Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey

money judgment enforcement

I have a 7-year old money judgment and the debtor has not paid. I recently traced the debtor's place of work and residency. He has been living with someone for about 5-6 years. He uses that person's name and business bank account to send and receive funds, also uses 3rd parties or escrow accounts for his business. There's no personal property, real estate, car, wages, businesses in his name. He may not even get paid ''under the table'' since his partner/spouse provides for him, and funds may be transferred to hers or his relatives' bank accounts. He may not even have an updated drivers license with his current address. My county court advised to write a letter to the court explaining everything. A court officer will visit the debtor's place of work and will speak to the employer. This will only make matters worse since the employer is the spouse/partner. Asset discovery is useless in this case. The debtor cannot be alerted or else i will loose track of him forever.

Is it possible to file a new complaint in a different county where defendant lives now, based on the old complaint/judgment? Can i file a criminal complaint?


Asked on 9/11/08, 8:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

Re: money judgment enforcement

You sound pretty savvy about collection matters so, perhaps years ago you sent the judgment debtor a set of post-judgment interrogatories in the form set out by the court. These interrogatories contain a warning that, if no answers are made, the debtor can be arrested. If you did this and can prove that these interrogatories were served on the debtor, you are in luck. You may be able to apply to the court for an arrest warrant based on failure to answer. It's best you do this with the help of a lawyer because, done wrong, it could get you in hot water. But, if the court goes along with it, you may wind up with an arrest and a lot of leverage in collection to boot. Besides, it's very satisfying.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 9/11/08, 10:17 pm


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