"MY JAIL TIME"

"I'd always believed that old saying that the first 15 minutes in jail were the toughest until I experienced the 5 minutes after."

~Bob Odenkirk~

Comedian

                           
    I'm a process server, and I'm in jail....it's a long story. 

    For many years, it was the policy of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, (who supervise, guard and run the County Jail) that when you serve an inmate who is incarcerated, the Sheriff's Deputy at the reception station/window takes the legal papers and serves the inmate for us. You still go through the front door to the initial security station, then wait your turn in line to speak to one of the deputies. Then the deputy takes the papers from you while you are writing down his name and badge number, then you are done - "free as a bird". That's the way it's always been done.

    So about three years ago, I had to serve some divorce papers on an inmate who was in the county jail. No problem, I go bebopping downtown, park near the jail, throw a couple of quarters in the meter and enter the jail to the security area. Two quarters for parking was plenty of money, I'm only going to be in there for about fifteen minutes. 

    I went up to the security window, telling the Sheriff's Deputy the usual standard protocol and started to hand him the divorce papers. The deputy told me they no longer accept legal papers for inmates, that from now on the process server actually goes up to the prisoner/visitor center and serves them personally.

    "HUH?"

    I asked the deputy "what does this mean"? He laughs and makes the same statement. He knows me from previous visits so I asked him if he was playing with me and he said no. In the background, a couple of other deputies were laughing - not at me, just my humoristic attitude.

    "HUH?"

    The Sheriff's Deputy laughs again and then gives me the whole security procedure checklist in order to go through the ominous doors behind him. This is after he makes a copy of my license. Here is what I had to do:  I had to put more money in the meter along with putting my cell phone, license and spare change in my car. I then had to take all the staples out of the legal papers I was carrying. When I arrived back at the security window, I had to be patted down, (can't remember if this was an electronic-stick-thing pat down or a physical one).

    The deputy informs me that they will bring the prisoner to me at the visitor center upstairs.

    Then to my surprise, as soon as the deputy opens the ominous door, telling me to go through, he shuts the door on me, and all I hear is a loud clang. He isn't there with me, no one is. This is such a new experience, I don't know what to make of it. The elevators were right there so I push the button and waited. I finally get in the elevator, no one else is on it, and I hit the third-floor button. I get off the elevator, there is no one around. The only thing I see is a locked door at the end of the hall with a small window. I peeked in the window then jumped back about 5 feet scared out of my freaking wits!

    The deputy had come over the loudspeaker for that hallway and told me to stand back, the door will unlock.

    Then I hear a loud click, I touch the door handle and it opens. I went in trying to hide my shaking body from jumping out of my skin.

    In this room, it was just like on television, there is a long bulletproof glass window running across the entire room, dividing the inmate from his visitor or lawyer, and then 3/4 partition walls for a little privacy. There are about 6-8 chairs on each side and they each have a telephone, just like on TV. 

    I really calmed down at this point, this looked simple enough now, there were a couple of inmates talking to their lawyers. I sat in one of the chairs on the visitor's side and waited.

    Then a Sheriff's Deputy started eyeing me, there goes the blood pressure up again. The deputy comes to the glass window picks up the phone so I pick up my phone and he asks if I am here for "Inmate Smith". I told him yes and he tells me I have to go into a "special locked room" down the hall.

    Oh my God! I asked the deputy "WHY?"
    (oh WHY? WHY? WHY?)

    He stated that whenever an inmate is going to get bad news of any kind, they are spoken to in a locked private room.

    Crap!

    This is no exaggeration, you have no idea the humongous amount of intimidation this place has. I've been "on the inside" for fifteen minutes and according to the comedian, Bob Odenkirk, the next five minutes isn't lookin' good either. 

    This private room is the same size as the regular visitor's partitions and window divider except the dividing privacy walls go all the way to the ceiling. There is a phone on each side. The inmate side has a large window (so the deputy can watch him), and the door will lock after the deputy lets the inmate in. My door has already locked me in with no access to get out unless you figure out the wall of instructions to release the door lock. Too late to read anything, I am locked in there, "CLANG".

    So I am now claustrophobic but have it under "control". I can see down below to the next level via the window and it's just like we see on television. I see inmates in their orange jumpsuits, eating, doing chores, playing cards or chatting away.

    While I am waiting for Inmate Smith, I am reading the signs on the wall. I kid you not - here is the main sign posted. This isn't going to be verbatim and I forgot most of it but this is the gist: 

    "If you are here visiting an inmate and giving him bad news, and after you have informed him of said news, then please inform us if the prisoner experiences any manifestations of threatening suicide, threatening someone else or is acting in a strange manner".

