Correct procedure to collect on a small claim court judgement in upstate NY

[jordan69s]

Thank you for reading my post!

About 5 years ago a lawyer friend of mine help me with a customer who refused to pay me after the work was done. My friend was great and was able to prove without a doubt that she own the money so all it seemed great, but a while later my friend informed me that when he tried to serve her, they were informed that she no longer lived there.

Well, my friend past away and so I am on my own, the couple of times I consulted for help to collect I was discouraged on the high cost because according to them, they have to find her and that took a great deal of resources.

The thing is that I found her by accident, she moved about 10 minutes away from me, so how do I go about serving her the judgement (if that is what I supposed to do, and if yes, how some one do this?) Do I go to the sheriff department to request the serving? What happens after the serving?

Your advice is greatly appreciated,

Jordan

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Sorry for the late reply:

What county is this for? There should be procedures listed there.

(1) You're usually supposed to send a demand letter within 30 days, at least last I saw in my county. Was this a default judgment? A demand for payment on a judgment may not need to be "served" such as is required for a summons.

(2) You may want to go to the court clerk to get an information subpoena and restraining order on this person's bank accounts. You can choose to send out a couple of them to the local banks you think this debtor may use. If an account is frozen, then you go to the marshal to enforce the judgment to remove the funds.

 

[jordan69s]

Hey, I appreciate your reply!

It Duchess county and five years ago my lawyer friend did sent a note of some sort with the Sheriff, but he was told she no longer lived there. It was not a default judgment, she just lost the case completely. At any rate, I am kind of where I started, when I check the place (house) I saw her, the claimed the had no idea of whom I am talking about. (her car was not there thought), and what someone told me was that she got divorce and returned to her maiden name.

So this is all I have:

An enforceable judgement
and old address as describe in the judgement
A first name and a married name she no longer uses
A type of car she uses
I know her profession
She lives and works locally.

So I doubt I could try to do your step 2 with so little information. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy this great Sunday!

Jordan

 

[army judge]

You're beginning to see what many small claim litigants discover, judgments are useless pieces of paper.

You spend more money to reap no benefit.

 

[jordan69s]

I thought that she would not be able to get new credit until this judgment is cleared! Am I wrong?

 

[army judge]

I thought that she would not be able to get new credit until this judgment is cleared! Am I wrong?

Probably. One has no bearing on the other.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

This is the reason I started this site over 15 years ago - the discovery that the justice system in small claims will frequently just give you a moral victory but our system doesn't allow you to take it the rest of the way. Do what I told you and it is possible that you might be able to see something from your judgment and more than just a paper to show friends and colleagues that you were right.