Small Claims Court, Serving Defendants

[RudeBoie]

I had a small claims date today, and though the summons/letter was served, it wasn't her signature (she didn't show up) so the trial has been continued (delayed).

I'm not sure if she even lives at the address she gave me before, so I guess I need to find a process server to go find her. How much should one cost, and is there any way to know whether one place is better than another?

I called one place and they quoted a price of $90.

I'm in NorCal, she, as far as I know, is in Los Angeles. So she's really far away for me to go try to track her myself. Plus I have to work every hour possible to pay off the huge debt that she's left me with.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[DaWhim]

what is the amount? I remember if the defendant doesn't show up, the judge will rule it in your favor. then they will give you a paper that you can get money from her bank.(make sure you know what bank she use). if you can't collect the money, report it to DMV, they will suspend her license.

correct me if i am wrong.

 

[Zhou]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
what is the amount? I remember if the defendant doesn't show up, the judge will rule it in your favor. then they will give you a paper that you can get money from her bank.(make sure you know what bank she use). if you can't collect the money, report it to DMV, they will suspend her license.

correct me if i am wrong.

I always thougth that if the defendant doesn't show, most judges will rule in your favor.

 

[DaWhim]

the problem is OP doesn't seem to have the correct address. you can sue someone without their address.

 

[Zhou]

How about an older address?

What if the person moved?

So if someone wants to sue me, I can just move and not tell them?
That doesn't make much sense.

 

[RudeBoie]

You need to have it properly served. You can have a company do it or have a letter sent by certified mail. I chose certified mail (about $10 fee paid to the court). Someone did sign for it at her address, but it wasn't her signature, so in court it was deemed as improperly served (basically it means that it's not verified that she knew about the court summons) and so I have to go try again. She said 3-4 months ago that she lived alone, and so if someone else signed for it, that means she doesn't live there. And she's not stupid enough to go tell me where she lives if she's moved because I've already told her I will go to court over this because she has basically been non-responsive and sometimes agressive over getting this deb paid back.

You CANNOT have a proper trial unless you have proof that the defendant has been properly served. So I guess I have to get a company to get find her. And that's what my question is about.

The amount is $3500.

 

[DaWhim]

Originally posted by: Zhou
How about an older address?

What if the person moved?

So if someone wants to sue me, I can just move and not tell them?
That doesn't make much sense.

you give person's name and address to the small claim court clerk along with a $10 fee for filing. after that, the clerk will send a certified mail to that person to that address. as far as I know, the old address doesn't work. you need to chase down the person that you want to sue.

I had the landlord-tenant problem before, the lawyer told us to not let the landlord knows what is our new address, so she can't sue. so I do believe you need the right address.

 

[RudeBoie]

Yeah, you have to find them.

 

[RudeBoie]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
what is the amount? I remember if the defendant doesn't show up, the judge will rule it in your favor. then they will give you a paper that you can get money from her bank.(make sure you know what bank she use). if you can't collect the money, report it to DMV, they will suspend her license.

correct me if i am wrong.

BTW,
Judge will not automatically rule in your favor. You still have to prove the case. And collecting is difficult unless yes, you do have a lot of personal information about her (workplace, banking). If you don't which most people don't, you better go have someone find it for you.

Which involves money.

 

[DaWhim]

good luck chasing down the b!tch! $3500 is alot!

 

[digitalsm]

Originally posted by: RudeBoie

Originally posted by: DaWhim
what is the amount? I remember if the defendant doesn't show up, the judge will rule it in your favor. then they will give you a paper that you can get money from her bank.(make sure you know what bank she use). if you can't collect the money, report it to DMV, they will suspend her license.

correct me if i am wrong.

BTW,
Judge will not automatically rule in your favor. You still have to prove the case. And collecting is difficult unless yes, you do have a lot of personal information about her (workplace, banking). If you don't which most people don't, you better go have someone find it for you.

Which involves money.

If someone is served, and they dont show up the plantiff gets a default judgement. Also all you need is their social security number to make their lives hell. And thats fairly easy to get with ~$50 and the internet. Report the judgement to the credit reporting companies. Bankruptcy doesnt get oneself out of paying court ordered judgements either, so the judgement would be on the credit report until paid, which would seriously fvck someone over.

 

[Raincity]

100$ is the going rate to do a process serve. Finding the person will cost you extra. If you do get a judgment in your favor, collecting on it is an entirely different matter. You sure you want to go to all this trouble over 3500$

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: RudeBoie
You need to have it properly served. You can have a company do it or have a letter sent by certified mail. I chose certified mail (about $10 fee paid to the court). Someone did sign for it at her address, but it wasn't her signature, so in court it was deemed as improperly served (basically it means that it's not verified that she knew about the court summons) and so I have to go try again. She said 3-4 months ago that she lived alone, and so if someone else signed for it, that means she doesn't live there. And she's not stupid enough to go tell me where she lives if she's moved because I've already told her I will go to court over this because she has basically been non-responsive and sometimes agressive over getting this deb paid back.

