QUESTION
trying to collect from a roommate who defaulted on the lease
Asked on Aug 06th, 2013 on Civil Litigation - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
my daughter's college roommate defaulted on their lease and my daughter was jointly and severally liable for paying the entire amount. This roommate's mother also co-signed the lease. We have tried unsuccessfully to collect from the roommate and want to file in small claims court. I don't know if we have a current address for either the roommate or her mother. How can we file -- is there a way to obtain a current address?
1 ANSWER
Do you have the mother's last known address? Are you sure that she has moved? If so, she may have left a forwarding address, which I believe you may be able to obtain from the post office by filing a Freedom of Information Request. If you still can't locate her, you still have options. In cases where you cannot locate the defendant to serve them the usual way, and after making several diligent attempts to do so, you can make a motion to the Court to allow you to serve them in some other way, usually by publication, that is you take out an ad in a periodical approved by the Court. However, I do not know if a small claims court can or would do this. You may have to start your action in a court of general jurisdiction. Alternatively, a private detective may be able to find one or both of the defendants .
Answered on Aug 06th, 2013 at 6:06 PM