    Sure I will, no problem....ON WHAT FREAKING COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AM I GONNA use to contact you if he starts choking himself?

    All of these stupid but warranted thoughts were running through my mind because it was taking so long for the deputy to bring the inmate. It is starting to get really hot in this little room and thirty minutes have gone by, no one has checked on me.

    I pick up the phone but there is no one on the other end, it's just for the inmate and me to talk to one another. I kind of knew this but I was getting worried that they forgot about me. I figured someone has to be on the line, don't they listen to these conversations??? I then decided to follow the instructions to release the door lock - it wouldn't work! I re-read the instructions, tried the door again - it wouldn't open.

    Crap!

    I must have waited another ten minutes. Then I saw the deputy with Inmate Smith through the window, the door was unlocked, the guard quickly put the prisoner in his seat, doesn't even look at me, then CLANG! and the door is locked, just me and the inmate. I immediately started looking for the deputy through the window to make sure he was close by, but he was gone.

    In an instant, I went into survival mode telling myself this is all good, no problem, everything will be fine, just talk to the guy, explain the legal papers. I wasn't really concern about his behavior, I was just wanted to get out of there and breathe some fresh air.

    The inmate ended up being fine, we talked on the phone, he said he would get an attorney to handle this family law matter, then he knocks on his door and a deputy opens it, lets him out, then CLANG! It happened so fast I did not get the deputy's attention to let him know that I tried to get out of the room earlier but the door would not open.

    Now it's pure hell...the door will not release. I am stuck in there. I have no idea how long this goes on for. I try the phone again, stupid me, no one there and no one can see me through the window. I'm in the last room at the end of a hallway...no one is even going to walk by.

    Crap!

    I decide to just sit there, I really had no choice. I have no idea how long it was as I really lost track of time. I then hear a CLANK behind and jump out my skin again. I turned, tried the door and realized it was unlocked electronically by one of the deputies.  

    I slowly walked down the hallway and out the security door. Outside the security door were two lawyers waiting for entry to see their clients (inmates). Both lawyers were grinning at me, and I figured they were just being nice. While I am waiting for the elevator I hear a deputy talking through the intercom. I paid no attention, I just wanted out of this place, I was distraught and oblivious. One of the attorneys to got my attention, pointed to the speaker by the locked door and told them the Sheriff is talking to me. I walk up to the speaker, talked into it and said:

    "HEELLLLOOOO...."

    The deputy responded with:

    "ON BEHALF OF THE SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT WE WANT TO PUBLICLY APOLOGIZE FOR LEAVING YOU LOCKED IN THAT ROOM. WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SHIFT CHANGE AND THE PREVIOUS SHIFT DID NOT TELL US YOU WERE IN THERE. OUR APOLOGIES."

    I was so flabbergasted, I just stood there for a few seconds. I had no idea what to say so I spat out, "NO PROBLEM." Really Christi, that's all you got????

    Looking back, there was a funny part, actually a hysterical part to this experience: 

    Remember the two lawyers? Earlier when I was finally getting on the elevator to get "out of jail", the two lawyers handed me their business cards. They heard what the deputy said over the intercom, and wanted me to call if I had any PTSD symptoms from being falsely imprisoned. They were still smiling, partly because they were funny and trying to make light of the situation.

    I just couldn't stop laughing the whole time I was in the elevator and walking out onto the street. I needed that, it processed the whole experience for me. I was over it.  

    Guess they thought I had a case - I never called them. They were just like the same funny lawyers from Franklin and Bash.

OWED MONEY? TRY THIS WRITING TIP...NO COLLECTION AGENCY NEEDED.

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• Published on September 10, 2017

Please don't waste your time and energy sending invoices and bills to a collection agency. There is really nothing they can do to collect the money that you can't do yourself, and YOU can be more effective. The endless phone calls to collection agencies to get a status on your billings is met with answering machines where all you do is leave tons of messages - with no returns calls. This leads to a lot of frustration and most of all - results are nil.

In a previous article, I wrote about suing people in small claims court for money owed to you, mainly stressing the importance of having leverage, if you expect to collect any money (you can read it at www.legworkpi.com.) This new post is about a collections tip for monies owed where you have no leverage, meaning you have no maximum advantage.

In simple terms, if a guy who owes you money has no assets to lien, or you don't have his bank account to attach a lien, or he has no job or you can't find him, then the guy probably has nothing to lose and doesn't care if his credit is ruined. This means you have no advantage over him. He "could care a less." Remember, these tips are for debts that are not cost-effective for you to take them to court.

