How to Find a Person to Collect a Debt
You may need to collect on a debt from someone who has skipped out on you. This problem happens occasionally to landlords and doctors, for example. The common solution is to garnish the "skip's" wages to pay off your debt; however, you'll need a court hearing to get permission. For the skip to be notified of the court date, you'll need to know the skip's home address or workplace. Since such information could also help stalkers and criminals pursuing a witness, you'll need a lawyer to get it from some places.
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Instructions
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Purchase a skip trace, which lists past and possibly current addresses and employers. Such services advertise online and cost $20 to $50 as of April 2010. If the skip hasn't settled down anywhere, or is having someone else pay the utility bills, the current information might not be there. Furthermore, skip traces generally don't offer up cell phone information, as an anti-stalking measure.
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Have a lawyer contact the skip's cell phone company for a billing address. While people may avoid utilities by crashing on a friend or relative's couch, they still have to pay the cell phone bill. The lawyer may need to go to court to get a court order to direct the cell phone company to relinquish the information.
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Contact the skip's other creditors, who may be sympathetic enough to offer the current address. Offer to fax over proof of the debt--for example, the first and last page of a lease--in exchange for the skip's newest address.
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Have a lawyer contact the U.S. Postal Service for access to any change-of-address requests the skip made. Since change-of-address orders direct local post offices how to direct mail, they don't necessarily need to enter a national database. You may therefore need to go to the post office of the skip's last ZIP code of residence.
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Hire a private investigator if the debt is large enough to warrant the expense and the skip is not on any new lease, not paying any utilities and unemployed. If the person is unemployed, though, the effort may not be worth it.
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Tips & Warnings
Call the skip or relatives listed on the skip trace to ask for the current address. Landlords have a perfect reason to ask: mail arriving at the landlord's property needs forwarding.
Gaining information under false pretenses might not be legal in your jurisdiction. Consult a lawyer.
Don't use threats. That could hurt your case in court. This doesn't mean not to contact the skip at all. Do attempt contacting the skip. Save documented proof of the attempts, such as phone bills, which will help in court.
The legal fees can easily mount to greater than the debt itself. While the debtor may be required to pay your legal fees, that amount may be capped, with you stuck with the balance. Try to do as much on your own as possible. Try to limit the lawyer's duties to writing letters.
References
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