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Hi!
I am seriously hoping someone out there can help me collect on a judgment rendered in 1997 and renewed in 2007!
In July of 1996, we rented our house in Southern California (through a real estate office to a screened tenant), and the tenant was late with every rent payment after the first month. After months of trying to work with the tenant, we followed with eviction proceedings, and two months before the end of the lease, the tenant skipped out in the middle of the night with our major appliances!
He did not show up at court for the judgment hearing, and the court found in our favor!
Little did we know that he would "disappear" completely. We went through the process of trying to attach his wages, but his employer (and friend, who also has a number of unpaid judgments to his record) told the sheriff that the guy was "no longer employed" with his company.
We attempted for three years through a credit bureau to find him, but from that time to present, he has no record of using any credit cards.
After waiting and hoping he might surface (thinking we'd given up the search), we began to search for him in earnest. We have his date of birth, Social Security Number, and drivers' license number from 1997, but none of this information has helped us locate him. Public records that we've searched online and at the LA County Recorder's Office and Assessor's Office have turned up nothing except that his SSN# is still "active" (meaning, he's not dead) and that his remaining debt on record is our judgment.
Information we've been able to learn from others in a similar strait have indicated that without the aid of a collection agency or private investigator, we're probably not going to have much luck finding this man. In addition, we've been informed that even if we knew where he was, it might be impossible to collect on the judgment if he has no traceable or attachable assets. We've learned that people who skip out know how to manage without credit or banks by either dealing in cash only or have stashed their assets out of the country. According to the websites and message responders, only 20-25% of judgments are EVER collected!
My questions are these:
1. How do we find this guy?
2. What's the projected cost of finding him?
3. Once we find him, how do we get him to pay up?
4. Can and will law enforcement be applied? If so, how can we invoke the law?
5. Is it worth the time and effort to collect on a $10K+ judgment?
Any advice would be sincerely appreciated!
Thank you!
:)nancyr
I am seriously hoping someone out there can help me collect on a judgment rendered in 1997 and renewed in 2007!
In July of 1996, we rented our house in Southern California (through a real estate office to a screened tenant), and the tenant was late with every rent payment after the first month. After months of trying to work with the tenant, we followed with eviction proceedings, and two months before the end of the lease, the tenant skipped out in the middle of the night with our major appliances!
He did not show up at court for the judgment hearing, and the court found in our favor!
Little did we know that he would "disappear" completely. We went through the process of trying to attach his wages, but his employer (and friend, who also has a number of unpaid judgments to his record) told the sheriff that the guy was "no longer employed" with his company.
We attempted for three years through a credit bureau to find him, but from that time to present, he has no record of using any credit cards.
After waiting and hoping he might surface (thinking we'd given up the search), we began to search for him in earnest. We have his date of birth, Social Security Number, and drivers' license number from 1997, but none of this information has helped us locate him. Public records that we've searched online and at the LA County Recorder's Office and Assessor's Office have turned up nothing except that his SSN# is still "active" (meaning, he's not dead) and that his remaining debt on record is our judgment.
Information we've been able to learn from others in a similar strait have indicated that without the aid of a collection agency or private investigator, we're probably not going to have much luck finding this man. In addition, we've been informed that even if we knew where he was, it might be impossible to collect on the judgment if he has no traceable or attachable assets. We've learned that people who skip out know how to manage without credit or banks by either dealing in cash only or have stashed their assets out of the country. According to the websites and message responders, only 20-25% of judgments are EVER collected!
My questions are these:
1. How do we find this guy?
2. What's the projected cost of finding him?
3. Once we find him, how do we get him to pay up?
4. Can and will law enforcement be applied? If so, how can we invoke the law?
5. Is it worth the time and effort to collect on a $10K+ judgment?
Any advice would be sincerely appreciated!
Thank you!
:)nancyr