I have collected thousands of dollars by using these simple tips - think these tips won't work after reading this? Try them and let me know. You have probably given up on collecting some of these debts, probably wrote off the debt and filed it away - don't. You have nothing to lose, even on debts that are several years old, so you might as well be flexible on how you are paid back. The only time you should give up on a debt is if a person has passed away or declared bankruptcy. If you think writing a personal note takes too much time for your staff to do, don't believe it, PEOPLE RESPOND TO COMPASSION.

Don't keep sending bills and final notices to those who owe you money. You know that saying about doing the same thing over and over and over and getting no result? That's insanity. It applies to bill collecting too!

Write them a personal note, in your own handwriting (or one of your staff writes the letter.) People will open a handwritten personal letter. If they see a regular bill or letter computer-generated with a label, they will just throw it away. If you had a file on the person when they first came to see you as a patient or client, use the information that you have on the person such as their birth-date. I don't use office stationery to write letters, I use greeting cards. Yep, so true. There are birthday cards, thinking of you cards, or just nice blank cards - any of these will work. People will open greeting cards.

Remember, each person is different, you cannot use a form letter or card. It might take a few cards to get a response so keep trying, like I said you have nothing to lose. Send a card as often as you can. Use nice generic cards if there is no special occasion, and use Thanksgiving and Christmas cards too. Don't mention the money on every card, space this out, but always include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Example: Thinking of You card

Dear Joe,

Just checking up on you, it's been a while. I know you lost your job last year and was wondering if you were able to find more work? Your bill is only $450.00. If it helps just send in $5.00 when you can. I have enclosed a self-addressed stamped envelope for you so you can write and let us know how you are.

Sincerely,

Christi

Several patients sent in their $5.00 each month and paid off their debt, even thanking me for being kind and patient. Not only that, but some patients paid a lot more than $5.00!

Example: Happy Birthday card

Dear Sally,

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great day. As a birthday present we are lowering your bill from $500 to $350.00, just send in $5.00 a month. I have enclosed a self-addressed stamped envelope so you can write and tell us how you are doing - we hope well!

Sincerely,

Christi

This woman came in and paid $350.00! Why? Because we cared..

Example: Happy Thanksgiving card

Dear Bill,

I wanted to write wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope things are better for you this year. Since this is the time of giving, we are lowering your bill to only $1200.00 from the original amount of $1500.00. Just send in $5.00 a month when you can. I have enclosed a self-addressed stamped envelope so you can stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Christi

Believe it or not, this guy inherited some money and paid his bill in full!

Example: Blank colorful card

Dear Carol,

It's time to drop you a line again and say hello! What did you think of the offer of only paying $5.00 a month on your bill? Is this something you can afford? Write and let me know what you think of this. If you decide not to write about this, can you write and tell me WHAT WE DID WRONG? We care what every patient thinks of us.

Thanks,

Christi

This woman wrote back to let us we didn't do anything wrong, and she sent in $50.00 a month until the debt was paid off.

You get the idea? For a few dollars to buy cards and a bit of your time, you can re-establish goodwill with former patients and clients, and get paid!

Here's my last special tip: WANT TO DOUBLE YOUR BUSINESS INCOME? Make sure all your current patients and clients are written to regularly, at least 6 times a year. Ask how they are, ask them a specific question that relates to them that they can answer. "How's the golf game?", "How is the kid doing in college?". You have to keep your name in front of your patients and clients a lot if you want referrals and repeat business.

If your practice has a huge backlog of collection problems, whether you think they are collectible or not, let me take a look. Remember, you have nothing to lose...

Christi@legworkpi.com

HOW TO FIND SOMEONE'S EMPLOYER

The good ole' days - the 90's - when finding someone's employer was easy. When we ran credit header reports, the employer was listed. Not any more. So over the years, PI's and Process Servers had to improvise, coming up with new ways to find an employer. It's not at all easy any more but can be done. 

These are my successful actions in finding an employer of a target, defendant or a respondent. I have found the employer every time implementing these actions.

Every case is different, there is no set way to go about getting employer information. The basic and most important attribute you need is street smarts. A street smart person has a lot of common sense, knows every type of person, understands people and how to act around them. This person knows how to deal with different situations and has his own independent state of mind - able to switch pretext stories in a second. 

