Ask Me Help Desk - Defendant moves

I won a judgement in civil court. Defendant moved and left no forwarding address. I asked the court if I coud do a " alternative method" by summonds by publication in local paper, judge denied stated "I needed to know defandants general whereabouts". I thought that was a way to find a defendant when all else has een exausted. What else could to find this defendant without it costing me, as much as the judgement is for? Thanks in advance for assistance xkacyx

I think first you have to file for garnishiment. I think that the judge expects you to actually go through the motions before he will allow you to publish something in writing. If anything send a certified letter, in someone else's name, to the old address, let the post office forward it, that person has to sign for it and you get a paperback that says it was received at such destination. If you send it in your name they probably won't sign for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xkacyx

I won a judgement in civil court. Defendant moved and left no forwarding address. I asked the court if I coud do a " alternative method" by summonds by publication in local paper, judge denied stated "I needed to know defandants general whereabouts". I thought that was a way to find a defendant when all else has een exausted. What else could to find this defendant without it costing me, as much as the judgement is for? Thanks in advance for assistance xkacyx

If you already have a Judgment why do you need the Defendant's current address for another summons?

Need more info -

If you are attempting to collect on the Judgment you would have to find someone with experience locating people to find him/her but that doesn't involve another summons.

What state do you live in? How long ago did the defendant move? If it was only recently, you could try sending a certified letter; they'll usually send you a postcard back with the updated address on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

If you already have a Judgment why do you need the Defendant's current address for another summons?

Need more info -

If you are attempting to collect on the Judgment you would have to find someone with experience locating people to find him/her but that doesn't involve another summons.

I was told by the court that I would have to summons the debtor back into court to make payment arrangements . This was not done when I got the judgment. I followed everything by the book using certified mail, that came back the sheriff to hand deliver this ( landlord) court documents to appear in court, again returned with debtor moved left no forwarding address. This woman illegally sublet a apartment to me without telling the management. She told the judge she has 15 days to report sublets. Subletting was against policy and any tenant that was to move in have to be checked out before the management would even consider a tenant. I had just left my home with the clothes on my back due to domestic violence, I was living in a hotel, and put an ad in the paper. The woman called me. She refused my check as it was written out to the management and not to her self . This gave me a red flag. I contacted a lawyer that helped me with another issue and I did a restraining order on the armature landlord. I would have been on the street if I did not do this, I also contacted the police to do a civil standby so I could get my belongings. The officer witnessed the woman and her younger sister throwing my property off the 3rd story. The restraing order which stated that none of my property was to be touched or damaged. We went to court the following day, She blatantly lied to the judge , and I got my judgment. She was evicted for what she did. She moved in with relatives I believe and I have been trying to locate her so I can collect on this judgment. I am a single mom with special needs and have 2 children with special needs. I have never done a civil court matter and perhaps I used the wrong wording , but I don't know what to do next. Thanks for trying to help. xkacyx We reside in new Hampshire

You have won your judgement, collecting is another issue.

If you were going for a judgement another way of notice is OK to use, but to get a garnishment or to do more to collect the money you have to actually know where they are at, know what banks they use and more.

Most judgements are never collected, it is easy to win, a lot harder to collect, and often yes you will spend a lot more to collect than you ever collect

The reason the judge denied the summons was because to collect on a judgement you have to find assets of the person to collect on them. Serving a summons by publication does nothing because if the person doesn't answer you haven't gained anything.

As Chuck said, most judgements are not collected. If you are going to collect this, you need to find this person on your own.

I won a judgement and had trouble collecting. I bought a program called bill collector in a box for 50 bucks.
Check it out at Bill Collector in a Box

I was able to report the defendant to the credit bureaus,send letters from 3rd parties and you can also track them down. I was able to garnish their checking account and get every penny they owed me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentzle

I won a judgement and had trouble collecting. I bought a program called bill collector in a box for 50 bucks.
check it out at Bill Collector in a Box

I was able to report the defendant to the credit bureaus,send letters from 3rd parties and you can also track them down. I was able to garnish their checking account and get every penny they owed me.

This is software to collect on invoices and bills - it is most definitely NOT a program to collect on Judgments. I'm not saying you can't use it for that purpose or that it doesn't contain somewhat helpful "tips" but only a professional can locate assets. This program will NOT assist you in locating bank accounts, real estate records and so forth.