File Small Claims, Defendant Moved
My question involves small claims court in the state of: GA
I'm trying to file a small claims suit against someone who had a vehicle accident on my property, but the demand letter I sent him via usps priority mail with signature confirmation was returned to me with a sticker that said "vacant" so I'm concerned that he may have moved from the apartment address I got off the police report since the accident. Or it could be that he had an outdated address on his driver's license. I tried to look him up in the white pages, but I got 0 search results, but there were some non-free people search/background check ads that claim to have info about him.
Should I go ahead and try filing the claim with the address listed in the police report anyways and see how that goes?
Would the DMV or IRS or any other government agency be able to provide his address?
Should I try going with the paid search/background check service?
Would it be possible to force either his insurance company or his passenger to provide his address?
Also, I'm not sure if I should ask here or open a new thread in the car accident forum, but his insurance agent claims that a phantom vehicle forced him off the road onto my property and that it's the phantom vehicle that is liable for the damage he caused. There's no mention of a phantom vehicle in the police report, which states that the driver lost control of his vehicle and drove off the road, but the agent claims both the driver and the passenger claimed that there was indeed a phantom vehicle to the police officer. Would the driver be liable if there was a phantom vehicle that forced him off the road?
Thanks.
Re: File Small Claims, Defendant Moved
Many state DMV's offer a means to obtain a driver's history following an accident, but if they don't have the current address that's not going to get you a current address. The IRS will not give out information about taxpayers. You can try online or professional skip tracing services; I can't promise what results you'll get.
Has his insurance company refused to pay your claim? Your own insurance company isn't going to handle this for you? Or are we talking about an amount less than your deductible?