I recommend two books that discuss a wide range of cases with bright ideas and websites to use in your profession. These books are:

Chuck Chambers, PI - The Private Investigators Handbook
Link: Chuck Chambers, PI

Valeri McGilvrey - The Most Useful Websites
Link: Valeri McGilvrey

Not to be mundane or talk "down" to you but we need to cover the simple and easy ways to locate an employer. Always do the simplest thing first. Check out all the social media websites, Facebook, Linked In, and the city/county/state business licensing bureaus, etc. The key here is, if a person does not list an employer on his Facebook page, he might list a profession. Then you can check the state licensing boards for that profession and see if he is licensed and who he is working for. That is one idea and has been very successful for me. 

Do not underestimate Facebook. One time, I swear to you, I checked a person on Facebook, he did not list any profession BUT in checking his friends list, (he didn't have any privacy settings on his Facebook page), he and I had a friend in common. I contacted our mutual friend, made up a story and found out where the guy worked. My story to our mutual friend was that I was looking for a good insurance agent and thought "Joe" was in the insurance field. The mutual friend stated not insurance, he worked for the State of California. I checked the employee's roster for the State of CA, (this is public information), and there he was listed, he had recently gotten hired. Always check the friends list if you can, you never know.

Keeping it simple - here is another way to find the employer of someone, and I am sure you are aware of this: Follow them. If your client has the budget, use two investigators, two cars and two-way radios. This is a hit and miss as it could take just 2 hours or it could take some time waiting for the guy to leave his house. Most people work at 7 AM, 3 PM and 11 PM. Beat the odds by watching the house prior to these times and see if they leave. I do not sit all day but if by the second day there is no movement, no cars visible or no lights on at night, something is wrong, maybe the person is on vacation. I would then do a drive by at night and not resume a stakeout until you see lights. In the meantime I would also go to the post office and verify the person you want to follow is still living at the house and still receiving mail there. I learn this the hard way one time, I watched the house all day for two days then found out from the post office that the place was vacant and my guy moved.

When following targets to their work place, with two cars, has been successful for me.  

You would think, with all the news about identity theft and protecting ones privacy, that people would be more secure with their documents but some still don't shred their personal data. I have found payroll stubs and employment info in people's garbage - to this day. Chuck Chambers, in his book, covers the art of Dumpster diving. What I can add is this: in certain California counties and maybe in other states, taking ones garbage, even if it is on the street for pick-up, is illegal. California has a lot of problems with the homeless people and recycling guys going through people's trash, so local laws were passed. Here are some different ways that I circumvent this kind of situation:

1. I actually call the city or county garbage agency that has jurisdiction over the address I want to get the garbage from. They will tell you what day of the week the garbage is picked up from that address. The agency doesn't ask you any questions, they think you just moved in or something. I tell them: "Where I used to live" we had trouble with homeless going through our garbage, and ask the agency if at this address, is it illegal to dumpster dive. If they say no, you don't need to do anything else, say goodbye and go get the garbage.

2. If the agency says it is illegal, you have to now switch gears, tell them a story. You already have the day of the pickup, so call the agency back the night before the pickup day. You want to get this conversation on the record as they tape all phone conversations. I tell them this: "I need permission to go through the garbage along this street as I think a wallet was lost in this area and I need to go through the garbage in case someone threw the wallet (or purse) out." The agency will say sure, go ahead and now you have permission. Get the name of the person you spoke to and give him/her your first name. If a neighbor happens to see you and inquires about what you are doing going though garbage cans, tell them the same story about the lost wallet and that you got permission from the city/county They will feel sorry for you and leave you alone. Everyone knows a woman who has left her purse or wallet on top of her car and driven off right? No? Well, that's my story....

At no time did I say "my wallet" or give any specifics, keep your statements general when speaking to these agencies. They have never asked for my name or phone number, so there you go. 

3. Just knock on the door of the targets neighbor. 
This is the worst option, (you have to be able to pull off an excellent pretext), but if you do not have access to one's garbage and you have exhausted all other resources and bright ideas, this is what you do - knock on the door of the targets neighbor. Just be upfront, even give them your business card.

FIRST, make sure your target is not home before you knock on the neighbors door. I usually do this at night time, then I can see if any lights are on at the targets house or a car in the driveway. If there are lights and a car, come back again during the day time to speak to the neighbor - as long as there is no car at the targets house, or speak to the neighbor at night when there are no lights on or car present. 

Here is my pretext:

The next door neighbor answers the door -- have a little notebook/pen and your ID visible.

"Hi, sorry to bother you but my name is Christi Losh with LEGWORK (hand them your card) and we are looking for a missing witness for our trial. We understood she/he lived around this neighborhood." I let this statement hang in the air for a moment so I can size the person up. 

They usually say "um....ok."