You CANNOT have a proper trial unless you have proof that the defendant has been properly served. So I guess I have to get a company to get find her. And that's what my question is about.

The amount is $3500.

Next time get it sent certified with restricted delivery. Restricted delivery will ensure only the person it is being delivered to can sign for it. Though there is always a higher chance the mail ends up being returned to sender due to the person never being around or refusal to accept.

 

[NeoPTLD]

You could pay an investigation firm and they might be able to come up with a valid current address.

Such example is:

http://www.usatrace.com

 

[flashbacck]

hmm, what sort of information DO you have?

The driver's license/ID information, I think, is publically available. You might be able to get something from the DMV

 

[NightCrawler]

What was the $3500 for ?

I've never heard of a license getting suspended over a personel debt is this all states or just some ?

 

[JEDI]

you can hire your local county sheriff to serve the papers. in NoVa, its $40 i think

 

[Ness]

you should post what info you know and let the AT Effect do its work



(kidding, that might not go over too well at a trial.)

 

[Jzero]

According to this thread in New York State at least, it is not always necessary to get the papers in the defendant's hand for them to be "properly served." This actually makes sense so that someone can't avoid being sued just by moving out and not leaving a forwarding address.

Check the procedures that pertain to the court you're dealing with.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: Jzero
According to this thread in New York State at least, it is not always necessary to get the papers in the defendant's hand for them to be "properly served." This actually makes sense so that someone can't avoid being sued just by moving out and not leaving a forwarding address.

Check the procedures that pertain to the court you're dealing with.

The OP already stated that the Judge said she wasn't properly served and bound the trial over.

You need to have it properly served. You can have a company do it or have a letter sent by certified mail. I chose certified mail (about $10 fee paid to the court). Someone did sign for it at her address, but it wasn't her signature, so in court it was deemed as improperly served (basically it means that it's not verified that she knew about the court summons) and so I have to go try again. She said 3-4 months ago that she lived alone, and so if someone else signed for it, that means she doesn't live there. And she's not stupid enough to go tell me where she lives if she's moved because I've already told her I will go to court over this because she has basically been non-responsive and sometimes agressive over getting this deb paid back.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: Jzero
Check the procedures that pertain to the court you're dealing with.

The OP already stated that the Judge said she wasn't properly served and bound the trial over.

Right. So now she must be served properly. Therefore, RudeBoie should carefully review what this particular court requires in order to consider the defendant properly served. If that requires tracking the person down, than so be it, but it pays to know exactly what criteria need to be satisfied.

 

[Turkish]

the whole serving system is so flawed. can someone avoid getting sued if they simply move all the time, or simply refuse the mail?

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Xiety
the whole serving system is so flawed. can someone avoid getting sued if they simply move all the time, or simply refuse the mail?

pin the summons on the persons door have have someone stay outside in thgeir car photograph him reading/removing the paper

 

[RudeBoie]

Actually, you don't really need to photograph them. I remember that silly scene from Serving Sara.

BTW, 3500 is a lot of money. To some, it may not be. But it is for me. I just finished school 2 weeks ago, and I both my parents have been unable to find work for the last 3-4 years despite being well educated (especially my dad). Silicon Valley..........

I'm hoping to get a full time gig where I'm at now, and basically take care of this debt as soon as possible. I don't really need to get into the various emotional problems that I've gone through in dealing with this, but it's very important for me to get a legal solution for this.

People can just avoid the mail or move. That's why serving is so important. Basically, a third person basically had to serve it and be a witness that they (person served) knew about it. So if you knock on the door and you see them and they run off, then they're truly trying to avoid it. You just need to testify that you came there, saw them, but they ran off. If you just send it by mail, however, a person can say they never signed it or never got it.

BTW, though some keep insisting this, a victory is NOT guaranteed even if the defendant does not show up. It is very very likely, but NOT guaranteed.

"
Next time get it sent certified with restricted delivery. Restricted delivery will ensure only the person it is being delivered to can sign for it."

If you have the court send it by certified mail, they do it however way they want. You just pay for it and they do it. No options for it.

The $3500 was for a loan. It wasn't just $3500. It was for money borrowed for a long time that became $3500. I trusted her and felt she could pay it back, and she could. But she hasn't. The money wasn't cash. While sometimes it was cash (we were roomates and I'd pay rent some times), it basically became a huge credit card debt.

I can't really have a sheriff deliver it because I'm in San Jose, and she's in Los Angeles.

BTW, in case people are getting the wrong idea of what I'm asking help with. I know exactly what needs to be done.

I just wanted to know how much it would normally cost to have her tracked down and then how would I know if one process server is better than another. : P