Collecting Oustanding Judgement

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

MN. I have a outstanding judgement that in bad faith (meaning I have a written statement that she intended to pay) for over 4yrs. The judgement was awarded in March of 2003. I have made several attempts to collect, but she is an attorney and knows the system well. She had no listed address, and no listed phone number. I did a background check online and it listed many adresses (over a dozen) for her none of which she currently resides or does business at. I have attempted to levy her bank acct via writ of execution (which has now expired) but her account did not have a sufficient balance (meaning negative) and the bank has since closed her account. I drove by one of her other properties and wrote down the phone number on the for rent sign. Her vehicle was parked outside, and it looked as they were preparing the place for new tenants. I made a call to the phone number while parked a block away. A guy answered and when I asked for my prior LL stating that I might be interested in renting the place, he handed the phone over. I told her my name and said that we still have an unsettled judgement and asked how she would like to handle it. She said that the number was her boyfriend's cell phone and that I was not to call that number again looking for her. I asked how she would prefer I contact her, she said by mail, but refused to give me an adress, insisting on me giving her mine. She also said that she had no recollection of our case (although I am SURE she does) because she is in and out of court so often. Upon looking her up in the public records section of MN courts, I found that she certainly has been to court often, 30+ cases, some of which she has other outstanding judgements, contractors she owes money to, other tenants suing for not returning sec deposit etc.. I have not heard from her as she promised during that phone call over a year ago, and I have tried to call the same phone number back, disconnected. I did a property info search (public tax record) on the property she was renting a year ago, and once again, although she is the Landlord, her name was not listed as the tax payer. I recently tried the property info search again and found that the property had been sold recently to a couple that I am certain is her and her now husband (he has a very unique name and her name a unique spelling that is the same with a new last name) and they are listed as taxpayer's and owners. It gives an address, a block away listed as the registered owner of the property. When I search that property, I believe it is their residence, it lists a Estimated Market Value of $1.4 million, and an owner of XXXXXX (their initials) LLC. She has done a VERY good job staying off the radar for 4 yrs, and I feel like I may finally have her.

Can I collect on that or their property taxes somehow? They are self employed, and I am told wage garnishment would be next to impossible. Could I drive by and take the plate number off cars @ that residence and put a lien on those vehicles? Now that she is married, is he responsible also? or is she any less responsible? What other recourse do I have? Can I right a letter to a judge or attorney general or Better Business Bureau?

Thanks

[moburkes]

You can delete this thread since you replaced it with another.

[Ladynred]

You cannot garnish wages since she technically has no wages. However, what she DOES have, presumably, is RECEIVABLES - her income. You CAN go after that money and it is not limited to the 25% cap that goes with normal wages, you can go after ALL of it.

[Chien]

Skip BBB – so useless, she’ll laugh. A letter to the others, and adding the State Bar, will also be useless.
If, by “receivables”, LNR is referring to income generated by her practice, that’s true, and there may be more
Without having checked MN statutes, two additional options that exist in many other states, may be available to you:
An Assignment Order is issued by a court and requires the debtor of a debtor to pay directly to a creditor. That means her tenants pay their rent to you, if you can prove that she’s otherwise entitled to the rent. It sounds as if she’s savvy enough to have covered herself, perhaps with a shell management company (like she covered the house). If an Order is available to you, you’ll still have to dig, and we don’t know if the judgment would justify the cost.
The other option is a judgment lien. If she sues somebody in her own name (she’s the plaintiff), the lien is imposed on the suit. The underlying claim can’t be paid or settled without paying you first.
Be careful about slapping liens and seizing property right and left. My guess is she’ll have grounds to sue you before you can blink, and you'll have to successfully wade through shells and dummy companies to have any chance of a defense.
I hope the judgment is big enough to justify retaining professional assistance. You’re likely to need it for anything I’ve suggested or for “piercing the veil” of the LLC to get a right to lien the property.

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

The original judgement is for $2179, 4yrs later I can add interest (5% although I am not sure if it is compounded anually) and other fees that I have paid (roughly $100) to the courts for paperwork etc. I have also found a cpl statutes that state if she deliberately did not pay back our security deposit (which is where this all started $1850) without giving proper notice as to why, we would be entitled to an amount up to twice that of the sec deposit. The is also a clause for a 'bad faith' aggreement ($300) which I may be able to show that she has been in bad faith on more than one occasion, but I am not sure if I can be awarded more than once. Is there a way to go back and have the case heard again, allowing me to bring in all of the paperwork (showing that she had at one time agreed to pay, did not respond to a certified letter, showing multiple properties that she has used these shell management companies to hide her assets, multiple prior cases in housing courts, multiple judgement ordering her to pay contractors for services rendered on her rental properties, writ of execution that was not satisfied, multiple attempts to collect etc.) that I have now accumulated? Can I have the judgement's value increassed? Is it worth seeking an attorney? Thanks

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

Originally Posted by Ladynred

You cannot garnish wages since she technically has no wages. However, what she DOES have, presumably, is RECEIVABLES - her income. You CAN go after that money and it is not limited to the 25% cap that goes with normal wages, you can go after ALL of it.

How do I do this?