Then I say:

"Two years ago there was an accident down the street, on the corner of Elm & Oak (find a couple of real streets around this address). Use street names that have a busy intersection.This accident involved 2 minor children who were hurt by a hit & run driver and our witness saw the accident, saying the vehicle ran a red light. Our witness was behind the hit & run driver. We thought the case was going to settle a couple of years ago but it didn't so now we are looking for this witness, Joe Smith, we think is his name." Make up a name, not the targets name.  

Talk at a medium pace and look relaxed.

Then I say:

"We thought Joe Smith, like I said, we could have the name wrong, lived next door and worked for Federal Express...is that true, does your neighbor or any neighbor work for Federal Express? The person says, No, the guy next door works for JB Manufacturing but his name is Steve Roberts. (the name of the guy you are actually looking for).

BOOM, there's your employer.

If you didn't get the employers name from that neighbor, try another neighbor. 

Be prepared for anything as there can be variations to this - one time after a neighbor told me my target worked at COSTCO, she insisted on helping me further, so she called my target for me on his cell phone to find out if he knew a Joe Smith that used to live at his place. My target told her no, he didn't know Joe Smith. Kinda funny...get it? 

I am interested to know the successful actions of others, where they have found employer information. Let's share some of those. 

THE ATM HEIST

This story is about the first legal case I ever worked on. It was the very beginning of my career, and while I planned on going to law school at night, little did I know that this experience was going to change my life.   

San Diego – 1982

Our law firm was the attorney of record for a large pizza franchise corporation being sued by a former corporate employee who supervised all the franchises. This pizza chain encompassed over hundreds of pizza parlors all over southern California.

The pizza corporation was susceptible to some attack over the years, and they scrambled to resolve this susceptibility. Previously, they didn't have their hiring policies fully intact like companies definitely do these days. They didn't regularly perform background checks, or verify social security numbers, or verify previous employment, and there were errors in how they paid overtime.

To rectify these errors, management went through every present employee file and cleaned it up, making sure all pay and benefits were in order. If any past overtime was owed to an employee, they paid it. Background checks were done as well as making sure current employees had no ill-will feelings or problems with management.

There were at least 450 former employees who needed to be located, contacted and their time sheets gone over to correct any errors. Management was advised to try and track down as many of these former employees as possible, and resolve any issues that might expose them to future lawsuits – smart decision.

Before this project of locating past employees started, a nasty lawsuit landed on their door.

MY VEHICLE WAS HERE A MINUTE AGO...

    It was a brutally cold winter in Forest Hill, CA @ 5 AM, sitting parked down a hill out of sight from other vehicles and trying to stay warm. What was I thinking? Freezing temperatures, my hands were numb. Forest Hill isn't exactly close to a warm Starbucks. While I am  sitting waiting for a certain vehicle to come down the hill, I will catch you up on the story.

    A few years back there used to be vehicle broker companies (a bright idea turned out not so bright) that would broker your extra vehicle. Let's say you have a vehicle you no longer need, you can't sell it for what you owe on it and you no longer want to make the payments. Well, call up Joe's Vehicle Broker Company and he'll hook you up with someone who needs a vehicle, then this person takes your vehicle and gets their own insurance on it. This person then sends you the payment every month. Contracts were signed and the brokers were suppose to get back the vehicle if the person did not make their payments. .

    In my client's case, she was receiving the payments every month for almost a year, then all of a sudden in the spring of 2007, the payments started being late and eventually no payments. My client, Catherine, did speak to Debbie stating she would be late for October but would make a double payment in November.

    Debbie also stated she'd lost her job so she and her twins had to move in with her parents.   Debbie was warned that Catherine would have to take the vehicle back if some money was not received soon. 

    No payments came in November, December or January and Debbie's cell phone was now disconnected. We had no physical address for her. 

    So now it's time to just take the vehicle back but where is it?
 
    Catherine thought she'd go see the vehicle brokers in Citrus Heights, CA, and get their help. She pulls up to the office and finds the brokers business closed up, office empty, no one around, just gone. The businesses around this area the had no information on where they went. Now she has no broker or protection.  

    Law Enforcement does not get involved in matters like this, the pink slip is still in Catherine's name so my client can take back the vehicle at any time. The vehicle isn't technically stolen by Debbie as the 911 supervisor says, so they aren't going to assist us. 

    Well, the coppers didn't get the message from the 911 operator, as you will later read. 

    The trick first of all was finding out where Debbie lived or actually where her father lived. Catherine had kept track of all the phone numbers Debbie had previously called her from.  With this information, I located the father's home, and prior to me freezing my butt off, I had driven by the property and saw the vehicle I wanted in the driveway.

