Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

Re: Can I file against someone in prison?

Subleases are normally done only with the consent

of the landlord and involve a contract between

the sublettor(the landlord's tenant on the principal lease) and the sublessee(you, in this case)rather than the sublessee and the landlord.

Consequently, the landlord's action for back rents should be against his tenant(who subletted to you)and who now is apparently "cooling his heels", so to speak, in some penal facility. The landlord should not be pursuing you for monies he never received from his tenant on the original lease unless the sublease specifically made you responsible for the nonpayment(unlikely).

Of course, either you or the landlord could file suit againt this person and even obtain a judgment

for the alleged arrears. I would not, however, hold out any high expectations of collecting on it anytime soon.

Re: Can I file against someone in prison?

In order to sue someone in prison, assuming you don't just wait until they get out, you have to file a motion with the court to have a representative called a "committee" (strangely pronounced "co-mit-TAY" for some reason).

The representative appears in court and responds, presumably after consulting the defendant who is in prison.