Collecting judgment out-of-state. Can I nail ex-tenant's butt?

[link626]

What is the name of your state?

California.


I won a lawsuit in 1992 against a deadbeat tenant in California.
With interest, she owes me over $5000. For over 11 years, she has not paid me a penny.

I ran a credit check on her today. According to her credit report, she has married and moved to Arizona. I know exactly where she is, and I have retrieved, from her county assessor, signed documents of her home ownership. She has mortgaged a $200,000 house there, and has been making her mortgage payments ON TIME in the amount of $2000/month!!! She has also been making timely payments on a Ford since 1999.

Clearly, she has money...... and I want to collect NOW. I am pretty much looking over her shoulder, but I can't reach over to grab her cash yet. But I'm oh so close that it's making me anxious.

What is the best and FASTEST way to collect? What are the proper steps to take?

property lien? can I collect from her mortgage payments? have the sheriff seize her car maybe?

Of course, I'm going to first try to renew my judgement and then file a sister-state judgment in the Arizona court system.

 

[JETX]

First things first.
Have you renewed this debt??? From the last paragraph of your post ("I'm going to first try to renew my judgement"), it would appear you have NOT.
If that is correct, a California judgment is good for 10 years and your judgment (being 1992) would no longer be enforceable.

So, find out if you even have a VALID judgment....... and if you do, return and re-ask your questions.

 

[Charleee]

How did you run a credit check on her without her signed permission?

 

[JETX]

"How did you run a credit check on her without her signed permission?"
*** Ooooops!!! Good point.

 

[HomeGuru]

This is going to be good.

 

[JETX]

Methinks that the writer has 'run away'.

 

[HomeGuru]

Maybe the check was not a real official credit check but rather an online search or other such "check".

 

[Charleee]

For writer's sake, I'd hope so. Wouldn't wanna be in his shoes if he's abused a credit check service and his former tenant sees the request on a credit report.

 

[JETX]

"Maybe the check was not a real official credit check but rather an online search or other such "check"."
*** Doesn't make any difference. Even an 'online credit report' would be illegal..... on several grounds. The first being that NO credit provider would release a credit report on someone else without a confirmation that the requester has a 'permissable purpose' (as provided by the FCRA).

 

[HomeGuru]

Methinks that the writer has 'run away'.

**A: it seems that way.

 

[stephenk]

finding mortgage information on a person is not that difficult using Westlaw or Lexis. both services just cull information from the credit agencies and make them available to their subscribers.

plus, if he has his tenant's birthdate and SS#, he can easily obtain online credit information. it doesnt show up as a credit request on the credit agencies. however, since these are secondary sources the information may not be completely accurate.

 

[HomeGuru]

finding mortgage information on a person is not that difficult using Westlaw or Lexis. both services just cull information from the credit agencies and make them available to their subscribers.

**A: stephen, stop giving away our secrets. Anyway, I doubt if our writer is a subscriber to those law websites.