    There were problems with this scenario even though I had a key to the vehicle. The property was off the main road about 1/4 mile, no neighbors and dogs, lots of dogs, and let's not forget the sign that says, "Trespassers will be shot". I 'd say my chances of survival by walking up the driveway to steal the vehicle was 100 to 0 in favor of dying so I liked plan B better.

    Also, on this particular job I had to have the client with me as she is the registered owner so if I get stopped by the cops after taking the vehicle, she'll be there to verify ownership.

    I decided I would wait until Debbie left early for work and follow her. Then when she arrives at work and goes inside, I will use my key and take the vehicle. I had no idea where she worked but I would soon find out. She wouldn't know her vehicle was missing until at least lunchtime.

    To my surprise, @ 7:30 AM, when I saw Debbie come down the road and stop at a stop sign, she had two children in car seats. This is going complicate the situation a bit, but would deal with that as this played out.

    Debbie makes a left at the stop sign and starts going down Folsom-Auburn Boulevard. This winding 2-lane road goes all the way to the town of Folsom. She could of gotten on the freeway, gone west, then east on Hwy 50 to Folsom but she decided to take the back way. We followed her for a few miles down the back road and all of a sudden she pulls over. Maybe she was dropping off the kids at the babysitter but as it turned out, she had to do something with the kids in the backseat. I was shocked that she had not realized I pulled over too. She never even noticed, which I guess is plausible since she had all her attention on something or someone in the back seat. 

    Debbie then keeps driving for several miles towards Folsom. There were several towns she could of worked in but she passed them all up and entered the town of Folsom. I followed her through neighborhoods and then to a business district, thinking maybe she has a day care center where she works - not the case, in the middle of the business district there is a day care center, a name that belongs to a huge chain of day care centers, and she pulls into it.

    Now it's 8:45 AM, not only does she pull into a parking spot right near the front door, she gets out, collects the kids and their stuff, then walks into the center. She leaves the vehicle running with all of her keys in the ignition, leaves her purse, the car seats and everything else!

    Since she left the vehicle running, she wasn't going to be very long so I had to jump out of my vehicle and start walking kind of fast towards the vehicle door keeping my eyes peeled on the day care front door in case she came out. I did not want a confrontation, no reason to
get into it with her, didn't want anyone calling the coppers, I just wanted the vehicle.  

    I made it to the driver side door, hopped in using the keys that were in the ignition, put it in reverse, backed out and drove off quickly. I had to hide the vehicle because like I said earlier, sometimes the cops shoot first and ask questions later, and even though I warned them over and over that I was taking the vehicle, I could not trust them not be trigger happy. From other stories I have written, you can see how cops can be jumpy.

    I drove the vehicle to a location nearby where it couldn't be found for quite a while. My client followed me driving my vehicle. When we parked, we then cleaned out the entire vehicle (van). It was really a mess, children's stuff such as clothes, blankets, diapers, food wrappers, all in disarray. We packed all the valuable things in a bag throwing out all the garbage. We put Debbie's purse, car keys and her personal items in a separate bag. When I was packing her personal stuff in her purse, her work ID fell out, so I now knew where she worked. I put that back in her purse loading up everything else including the children's car  seats and put it all in my vehicle. This took us about an hour or so.

    We left the van parked in it's safe place and around 10:30 AM, headed back to the day care center to return all of Debbie's belongings. When we got close, I could hear sirens, not one police siren but several. With so many police vehicles and sirens I knew right away that Debbie not only called 911 to report "her vehicle" stolen but acted like a victim and mentioned her children, and that her car seats and purse had been stolen. All you have to do is mentioned the word children and a lot of law enforcement get involved. 

    When I got around the corner of the day care center, I saw all the police cars, two parked in front of the day care center and others driving around. I thought it best to sit at the Starbucks next door and call the 911 operators. There were even people who came out of Starbucks to see what the heck was going on. But I remained quiet and didn't engage in any conversations. One person asked me what was going on and I replied "I have no idea". After we were alone outside, we called 911.

    My client explained to the operator that we had called in yesterday to the Sheriff's Department of two counties and police stations for two different towns in the Sacramento area. It was re-iterated what time we called them yesterday, also giving them the vehicle license plate number, who the registered owner is, and that we were taking the vehicle back today. After some minutes on hold, waiting, then suddenly we heard all the sirens go off and ta few minutes later he police left the day care center. I guess the 911 dispatch supervisor found our notes from yesterday and called off the posse. When the operator came back on the line she stated they have closed this matter and will do nothing further.

