subject: Dumpster Diving Can Be An Adventure [print this page] I wrote some articles about dumpster diving in the past, and since then, a few judgment enforcers have given me their feedback. One story was so interesting, I obtained their permission to make their story into this article.
This article is my opinion, and not legal advice. I'm a judgment broker, and not a lawyer. When you ever want legal advice or a strategy to use, you should contact an attorney.
A judgment recovery expert had run into a road block in their judgment recovery research. The enforcer had an especially sly and professional debtor who hid their assets completely. The judgment recovery expert had accumulated a lot of information about the debtor, however they didn't have a clue about the debtor's assets. This is the story of their first trash inspection experience, also called a dumpster dive.
The judgment debtor lived at a house which they might be renting for cash, approximately 10 miles from the judgment recovery specialist's home. The judgment enforcer first used Google Maps, then did a drive-by, to see what they could find out by making a quick visit to the judgment debtor's house.
The judgment recovery specialist then did a web search "cityname garbage pickup" and found the right trash/recycling company for where the judgment debtor lived. The garbage company's web site did not show any scheduled areas and days that trash was collecting. So, they phoned the trash company, and told them he was expecting to move to their city soon, and they needed to get a tiny bit of information.
The judgment recovery specialist told the garbage worker the street and block where the judgment debtor was at, as the location they would soon move into. They then asked them which day, or day of the week, should his trash cans have to be on the curb for pick-up? He got his answer (Wednesday mornings) and thanked them and told them goodbye.
The next Wednesday morning, about 4:30 AM, the judgment enforcer and their friend began their mission. The judgment enforcer's partner drove an old pick-up truck to the judgment debtor's address. As they predicted, their recycling or garbage cans were in front of their home, on the curb.
They pulled up beside the garbage cans and parked. The plan was to leave the truck idling, and the enforcer couldquickly grab their trash bags in their judgment debtor's garbage receptacles. The reality was, while there was a couple of neatly-tied bags of garbage, much of the trash was loose, sticky, wet, and stinky. So much for a quick and easy trash run.
The judgment recovery specialist did bring along gloves, but they had no other equipment, not even some plastic bags. The enforcer transferred the few slimy trash bags there was, to the back of their truck. Then he picked up the whole trash receptacle, and emptied all the trash into the back of their truck, and got his pants stained with grease.
Next to the trash receptacle was a separate recycling receptacle, full of mostly junk. The judgment enforcer quickly dumped the papers into the back of the pickup truck; just when a light went on at a nearby house, and a dog started barking. The recovery specialist's pulse rate quickened, and he jumped back into the truck and they drove away, just as they thought they heard a man yelling at them. They didn't wait to learn what the yeller was saying. Luckily, they were long gone before someone could see their license plate.
When they got close to the highway, they noticed some of the recycle bin papers were flying off the back of their pickup truck, so they decided to drive the back-roads home at a slower speed. They swore to either be much better prepared on their next dumpster dive, or to never do this again. When they returned home, they arranged the "winnings" on a thin sheet, and waited for daylight.
Using tongs and gloves, the enforcer sifted through the judgment debtor's trash. As expected, nearly all their trash was only trash, and all of the debtor's recycling turned out to be junk. However, they found a payload in the garbage because they found a partly ripped-up statement from their bank and a voided check which had been half-torn.
The banking lead was enough information to later perform a fruitful bank garnishment, that satisfied the entire judgment. Even though the stain stayed on his pants, and it was a scary, messy, and time consuming (especially for clean up), the judgment satisfaction made their dumpster dive worth doing.
