Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York
judgement proof
i recently won a judgement against a self employed individual, all of his assets are in his spouses name or other relatives of his, making him ''judgement proof''
His business is that of Heating and air conditioning where he purchases supplys from a wholesaler.
My question is this: Is there a way for me to get a subpoena or anything to give to the wholesaler which would allow me to see what he has purchased from them since i was awarded my judgement? this would prove that he is working and has sufficient means to repay me and is just avoiding doing so?
Thank you for your time
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: judgement proof
Yes the NY Rules of Civil Procedure has a method to take the deposition of a judgment debtor in aid of execution.
Re: judgement proof
Here is your REAL answer. Yes. There is a way for you to find out what the debtor has purchased from the supplier. You have to serve an info subpoena or a combination info subpoena and subpoena Duces Tecum (both obtainable from your friendly legal stationer) and you can have them issued by the court (or you can have an attorney do it for you). You add a questionnaire to the info subpoena (asking for the info you need to know) and the duces tecum subpoena can get you some of the documents...both can be used to help you find out (possibly) who his customer is and then you can serve an info/restraint subpoena on the customer who might still owe your debtor funds...which would then be payable to you...or at least can provide you with the name of the bank where he cashes their checks...if it is into the wife's account, or even a corporate account, you have the ground work to (unfortunately) begin a proceeding to get hiw wife's funds or the funds held in an account IN WHICH HE HAS AN INTEREST. Of course, if he's that slippery he can simply move the funds out before you've completed the necessary litigation manoevers and you'll have to do it again. Unfortunately, this is what is known as CIVIL STEALING, WHITE COLLAR CRIME and it dwarfs criminal activity in this country of ours. Good luck.