    We waited a while to calm our nerves, actually got something to eat, then around 12 PM drove my vehicle next door to the day care center. We unloaded the car seats and Debbie's box of personal items, went inside, telling the day care staff we were dropping off her stuff. 

    I thought we were going to walk in and the staff would immediately call the police - again. 

    What happened next was hilarious! 

    One of the day care staff sees that we have the car seats and a box, then says, "OH, you must be her mother!"

    I said, "No".

She said, "Oh, you are the friend she called. Debbie left with her father but thank you so much for bringing an extra set of car seats and stuff for the children!". (She didn't see the purse in the box).

    I said, "Sure!" and left.

    I guess they didn't figure whoever stole "her vehicle" would be brave enough to return the car seats - so to them, I must have been Debbie's mother. Too funny.

    After driving back to the place where we hid my clients vehicle (van), she then drove it home back to Sacramento.

    The next thing is even more hilarious!!!

    When Catherine arrived home she found out that Debbie and her father had been there at the house - looking for her! Unbelievable, they want the van back!. That was the message left at the door and on the message machine there were several calls from Debbie.

    I am sure the police told Debbie that Catherine legally took her vehicle back and they could not help her, so she was really pissed off.

    Catherine spoke to Debbie on the phone trying to drive some sense into her, it's my car-you didn't pay-I took my car back etc. But before Debbie slammed the phone down, she said, "I'm going to sue you!"

    At this point Catherine ignored her and her threat, forgetting about this chick. A few weeks go by and a process server shows up at Catherine's door.

    Debbie is suing Catherine in small claims court! She wants "her vehicle" back!

    Of all my years of doing this work, this has got to be the stupidest chick I have ever encountered.  I bet she thinks a Judge is going to feel sorry for her. To her it's worth a try. She's desperate but at the same time - really???

    Now, Debbie got herself in a worse situation because I am going to submit my bill to the court for $800 and get the Judge to make her pay it.

    The court hearing was attended by my client, Catherine and myself. She had all her paperwork, registration, contract with Debbie and even my bill for repossessing the car. We scripted our version so that Catherine would explain the situation in a few words. She did and then it was Debbie's turn to speak to the Judge. Just as I thought, she went on and on about how she was a victim, how we took back "her vehicle" and all Catherine should of done was "call her". She stated she needed this vehicle to drive to work and daycare, that she can't get a vehicle loan due to her financial issues and still says she wants Catherine to give the vehicle back!

    The Judge asked Catherine for information on her actual phone bills listing all the phone calls made to Debbie, with dates and times during the 6 or so months she was trying to get Debbie to return the vehicle. When the Judge queried Debbie on this, it was obvious to him that Debbie had plenty of time to take care of this matter and didn't.

    Catherine won this case and weeks later I was shocked when I received a check for $800 from Debbie's parents. We never heard from Debbie again.

    Moral of the story: When faced with any legal situation or one such as Debbie, look at the law or hire a lawyer or do your own research. Do not succumb to your emotions and let them run your actions - you will lose. Face it head-on and resolved it fast.

LEVERAGE

~ written with Trudy Harris ~

    In October 2008, Trudy and I came upon a situation that required either an act of god (which wasn't going to happen with this guy) or death by being an idiot (which could happen).

    A very wealthy man by the name of George Miller, living in Northern California, had previously lost a legal case where he was the defendant, and as a result, a Judgment was entered against him - for a whopping $225,000.

    A Judgment can be a serious matter. What normally happens when there is a Judgment against you, someone wants to collect it. Someone wants their $250,000 right? Of course.

    Let me side track for a minute - it amazes me how many people think that if they take someone to Small Claims court and get a Judgment against someone who owes them money, that the court is going to help them (you) get their money, or arrest the person, or collect the money for them (you). This is not true and let me save you a lot of time and money here. You should only take someone to Small Claims court if, and only if, they have a lot to lose, in other words you need LEVERAGE.  

    Have you ever experienced the hassle and annoyance working with Small Claims court? They opened Small Claims courthouses for people who are owed $5000 or less, to unburden the Superior Court, the main courthouse, with these smaller financial matters. The court is not your friend. The laws are in favor of the defendant. Please you keep your expectations very low and you won't get so frustrated. The $225,000 Judgment against the guy mentioned above was issued by the Superior Court as it's over $5000.

    Still side tracking here...people such as yourself spend your hard earned money on Small Claims court fees and process servers, all the while thinking the court is going to have your back. Not true. The best you can hope for is that the person pays up before the hearing, and if he does, you lucked out. This is a rare occurrence. 

