Of course I’d check with a lawyer, but I believe that trash is anyone’s to take, as long as no trespassing is involved. I seem to remember a case a few years back where some cops tried to get one of their own fired. They went through her trash looking for used tampons. And it was legal.
But I don’t think you’d have to go through all that to garnish the guy’s wages.
Gonna meet with him on the exact whys of the matter.
He had more cases on the dock that AM.
If the guy has an unpaid judgment against him, it can totally screw up any attempts to get credit for years. We had a small claims court case that ended up with a split decision – they won but we didn’t have to pay them anything – and it was erroneously reported as unsatisfied, and it was a real aggravation getting a mortgage afterwards until we proved it was satisfied. So make sure your lawyer or the court sends the judgment to the credit reporting agencies!
The heck? What’s the matter with tampons? (Apart from being uncomfortable)
The other alternative – I think – is to sell the judgment to a collection agency. You’d get pennies on the dollar, but maybe enough to pay your lawyer.
Or maybe you can repo his car.
I think they wanted DNA evidence, or blood-type evidence, or evidence that she was not pregnant, or… Been too long. Don’t remember.
Got it. Evidence of narcotic use.
I’m impressed that you got a lawyer to take the case for $1,650.00.
Enforcing the judgment can be a pain in the ass. If your attorney knows where he works, he can garnish his wages. If he knows where he banks, he can garnish his bank account. They can also get the sheriff to seize their stuff to pay off the judgment. Problem is that these things take time to do and for an attorney time is money, thus it may not be cost effective to do so.
once trash is on the street, it’s anybody’s to take.
I also agree with the garnishment. It’s amazing how $20 out of a paycheck will bring out the worst in people.
Also a collections agency could be sic’d on the person, but they’d take a cut of what you are owed. I think it varies by state how much must be owed before a citizen can hire a collections agency to go after a debtor though.
1st–he is a fairly small-time operator.
2nd–The idiots went into his office late last year, & started shouting, pounding on the desk, & threatening him! In his office! In front of his staff! :eek:
Besides the other attempts at collecting the judgment, I’d recommend asking the lawyer to record it in the public records. Then, if the debtor tries to sell property, it will show up as a lien against him, and he’ll have to pay you from the proceeds of the sale (I know this isn’t a guarantee, but it’s one method you can use).
Bosda, congrats on the win, even if it mostly hollow at this point.
For those commenting about the legality of picking through the trash, AIUI in the US once something has been thrown out there is no more assumption of property rights, or protections for it.* If the trash receptacle is in a public area, you can just go get it anytime. If not, you’ve got to wait til trash day.
Having said that, I’d imagine that it’s generally better to do this kind of dumpster diving when the person who’s trash you’re sifting isn’t home/or awake.
*IIRC the Supreme Court decision on this is what presaged the beginning of the home document shredder industry. It’s gotten more important since identidy theft has become a problem, but originally ISTR that it was about keeping one’s private documents private from law-enforcement and snoops.
Forgive me- I didn’t read through the entire last thread. Was he uninsured so you had to sue him personally?
Hope you can collect somehow.
Whoa. That’s a real winner right there, yes sir! :rolleyes:
From what I’ve been told by certain lawyer-type peoples in Florida, as Atomicktom says above, is that you go back to the clerk of courts (or some such office) and file the judgment with them.
Then all the good that does you is if the guy tries to buy or sell property he’ll have to pay you first.
I’ve experienced the ‘buy property’ part first hand when a guy came into our store to pay for a debt we had sent to a collection agency and wrote off years ago, because he was trying to buy a house. Even though we weren’t pursuing him anymore and the collection agency had went under he insisted (I didn’t really argue too hard actually 
) that he pay off every penny so he could take that receipt to his realtor and bank as they insisted he had to pay it first.
Here’s a link I found on collecting your small claims judgment, in Florida anyways.
Good luck with it.