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I was wondering if anyone here knew the answer to the question so I wouldn't have to contact the process sever if it wasn't necessary?

What are the rules on severing someone in california. Are there places that are off limits, times or circumstances that would make it invalid ?

Do you need a court judgment in order to send a bill to collections?
 
By not using a licensed "Process Server" you risk inproper service. Considering you have like a 2 day window to serve this person in CA its best to do it right first time
 
yes I know sorry.. I should have said hired someone to serve her. What are the rules on severing someone in california. Are there places that are off limits, times or circumstances that would make it invalid ?

Anyone over the age of 18 that is not involved in the matter can serve the papers. Just be sure to return the proof of service to the court.

From what you are saying here your best option is to wait and serve this person in California and get a default judgment when she fails to appear. With your judgment you can then try to go through the motions of collecting and getting it to show on a credit report. You can get the jdugment on your own pretty easily, but when it comes time to collect you may need some legal assistance.
 
What are the rules on severing someone in california. Are there places that are off limits, times or circumstances that would make it invalid ?

No place is off limits. The person serving the documents would be wise to avoid trespassing, but even so the service would be valid. A church or any other public place is just fine.
 
thank you mightymoose! This very good info for me. So if I can get her severed in california the judge won't throw it out because she has moved to tx in the mean time?
 
thank you mightymoose! This very good info for me. So if I can get her severed in california the judge won't throw it out because she has moved to tx in the mean time?



You're not getting the entire picture.

Let's do it by the numbers.

Say you serve her.

Say she misses the court date, because she's in Texas, or enjoying herself at Disneyland.

Why she misses court is unimportant.

She missed court.

You get a default judgment.

That judgment is for $5,000.

Now the battle begins.

That California judgment is useless in Texas, unless you take it to Texas and get a Texas court to domesticate it.


Be advised, the defendant can fight back at this point, and they often do.

They become very protective of their credit.

They don't want that damn judgment on it.

So, they fight.

Often they are successful in thwarting a foreign judgment to be domesticated in Texas.



This website is ONE of MANY that explain how to domesticate a California judgment in a Texas court.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7864635_collect-california-judgment-texas.html

Now, it sounds simple, but it is far from simple.

Because now you have to enforce (collect) on the domesticated judgment.

You can hire companies to do this for you.

They often charge anywhere from 33-50% (or morfe) of your judgment to do the legwork.

They don't guarantee a result.

They are probably about 40% successful.

The biggest problem is Texas.

The things you want to satisfy your judgment are often protected from seizure in Texas.

Texas is a very debtor friendly state.

Again, good luck!
 
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NOt sure but the max in Small Claims in CA might be less than $5000.00. This means you would not be able to sue in small claims for any amount in excess of of max. Exmaple if max in CA is $3000.00 then thats all you can sue for in Small Claims. In addition as both Army Judge and I have told you winning is the easy part collecting will be very very difficult
 
thank you mightymoose! This very good info for me. So if I can get her severed in california the judge won't throw it out because she has moved to tx in the mean time?

The judge wouldn't know she is in Texas unless you tell him. She is unlikely to respond to your suit.
 
NOt sure but the max in Small Claims in CA might be less than $5000.00.

The small claims limit in CA is $7,500.

As the OP has said, she is not so worried about actually collecting, but wants to leave a negative mark on this person's credit report. With a CA judgment she should still be able to do that without going through the motions in TX, right? It will probably still take some legal assistance to get that done properly.
 
NOt sure but the max in Small Claims in CA might be less than $5000.00. This means you would not be able to sue in small claims for any amount in excess of of max. Exmaple if max in CA is $3000.00 then thats all you can sue for in Small Claims. In addition as both Army Judge and I have told you winning is the easy part collecting will be very very difficult



Texas small claims statutory limit is $10,000.
 
The small claims limit in CA is $7,500.

As the OP has said, she is not so worried about actually collecting, but wants to leave a negative mark on this person's credit report. With a CA judgment she should still be able to do that without going through the motions in TX, right? It will probably still take some legal assistance to get that done properly.
If I get a judgement what is the action I must take to effect her credit if she doesn't pay up ?
 
If you get the judgment you can check with the court clerk for the procedure- I believe some courts do it automatically, and with others you may have to take a few steps. You can also let an attorney that does collections work it for you.
 
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