    If the defendant didn't pay you and he doesn't show up for the court hearing, and/or the papers were not served right (that's a whole other story, don't get me started), you have to start all over. If the defendant was served correctly and you get a Judgment, so what? You still have to collect the money yourself. All a Judgment means is that a court says someone owes you money - that's it.

    I don't mean to be mean or sound real harsh about the Small Claims court itself, but I have seen so many people disappointment when they thought just because they have a Judgment, that they are going to get money. If the person who owes you money doesn't own a home or you can't find him or does not have a job or has gone out of business, you have no LEVERAGE. The courts do not assist you with finding anyone or help you collect any money.  

    If all you have is a hope and a prayer the guy's going to pay you, take the loss and move on.

    If you can't move on, what you can do is file more paperwork with the court and the county recorder, pay more fees, and put a lien on his name with the County Recorder and the Secretary of State. This means if the person ever tries to buy or sell something of huge value, the Lien will come up and he'll have to pay you off (after the tax men get their money first though). I'm not talking about a person selling a car or small items. But things like a loan, buying a house, or buying cattle or a ranch, any kind of asset that requires due diligence and an escrow company.

    A Lien could be a good idea, sometimes it gives you closure. It is just like these deadbeats to win the Lottery. Did you know when a person wins the Lottery all Liens and Judgments are checked under the winner's name and if he/she has any Liens or Judgments, these debts get paid first before the winner gets any money? Might be worth filing a Lien just in case.

    There are millions of dollars in Judgments out there that people such as yourself can't collect, as the person who owes you the money had nothing to lose, he doesn't care if his credit is ruined or that you filed a Lien against him for not paying you.

    So back to good ole' George...what happened here is that his house went into escrow and the person he owed the $250,000 to, failed to file a Lien. Now the client and her lawyers had to run to court to obtain an Injunction that will stop George from disbursing money and hiding it once escrow closed, which was any day. George somehow figured that he was free and clear on not paying this debt because the person he owed the money to didn't know he was selling the home - or so he thought until we showed up.

    When Trudy and I showed up at his house to serve him the Injunction, all we got was a screen door with music playing through it. After knocking for several minutes and calling out his name explaining why we were there, he would not come to the door. A while later, his garage door flew up, he sped out of the driveway in his brand new Mercedes, drives over his lawn and his trash can, then freaks out when he almost ran Trudy over.  

    Serving an Injunction is serious business so we expected to have trouble. People do some  crazy things when they have a lot to lose. He's going to make $300,000 on the house and we are going to take $250,000 of it - he's desperate. It's inevitable he's going to pay, he just wants to act a little nuts for a while. 

    So now we have to push the LEVERAGE button. 

    LEVERAGE is the "action" that you do which in return causes fear or discomfort for the person you are trying to control. You have to come up with a scenario that is going to cause this guy to cooperate. In this case, his house is in escrow so this means there is a buyer involved right? I bet the buyer is driving by from time to time until escrow closes in anticipation of moving in and dreaming of what upgrades etc. they could make. But what if they drive by and see copies of the court order pasted all over the property? What would the buyer think if they read a copy? This would alarm them, maybe feel like their escrow could be in danger of not closing. I think our guy would definitely not want this to happen, nor would he want the buyers to drive by and read this document.

    So, we thought we'd give this guy one more crack at cooperating. We arrived at his house again the following day, Halloween actually, early in the morning with a bunch of copies of the Injunction and Court Order. We warned him nicely by yelling through his front door that we would be leaving several copies of the documents in his yard, patio and garden. He called our bluff and wouldn't answer the door, the louder we knocked, the louder he turned up his stereo. We told him we would return at 7 PM so we could personally serve him. We left a business card on his front door. We then plastered copies of these documents all over his front door, garage door, his bushes, his mailbox, his planters under his windows, just enough to make a statement. We'd were hoping he'd look out his window, see us doing this, and come out and settle the matter, but nope, he's still in denial.   

    So at 7 PM, it was Halloween night. Trudy happened to be dressed in an Elf costume (she was taking her grandkids trick or treating later). Upon arrival at his place we saw that all the papers were gone from his lawn and porch. Trudy-the-Elf caught George off guard, he thought she was a trick or treater, she handed him the papers. George showed a kind of resignation attitude but with a bit of anger about spewing the papers all over his property, but we knew he wasn't going to give us any more trouble.

    Our client ended up getting the $250,000 owed to her.

    Use LEVERAGE when serving papers, as long as it's legal. Trudy was pretty funny looking in her Elf costume, but you wouldn't believe the costumes and outfits Trudy has used to serve people, it's a real kick and there is no one else better at it.