- Jurisdiction
- Wisconsin
The jurisdiction for this is actually both Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee County, and Chicago Illinois, Cook County.
I won a small claims judgement against an ex friend. She has completely ignored me and all court proceedings. I do not have a phone number for her, i have an email address, but she doesn't respond to me. Shortly before the last court date, where i was assigned judgement in my favor of the full amount plus some of the court costs, she moved to chicago. We lived in milwaukee, WI. I still live here, and as such the judgement is in Milwaukee WI circuit court. So, in order to garnish her wages, i need the judgement to be in the area where she is employed so i need to register my judgement in illinois, in cook county, in order to garnish her wages. I believe, for the register a foreign judgement form(because the judgement is assigned here in WI, and she lives and works in Illinois), i need her address. I do not have her current address, only the last known address here in milwaukee. I believe she moved in with a guy who lives in Chicago. I do know, For sure, where she works, in chicago. My attorney friend tried doing some searches using software he has, i believe called accurint. He tried 3 searches with her name and SS number, but wasn't able to find anything, which tells us she is not living on her own, no lease or utility bills etc in her name. We were able to find the address of the guy she, I'm about 90% sure, is living with. Can i use this address for her? How do i go about getting her address? Can the court compel the employer to provide it? Do i need to have her current address to garnish her wages? I would have to believe that she would provide her current address to her employer. I have sent some certified mail to the last known address, and it appears to have been delivered. I do not know if she has mail forwarding to her new address. As i said, i know 100% for sure where she works right now. I also believe she earns enough to qualify for garnishment, in that she makes enough that to be garnished would not put her below the poverty line. If she were to return the Financial Disclosure agreement i would know for sure, but i do not know if she has received it, and if she did receive it, i would expect that she would ignore it and not fill it out.
I've been really patient, and had to go to the courthouse about ten times so far. Currently, i have sent the Financial Disclosure statement to her last known address. Court informed me that if it is not returned i can file for contempt. Then she would be in contempt of court, and a warrant would be issued for her arrest. IF she had police contact, they would put her in jail UNTIL she filled out the financial disclosure statement. However, i know that many people go a long time without police contact. So, I will do that, but it may not get me any closer to starting to recover this money. It has been a long process, and i really want to get it over with and put it all behind me. I could hire an attorney, but the cost of that attorney may cost more than my judgement is worth. I've already paid 600 total in court fees. What is my best course of action to pursue this garnishment and start to recover the money? Also, i want to proceed as soon as possible, because if she leaves this employer, i'll have almost no way of finding her or her next employer, so my best chance to get this money back is to proceed ASAP.
Thanks any and everyone for your responses, it is greatly greatly appreciated.
I won a small claims judgement against an ex friend. She has completely ignored me and all court proceedings. I do not have a phone number for her, i have an email address, but she doesn't respond to me. Shortly before the last court date, where i was assigned judgement in my favor of the full amount plus some of the court costs, she moved to chicago. We lived in milwaukee, WI. I still live here, and as such the judgement is in Milwaukee WI circuit court. So, in order to garnish her wages, i need the judgement to be in the area where she is employed so i need to register my judgement in illinois, in cook county, in order to garnish her wages. I believe, for the register a foreign judgement form(because the judgement is assigned here in WI, and she lives and works in Illinois), i need her address. I do not have her current address, only the last known address here in milwaukee. I believe she moved in with a guy who lives in Chicago. I do know, For sure, where she works, in chicago. My attorney friend tried doing some searches using software he has, i believe called accurint. He tried 3 searches with her name and SS number, but wasn't able to find anything, which tells us she is not living on her own, no lease or utility bills etc in her name. We were able to find the address of the guy she, I'm about 90% sure, is living with. Can i use this address for her? How do i go about getting her address? Can the court compel the employer to provide it? Do i need to have her current address to garnish her wages? I would have to believe that she would provide her current address to her employer. I have sent some certified mail to the last known address, and it appears to have been delivered. I do not know if she has mail forwarding to her new address. As i said, i know 100% for sure where she works right now. I also believe she earns enough to qualify for garnishment, in that she makes enough that to be garnished would not put her below the poverty line. If she were to return the Financial Disclosure agreement i would know for sure, but i do not know if she has received it, and if she did receive it, i would expect that she would ignore it and not fill it out.
I've been really patient, and had to go to the courthouse about ten times so far. Currently, i have sent the Financial Disclosure statement to her last known address. Court informed me that if it is not returned i can file for contempt. Then she would be in contempt of court, and a warrant would be issued for her arrest. IF she had police contact, they would put her in jail UNTIL she filled out the financial disclosure statement. However, i know that many people go a long time without police contact. So, I will do that, but it may not get me any closer to starting to recover this money. It has been a long process, and i really want to get it over with and put it all behind me. I could hire an attorney, but the cost of that attorney may cost more than my judgement is worth. I've already paid 600 total in court fees. What is my best course of action to pursue this garnishment and start to recover the money? Also, i want to proceed as soon as possible, because if she leaves this employer, i'll have almost no way of finding her or her next employer, so my best chance to get this money back is to proceed ASAP.
Thanks any and everyone for your responses, it is greatly greatly appreciated.