I am not an attorney, I am a judgment referral expert. This article is my opinion, and is not legal advice, based on my experience in California. If you ever need a strategy to use or legal advice, please contact an attorney.
Dumpster diving is an old trick used by judgment recovery specialists to discover hints about debtor assets. Some judgment recovery specialists think it's only wise to examine the trash of rich debtors. However, many times rich judgment debtors are more likely to hide, shred, or burn records, than to toss them out. Many times seemingly poor and average judgment debtors toss out the most valuable hints to possible assets.
Diving in dumpsters has some danger, and if something goes wrong, don't contact me, as my articles for one's amusement only. For the daring, the following are some tips on dumpster diving:
A first consideration is - when are the debtor's garbage cans filled, and when are their trash receptacles collected? After you learn that, make sure that playing with someone else's garbage is legal at the debtor's jurisdiction. Do not trespass onto anyone's private property. Wait until after the trash receptacles are on a city street. In some places, people must bring their trash to a remote central site.
A shortcut that has been used before, is to contact directly the garbage vehicle driver or the worker driving shotgun with them, and give them the address of your debtor, and offer them money to bring you the debtor's garbage to you; around the corner, in exchange for cash. The amount of money depends on many things, $60 to $120 is perhaps typical.
Using this shortcut, one can easily transport your judgment debtor's trash to an examination zone. This shortcut is a lot more difficult in cities with automated garbage collection mechanisms. When the garbage worker will go for this, it is the easiest way to inspect trash.
If that shortcut won't work, then one has to do this themselves, or pay someone who will. Remember that when the contents of the garbage is being picked up by any service other than the city - for example, a private garbage company, you may be robbing their property. Once garbage is placed in their receptacle, it is their property.
A simpler shortcut, would be to figure out which garbage company the debtor subscribes to. Then you may contact the company and ask which day they work that street. You could check the situation out on your first pass, then you will learn which color trash bags they use. On the next garbage date, one could appear soon, or right before the garbage truck comes along their street.
These days, lots of cities have separate garbage and recycling receptacles. The great part is sometimes very valuable hints will be in the (usually cleaner) recycling bin. The bad part is that two cans are usually twice the headache. Also, recycling paperwork is rarely in bags, and may have to be picked out by hand.
While many people use plastic bags to place their trash in, and ties the plastic bags shut, and then puts the bags in their trash receptacle; not all do. If they do not use bags, and only icky and loose garbage in the garbage receptacle which isn't inside plastic bags, that is a lot more time intensive, a big hassle, and extra messy.
People who have dived in dumpsters, advise that one brings your flashlight. One use is to separate documents from newspapers and advertisements.
If the judgment debtor garbage is bagged, there are two ways to proceed; you may change the judgment debtor's garbage bags or don't. Some of those that dive in dumpsters do not change the bags they take, figuring that many folks wouldn't notice that their trash is gone, and when they did, not because of their official garbage person.
An alternative option used if garbage bags are replaced, is to take another customer's garbage (perhaps on the next block) who has the same color garbage bags as your debtor. The trash bags get moved from one trash receptacle, and used to replace the bags in the debtor's garbage receptacle. That way if the absent bags get noticed, the confused person won't be your judgment debtor.
If the garbage is in bags, and you change the bags, bring at least six bags of replacement recycling material. When you do not know the color trash bags the judgment debtor uses, bring both colors. The reason to bring both bag colors, is to match the color of the bags inside the garbage can. The recycling material can be crushed newspapers (perhaps one of the final uses for newspapers). The mission is to quickly swap your bags for their bags.
A good vehicle to use when diving in dumpsters is a pick-up truck. After your dumpster dive, you could put the tailgate down, and sort the garbage on the tailgate. When done, you could use a garden hose to wash the back of the truck. An alternative way to go is to use a floor, covered with a tarp, drop cloth, or a plastic sheet. Professional dumpster divers wear a low-cost dust mask, V-Force gloves and goggles. Divers use tongs, and have big spoons and forks handy. When sorting, they place actual trash into a new trash bag, and the stuff to save into other clean bags.
Some divers place a bit of Vicks Vapor Rub cream under their nose, to help reduce the fragrance of the trash. A can of bug spray can be useful. For those that dumpster divers, may your debtor's paper shredders be broken, and may all of your judgment debtors have working garbage disposals.
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