Can I sue room mate on contract who fled?

[CJparker]

State: California
I had a deadbeat room mate who may be in California now, or may have skipped town to go back to West Virginia or Illinois. Never paid a day of rent in his life. I let him take advantage of me for about 5 months. I even paid for his round trip tickets to Asia, once we got there he spent all his money and stupid me, i started giving him money on the promise that he would get a job and pay me back as soon as we got back to usa. Anyways, I have a contract which he signed and I had it notarized stating that he owes me $1500.00 from the trip. Well I finally got hard on him and asked him to pay rent or leave, and the day he said he would get money, he disappeared. He doesnt have a job and or money...but eventually I know he will have to get a job. Is there anything I can do as far as court to start pursuing the money he owes me? I mean do they keep records on file until he pops up on some job somewhere, and then go after him??? Or is it my responsibility to find him? Should I file something now for court? And after I find him, how do I go about suing him and making sure that hes subpenoed? Is there any way I can take him to court now or do I have to wait until he gets a job to garnish his wages? I mean, can I take him to court, and if i win, they will tell him to get a job or face penalties??? What are my options here? I know eventually I can find him..but how long is too long to wait?? please help me if you have any advice.

 

[racer72]

US Law Only - WHEN POSTING A QUESTION, YOU MUST INCLUDE THE NAME OF YOUR STATE

 

[dcatz]

First advice is to slow down, so that your questions are not like a stream of consciousness and you’re not asking the same thing but in different ways.

You have two agreements: the one for the trip and the one for the rent. The one for the trip is written; you have 4 years from the date he defaulted on payment. As for being a roommate, you don’t say if he was on the lease (written contract-4 years, but you'd be suing for what you paid the landlord when he didn't) or you were just letting him bunk there and he was going to pay you (oral agreement-2 years).

Unless you can find him and serve him in about 2-3 weeks, there’s nothing that you can do at court now. If you filed now, it would cost you money, a trial date would be set about 45 days out in Small Claims, and you need to serve him 10 days before the trial date. The way things are now, you’ll just be running to court to ask for more time, and the answer will eventually be no. The case will be dismissed and you'll start again later, when you find him. You find him first and have a pretty good plan for how you’ll serve him. (If he’s out-of-state, it will be a different plan.)

You can’t garnish wages or do anything else without a judgment. While you’ll probably get a judgment, if you get him served, it might be a good idea for you to think about how you’ll enforce it, because the court is not going to make him get a job or help you in almost any other way.

Here’s a CA Small Claims self-help site. It will answer most of your questions, including those coming next:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/smallclaims/

 

[CJparker]

Thank You

Thank you so much. That answers every question I could of had. Good Luck to you in life!

 

[CJparker]

Update: He left state, how do I get him to court now?

State I live In: California
States he fled to: Either Illinois or West Virginia

I found out today that he surely left state. I am prepared to move to whatever state he is in and wait for court dates etc. if that is what I have to do. But is it even possible to pursue him now or does that mean that he got away with everything and I cant do anything now? I can definately find him as soon as he gets a job, but can you please advise me if its possible to pursue him now and how would I go about doing that?? Thank you in advance to anybody who can help me.

 

[dcatz]

You’re going to drop everything and move half way across the country in pursuit of your debtor. You’re not sure what state he’s in, but you’re going to wait until he comes up for air!!?? Ok, I’ll indulge this because, while it’s obviously not funny to you, with due respect and without being dismissive, this thread is getting unrealistically extreme.

OP, I don’t know how or why you’re certain you could find him when he gets a job (and I don’t need to know), but if the information/lead is that good, you can hire a PI who can do it faster and cheaper than it would cost to move. With what you do know (and don’t know) at the moment, it seems to me that your alternative is to walk around two states tapping on shoulders, while he moves again.

Seriously, with whatever information you have, there are online, public record commercial databases that would be cheaper and more effective than what you’re considering. Give him a couple of months to get established and create a profile (telephone number, use of SSAN etc.) and he’ll start showing up. You have the time – two years at a minimum. Professionals skip trace regularly, and you’re not a professional. You’ve lost money. Don’t imprudently pay more to learn what you don’t need to learn. You already got advice about what to do when he’s found.

On the other hand, if you’re impatient and want to move to Illinois and hunt, enjoy the winters off the lake.

