When suing, a process server or sheriff will attempt to serve papers. If the can't, they will provide an affidavit of attempted service. The attorney can then apply for alternative service, which may be tacking to the door, posting in a local newspaper and even serving through Facebook.
Some courts will allow certified mail.
Owing money is never a crime. A default judgment is not a crime. Here is a crime.
States have statutes on the books that are essentially "hindering a secured creditor". What this means is if you have property like a truck that has a lien holder on it and you do things to keep the lien holder from repossessing the item, then they can file charges, depending on the state. Some states force you to file a writ of replevin, a court order to make the secured item available before charges can be filed. Texas code for example 32.33.
So if our friend does a voluntary repo by turning in the vehicle. He will owe money and nothing more. If they serve him with a JDE, personally and he's a no show, the judge can file a bench warrant for contempt. It's rare in situations like our friend.
A Judgment Debtor Exam is served by subpoena, telling you to arrive at a place and asked to bring certain items such as bank statements, paystubs, tax returns then answer questions about your assets. The attorney is charging $200.00 to $300.00 an hour for this. It's not cost effective to do this on a repo.
The truck was likely repoed before, sold at auction, put on a you buy here pay here lot and the down payment was enough to pay what the truck sold for at auction. The high interest rate is for people with no where else to go because the credit is already damaged.
There is no incentive to go after a person in these sets of circumstances.
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