How to Find where someone works?

[Hugh R]

I've got a small claims judgment against an ex-HOA member for past dues. I know his and his wife's name and old address. I don't have a SS # for either. I've tried Google, linked in, facebook and a few on line "free" search engines to no avail. I've also signed up for a one week trial of "beenverified" again with no luck.

Anyone have any ideas?

[gacook]

Make friends with someone in the IRS.

[gacook]

Seriously, though, this situation confuses me a bit (I've read your other threads about it). This guy owes you (the HOA) past dues for living in the house he purchased, right? Not fines for not pulling his weeds, letting the grass grow a little too high, or painting his shed an unapproved color...just dues for living in the neighborhood, yes?

If that's the case, what's the point in hunting him down and trying to collect this money? Does it cost the HOA anything for him to live there in the neighborhood? Do you guys provide a security service that comes from these funds? What? I've never quite understood HOA's, and have always been very specific about buying homes in an area that does NOT have an HOA because I'll be damned if anyone's gonna tell me that I can't build a shed, paint it, have a friend's car parked in front of the house for the afternoon, etc. I've never understood where people get off thinking it's ok to tell someone what they can/can't do with their own property.

[MMiller]

Originally Posted by gacook

Seriously, though, this situation confuses me a bit (I've read your other threads about it). This guy owes you (the HOA) past dues for living in the house he purchased, right? Not fines for not pulling his weeds, letting the grass grow a little too high, or painting his shed an unapproved color...just dues for living in the neighborhood, yes?

If that's the case, what's the point in hunting him down and trying to collect this money? Does it cost the HOA anything for him to live there in the neighborhood? Do you guys provide a security service that comes from these funds? What? I've never quite understood HOA's, and have always been very specific about buying homes in an area that does NOT have an HOA because I'll be damned if anyone's gonna tell me that I can't build a shed, paint it, have a friend's car parked in front of the house for the afternoon, etc. I've never understood where people get off thinking it's ok to tell someone what they can/can't do with their own property.

Because some people can't properly maintain their own property and then it drags down the value of the other surrounding properties. I get your point and I do think you should steer clear of HOA properties... to some of us it's just a small price to pay for some "insurance" against poor neighbors.

[carambola]

trash pick up, road maintenance
you have a check written to cover the costs, i assume.
hire a lawyer and get a court judgement, work the system from there

[gacook]

Trash pick up and road maintenance? Here in good ol' AZ, we pay for our trash service (which has just been cut, but our prices stay the same), and road maintenance is covered by taxes and vehicle registration...

[plumb4u2]

Guy....when you live in a neighborhood where do you think the money comes from for such things as:
snow removal
landscaping
entrance sign upkeep
lawn mowing in common areas
so on so on so on????

I have owned 2 house both of which had HOAs and they are necessary if you want the neighborhood to stay a nice place to live

[ErVikingo]

I used to think the same until my old neighbor decided to "upgrade" his house to look like a burger king

Now spent over a year trying to get the HOA on the current place to approve my drawings.

Huh, i wish i could help but have no idea.

[gacook]

My ONLY experience with an HOA was not a pleasant one...

When I first got out of the Army, I got a job in Phoenix and was renting a house in Mesa until we found one we wanted to buy. Apparently the house was part of an HOA (weren't made aware of this). Anyway, bad winds one night knocked a fledgling tree over in the front yard and into the driveway. I left for work at 6am; when I walked out the door to go to work that morning there was a "ticket" taped to my garage door for a $50 fine for the tree lying in my driveway. This $hit happened during the night, and somehow prior to 6am the next day I'm already being fined for not fixing the tree yet? Made up my mind right then and there I'd never own property where an HOA is present.

[gacook]

Originally Posted by plumb4u2

Guy....when you live in a neighborhood where do you think the money comes from for such things as:
snow removal
landscaping
entrance sign upkeep
lawn mowing in common areas
so on so on so on????

