth pursuing.

Nearby: St. Petersburg, Tampa.

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