I live in Atlanta, GA. I won judgement against a tenant 2 weeks ago (in Fulton County Magistrate Court) for non-payment of rent. He left no forwarding address and I don't know where he works. How do I go about garnishing his wages to collect? Any suggestions for wage garnishment or alternative collection methods would be greatly appreciated.

George_1950

Do you mean he left no forwarding address with the post office? Can you send him a letter, "Service Correction Requested", and get a forwarding address? Here's a link on garnishment; just click on Georgia. Garnishment Laws and Procedures listed by State

Fr_Chuck

This is the hard part if you don't know where he lives, don't know where he works.

On the rental application where did he use to work, is he still there ?
If not have you called where he used to work and ask if they know where he went ??

But this is the hard part, finding him to serve him with papers or to find where he works to garnish them.
In general you hire a PI to find it.

progunr

You can no longer obtain forwarding addresses from the post office at all.

Without being in law enforcement or a licensed private detective, the public no longer gets access to this information.

Fr_Chuck put you on the correct track, going to previous employer, not just calling, and asking everyone you can have a conversation with if they knew them, or knew of anyone who knew them. You have to do your own digging or you have to hire someone to do it for you.

I would stay away from the web sites that promise to locate people for a fee, unless they offer "no locate-no fee".

Good Luck

[edited to add afterthought]

Much of the problems you run into later down the road, can be solved in the initial application process if you obtain good information. Does your rental application contain things like previous addresses, personal references, and vehicle information such as type, license plate number and insurance agent or company? This information can be critical in your situation. If you require good references, family and friends, you often can locate people with this additional information. Some of my most difficult skips, have been located after only a couple of calls to a grandparent.

rockinmommy

I agree with the prev. posters.

Also, make sure that you get an abstract of judgement (from the court that issued the judgement). At least that's what it's called where I'm located. You then take that Abstract and file it in the county. Well, in any county, really. Anywhere where you think the person might live now, or ever. (If they have family somewhere, for instance.) This does a couple of things. It will get picked up by the credit bureaus this way. (Without specifically filing the judgement it won't go on there.) Also, if the person ever does own property in those counties the judgement will get attched to that property and/or it my prevent them from getting the credit to buy property without clearing the judgement.

Good luck!