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How do I serve a defendant a small claims lawsuit if I don't have their address
Seattle, WA
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Posted about 1 year ago in Litigation
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Small claims question:
I have a question about small claims court. I lived with the defendant for over two years. In the last two places we lived, I paid most of the bills from my bank account. He did not always pay his part of the bills, but to avoid disconnection I paid all of them. Until recently, he told me he would pay me. Now he won't answer my phone calls and has sent me text messages saying he won't pay. The total amount he owes me is approximately $800. I am wondering if this is enough money to warrant taking him to small claims court. The other issue is that I don't have his current address. He never left a forwarding address with our previous landlord and he won't answer my phone calls. How do I go about serving him with these papers? I know where he works, or at least worked, when we moved out. Any advice would be helpful. thanks.
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Answers (3)
John Arthur Bender JR
This attorney is licensed in Washington.
Posted about 1 year ago.
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Small claims court in Seattle is at the court house at 3rd and James. They have the process on their website and you can simply create a complaint and summons from their forms and mail to him in order to serve the complaint. It is a simple process then of appearing on the appointed date and argue your case before the small claims judge.
John Arthur Bender JR
This attorney is licensed in Washington.
Posted about 1 year ago.
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Oh yeah, since you do not have his new address you can mail to him at work or have a friend over 18 serve him personally.
David Lawrence Ganz
This attorney is licensed in Dist. of Columbia and 2 other states.
Posted 12 months ago.
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You have to find an address. First, try the internet and see what you can find. Seecond, try a postal trace. You use the Freedom of Information Act - FOIA(5 USC §552 et seq.) and
demand your rights. This powerful disinfectant of sunlight on the government was symbolically enacted on July 4, 1967 when President Lyndon Baines Johnson, a strong proponent, signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) into law. Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of the four freedoms -- freedom of speech and expression; freedom of worship; freedom from want and freedom from fear, but it is the fifth freedom -- to receive information -- that truly is the hallmark of a democratic government that has nothing to hide. WHEN TO USE FOIA FOIA is an important tool that nearly every citizen can use to their advantage. Suppose a debtor skips town on you, and you can't find him or her. A FOIA request to the postal service can sometimes lead to a forwarding address. FOIA can be a panacea -- but it takes a good, sharp pen to make an appropriate demand and not simply ask for every record in the Department of Commerce. It can be useful in private litigation to get public (but otherwise obscure) information. What results come, come quickly -- the initial response from the government agency (each of which has its own rules) must come quickly, within 10 days (even if it is to ask for more time to reply). You may also try the equivalent statute in your own (State) jurisdiction. Or, as I recently suggested to one client, you may have to invest in a privatew detective to investigate and they provide an address with whichto serve. That cost is not generally recoverable. Good luck! |
