Locating A PMB Box Owner

I am a Judgment Broker, not a lawyer, and this article is my opinion, please consult with a lawyer if you need legal advice. This article only covers how a judgment debtor's actual address might be discovered so a process server can serve legal papers on them.

USPS boxes and Private Mail Boxes (PMBs) are becoming more and more popular, the main reasons are because they help people increase their personal privacy and safety. People want privacy, especially people that owe money on civil judgments.

More and more, people are using private post office box stores such as The UPS Store, because they usually have more features at a better price than the USPS post office offers.

Some judgment debtors go to great lengths to live "off the grid" and they try to make only their post office box, show up on any public record data searches.

To recover a judgment, often you must personally serve the debtor to compel them and sometimes third parties, to appear in court, to try to discover information that may lead to the debtor's available assets.

When a debtor goes to great lengths to hide behind a PO box or a PMB, one usually must hire someone to find the debtor's other (physical) address, hopefully the address that the debtor lives at.

To find this information, you can either hire a private investigator or a lawyer, or you can save money and hire a process server. The only reason you can get this private information from a process server is for the service of legal process.

If you want to find a lost love, missing relative, lost friend, etc, you must hire a licensed private investigator. If you only need to be able to serve legal papers on someone, by hiring a process server, then the laws allow the process server to find the debtor for the purpose of serving them legal papers.

Most people cannot do this themselves, however the information here may help readers be better informed and prepared. One can save money by hiring a process server, or one can hire a lawyer or a private investigator.

My knowledge is based in California, but the same concepts should apply in many states. In California, the laws that apply are primarily the California Codes of civil Procedure (CCPs) 415.xx, 416.xx, and 706.101. Also, California Business and Professions Code (BPC) 17538.5, and the Postal Code of Federal Regulations - CFR 39, section 265.5, and the Postal domestic mail manual.

When you need to have legal papers served on someone, there is a difference between mailboxes in stores - known as a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA), and a US postal office. Legal documents can be served on a CMRA because someone is always available during business hours, who can accept service of process, on behalf of the box holder, who can also sign receipts.

At the US post office, you cannot serve a box holder, but the process server can get the boxholder's physical address. After that, you can have the judgment debtor served.

Anyone can order a "Postal Kit" from www.ayouvebeenserved.com. Such a kit is most useful for a process server, private investigator, or a lawyer.

If the debtor address on file at the PMB turns out to be wrong, you can have the UPS Store lock the box and deny the debtor access to their mail until the box holder provides documented proof of their current physical address on a revised PS1583 form.

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About the Author:
Mark D. Shapiro - Judgment Referral Expert - friend to all Judgment Enforcers and contingency collection attorneys: http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - where Judgments go to get Purchased or Enforced!