 

[CJparker]

in reply to

Hi. I appreciate you helping me with everything. I live a very unrealistic life. I do internet sales which basically handle themselves and I am in a different country most of the time. I am flying to Thailand in about 2 months. I am willing to live in west virginia until I get this thing settled if that is what it takes. I have no family or friends and Im 25 years old so to move to another state in pursuit of somebody who really did me wrong is definately something I am able to do without it affecting my normal boring life. The thing is, I know where he is at. I know the exact house he is at. He will never have a telephone or anything in his name because he leaches off people and he is staying with his girlfriend. I cant disclose how I know where he is...But I know exactly where he is at. Before I let him live with me, I required that he give me personal information that allowed me to track him to an exact house. You said "you know what to do when you find him"...but I really dont know. I know what to do when I find him in California..but my question is....do the same rules apply when he is in another state, from where the "crime" happened. I dont know what to call it, so im just going to call it a crime even though it is not. Somebody told me that since he is in a different state, from where he lived, and did me wrong, and where the contract was notarized...that I can not pursue him anymore and he basically got away with it. If I go to west virginia. What is my next step? To pay to have a sheriff in west virginia subpeona him? Would I have to explain how I found him? I dont want to hire a private investigator because that would be like throwing money away. I already know where he is and I used the same information a pi would use. It might do me good to live in west virginia for awhile because it is much cheaper then california and its not like I will have to worry about getting a new or anything. You said "you could hire a pi for cheaper then it would cost to move"...but wouldnt I have to move, in order to take him to court? I mean this is just a civil matter. I dont think theres anyway to get him to come back to cali to sue him, so I assume I have to go to where he is at. can you please advise if you have any suggestions. I really appreciate your knowledge.

 

[dcatz]

(Flying around the world on business at the age of 25 doesn’t sound so bad, but anyway . . .)

First, I don’t know the amount in contention, but W. Virgina has a $5,000 SC limit and CA’s limit is $7,500, if that makes a difference. And it might.

“Somebody told me that since he is in a different state . . . that I can not pursue him anymore and he basically got away with it.”

Wrong. Go back and look at the site to which I directed you. If you’re using SC, you can serve him out-of-state, but only for claims involving real property or motor vehicle accidents, when the owner lives in another state, so:
1) If you want to sue him for both the loan and the rent, you go to W. Virginia.
2) If you’re willing to settle for just the rent, that’s a claim based on real property (breach of a contract, either written or oral) and you can do it from CA. You have to give up on the loan.

If you sue him in CA, you’re likely to get a default judgment, if you can prove your case. If you get a judgment in CA and want to enforce it in WV, you’ll have to “domesticate” it in WV. That means turning the CA judgment into a WV judgment. I’m not going into detail, while this is speculative, but it basically means incurring the costs comparable to a new law suit, serving him again and forcing him to try to prevent you from getting WV rights. You need to be confident that you could serve him the second time. SC is not going to allow you to serve by publication.

If you want both debts paid and want to skip the “domestication” middle step, you’re going to have to do it in WV.

You could file a Complaint for both debts in a higher court in CA and get out-of-state service for both, but you’d still face the domestication issue and it would cost more.

So that gives you three options. But your ex-roommate sounds like a flake, wherever he is based. After you decide where and how to sue him, you still have to enforce a judgment. That’s a whole different ballgame.

One more thing to consider is that, if you sued him in California and did nothing more with the judgment, you could probably successfully claim the amount as a “bad debt” for tax purposes. The IRS requires that you make reasonable efforts at recovery. It doesn’t require that you spend more than the debt is worth or cross continents. He’s gone from CA.

 

[CJparker]

How do I explain how I found him??

Hello,
First, Thank You for all the help dcatz. I really appreciate it. Well I found out this guy is actually living in Ohio. Now I was going to go visit my family in Pennsylvania so he is only a hop skip away. I assume that I will just go over to ohio to do everything just like I would if we were both in the same state.....but Im worried now about explaining to the court how I found him. I know that certain methods of finding people may be "questionable" and I dont know if this is one of those cases. What is a legal way someone would find someone and I will go that route if needed. I assume tracking someone (theoretically speaking of course) with ip addresses/ ssn's / background checks is what private investigators do....but isnt that illegal to??? If someone wanted to "legally" find someone, how would they go about doing that, or is it a "no questions asked" type deal when you take them to court??

 

[las365]

I don't think that how you found him would be relevant. There is no need for you to bring it up, right? Just don't ask to be reimbursed for it.