I have owned 2 house both of which had HOAs and they are necessary if you want the neighborhood to stay a nice place to live

Where I've lived, landscaping is a personal responsibility--do it yourself or hire someone. Didn't know HOA's have anything to do with it.

Snow removal--when I lived in MA, again...you did your own driveway yourself. Rest of the streets were taken care of by the state.

Never had an entrance sign where I've lived...just street signs

Lawn mowing? You haven't spent much time in Arizona, have you? lol

[Gogar]

So you're admitting that you don't really know much about what HOA dues get used for, but you just want to riff on it for a while. Got it.

[krystar]

but HOA dues are dues whether or not you agree with the HOA's expenses. if u don't like how the HOA is spending its money, you can 1) go to HOA meetings and voice yer opinion 2) don't buy the house in the first place. my HOA takes care of lawn, snow, sealcoating all driveways every 2 years, residing and fixing rotted soffits. they do a good job.

as for you trying to get at the guy...why not just stalk him? it's not illegal to stalk someone as long as they don't have a restraining order against you. besides, what do you get out of knowing where he works? if you're doing a civil suit to recover the funds, unless you're asking the judge to garnish his wages, i don't see what the point is. judges don't do that lightly.

[Hugh R]

House was sold at public auction and he left in the middle of the night.

I have a judgment from small claims against him, he didn't show up at court.

Our HOA doesn't ticket anyone and with the exception of him, the other 24 homeowners get along well and understand that the privacy gate is in everyone's best interest to keep "them" off of our street.

[gacook]

Originally Posted by Gogar

So you're admitting that you don't really know much about what HOA dues get used for, but you just want to riff on it for a while. Got it.

Mmmm...yeah, I guess so. The ones I've had experience with (or have had friends with experience with) are just so...Nazi-esque in regards to what you can/can't do with property YOU paid for. The person who posted in regards to all the things his HOA does for him...that seems like a fairly good deal, and I'd probably be OK with something like that.

As far as the thought process of needing an HOA to keep the riff raff out...I don't know if I buy into the validity of that. I grew up in a VERY nice neighborhood, with an absolute zero level of crime. Neighbors knew each other, took care of their property, informed other neighbors if they were going to be throwing a party that might get "loud," etc. and we had no HOA. And it wasn't a gated community.

[KaptKaos]

zabasearch.com

[icemann427]

I live in a community governed by an HOA. Where I live, the roads are not public. They are privately owned by our community, and as such, need to be maintained by the community as the county will not maintain them. Most of our HOA fees are attributable to the road maintenance. As well, we have a gated entry and common areas privately owned by our community. Those things must be maintained, too, and as such all of this costs money. On top of the maintenance costs, there is liability insurance which insures the community in case of a lawsuit.

We address and enforce the bylaws, C,C,&R's, and other matters of the association, all of which everyone had to acknowledge and agree to at escrow prior to purchasing in our community. As such, there should be no one living within a community governed by an HOA who does not know the rules prior to owning there.

With that being said, I must totally agree with you regarding your tree, though, Guy. That is fully out of line and unacceptable HOA Nazi conduct. Enforcement, if anything, should be reasonable and neighborly.

[Christien]

Hire a skip tracer - usually done through a collection agency or paralegal firm. They have access to non-public data, in particular the dmv database. Usually when people move, if they update any address it's their driver's license - it tends to be the most current. At least, that's how it is around here.

I'm trying to find a deadbeat to repossess his car - my only hope is that the skip trace turns something up. It costs about $100-150 for a successful search, but will save thousands.

[daepp]

Guy - you do realize no one was forced to move into that neighborhood, right? And that the existence of the HOA is disclosed at time of purchase? And that he benefits from the HOA.

[biosurfer1]

Originally Posted by gacook

Apparently the house was part of an HOA (weren't made aware of this).

Yes you were, you just didn't pay attention.

[ZOA NOM]

Hugh, my FIL worked as a lost heirs investigator in probate for many years, and claimed he could find folks the FBI couldn't. Maybe find someone in your area in the probate field that may have access to data on the guy.