 

[dcatz]

The court doesn't care how you found him. In fact, the court doesn't want to hear about IL or WV either. You'll have a relatively short time to tell a rather involved story about what happened in CA, and the court is probably going to be wondering more about how and why it has jurisdiction. (If you're both residing in OH, it will conclude that it does.)

You're the plaintiff. You have the burden of proof. You'll probably testify first, and things will go back and forth from there until a ruling is made. Worry more about telling your narrative and presenting any evidence in a brief, clear manner. Then, listen while he testifies, because you need to explain why nothing he says relieves him of liability.

Given the experience you've had, I think that you should have more concern about (1) getting him served, (2) having him appear on the trial date and (3) staying in OH long enough for you to enforce judgment.

Remember what was said about having an enforcement plan. If you get judgment, the court is going to "stay execution" (prevent immediate enforcement) to give him the opportunity to appeal. By the end of the stay, he could be in PA.

 

[outonbail]

Just to throw my 2 cents in here.
You do realize that from everything you've posted,

1 The only amount you can prove he owed you at one time is the $1,500.00 since that is the only one you have any paperwork which will support your claim.
2 This guy hasn't got anything for you to take from him.
3 You are going to spend more time and money chasing him around the country, serving him, going to court and trying to enforce any judgment you may be awarded than it is probably going to be worth.
4 You lent him money even though you were aware that he has never had a job or paid rent in his life, which was certainly a foolish action on your part. Personally, I'd say that after being aware of his known track record, setting yourself up for the $1,500.00 loss was just as much your fault as it was his. Doesn't make it right or noncollectable, just something you really should have expected.

I think you'd be ahead of the game by writing it off as a lesson learned and putting it all behind you.
The only thing you can realistically hope to get out of it, is the write off on your taxes and I'm not so sure that is worth all the aggravation you'll be going through to watch this guy walk away with a smirk on his face in the end anyway.

I say you should just go bonk his girlfriend and send him pictures!

 

[dcatz]

I say you should just go bonk his girlfriend and send him pictures!

Aside from the pictures, I suspect that's how he found him.

 

[CJparker]

Hello,
I recently discovered that not only is this guy in Columbus Ohio...but he also has 2 warrants out for him (also in Columbus) from an incident 2 years ago that I guess he ran away from that I was not aware of. It was probably really stupid on his part to flee from me and head back to Columbus. He has a warrant for drug trafficking and another for failure to appear(fines). Does anybody have any advice they could offer or opinions about civil court/criminal matters. I mean, if I can have him arrested, do you think this will make the civil thing more complicated or easier in any way?? Does this change anything is what I am wondering?? Also, I think I could not only get him for the contract for the $1500 he owes me, but also a plane ticket I paid for with his name on it from USA to Thailand for $1,000. If I paid for it with my credit card, do you think I could possibly recoup for that as well??

p.s.
In regards to the comment about letting this go and learning a lesson: Im obsessive compulsive so I cant let this guy go or it will affect my mental stability alot worse than it already has, later down the road. Thats just how I am and its impossible to stop thoughts from haunting me and it will remain there for years if I dont handle it somehow. I just need some kind of closure with this. The most disturbing thing about this whole situation is how hard I tried to help this guy get on his feet and not only did he rip me off about 5 grand plus, but he sent me an email laughing about it, threatening me and rubbing it in my face how he tricked me. This is not something I think any human being could take too lightly. Yes, it was stupid of me and naive to do all this for a guy I did not know very much, but I still dont feel that I deserved to be burned quite this badly and if I let him get away with it then he will only do it to the next naive person down the line.

 

[dcatz]

Hello CJ –
Since I’ve been in this from the start, I’m going to say that I apologize for the “bonking” crack. This thread has always seemed a bit excessive, and I said that from the start as well. However, if you’re the victim of an obsessive –compulsive disorder, that’s only a subject of humor for “Monk” on TV, and I’m sorry for what made this seem extreme. It’s not the subject of jokes.

When you report his location on the trafficking warrants (notice I didn’t say “if”), he could go to prison. That may drive a stake in the heart of your prospective civil action, but don’t you think that’s the best alternative? He was apparently charged, arraigned, got bail and skipped.

It’s up to you, but I wouldn’t expect that service of a Small Claims action will have much bearing on what he does next. Maybe you can get restitution from any sentencing agreement, but I think you have to make his whereabouts known to authorities immediately and let it go from there.