How to find out if a lawsuit has been filed against you online?
This is very important to keep an eye on if someone is suing you. If you ignore a lawsuit, you may face troubles and you can have failure. In this article, we will discuss how you can find out online if someone is suing you for any legal matter.
Following are some steps that you can follow to find either someone is suing you.
Check Your Mail for a Summons or Complaint
Look for Legal Documents:
To receive your legal documents, like summons or complaints, in the mail or by personal service is the best way to find out if someone is suing you. Check your mail regularly, and you can easily identify if anyone has filed any allegation against you.
Registered Mail or Process Servers:
Keep an eye on the delivery services like FedEx or UPS, mostly legal notices are sent by special couriers or through registered mail.
Check Local Court Records Online
Many courts offer the service to check civil cases online, you can check if there is any case filed at your name. This service is generally free of cost but somewhere they charge a small fee. State or Local Court websites and Public Access to Court Electronic Records are some popular online resources to check the civil or federal cases.
State Court Websites
Every state has different types of court systems. Many states offer online search tools. You can visit the website of your state’s court. Navigate to the "Case Search" or "Case Lookup" option. You can search your case by entering your name or any other information that is required to search the case.
Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)
If you are in doubt to have any lawsuit against you in federal district courts, bankruptcy courts, and appellate courts, you can search it by the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system.
You will need to create a PACER account at pacer.uscourts.gov. You can sign up for a free account. After sign up, you can search by using your name. You can also check your Lawsuit Papers for free, but there may be a fee to download the papers.
County Court and Clerk of Court Websites
You can also check your case at the county level. Many counties also have online databases to search about your case.
Search Legal Notification Services
There are also available some legal search tools, including LegalZoom, Justia, or paid subscription-based services that help you find out lawsuits against you. You can search your lawsuit case by using your name.
Google Search Your Name with Legal Keywords
You can also search for a lawsuit against you by using a simple Google search. You can use some legal keywords with your name. You can use legal words like court case, plaintiff, defendant, etc.
Check with a Lawyer
If you try to find a lawsuit against you online and cannot find it, you can also hire a lawyer to check legal records for you, as they have legal access to check the legal databases, and they can do it very efficiently as compared to a common man.
Check Your Credit Report
If any of your creditors filed a lawsuit against you and you did not receive any debt collection notice, you can check it through your credit report. If you have been sued by any creditor, it will show on your credit report as a negative mark. You can get the duplicate of your credit report from services like AnnualCreditReport.com.
Contact Your Insurance Company
If you are involved in any accident or property damage incident, your insurance company might be notified of a lawsuit against you. You can contact and check with your insurance company to find out if someone has filed any lawsuit against you.
Look for Public Notices
You must keep an eye on the public notices as well. If your plaintiff is unknown about your whereabouts, the court suggests them to publish the legal notice in any newspaper or any other legal publication.
Respond to Debt Collection or Demand Letters
If you receive any debt collection notice or the Demand Letter, you must respond, as this can save you from going to court. You can contact the plaintiff to clarify whether the plaintiff wants to sue or has already been sued against you.
Monitor Your Social Media or Professional Networks
As present is the era of social media, you must keep an eye on the social messages or posts showing any lawsuit. You also must view the business related activities on LinkedIn.
Contact the Plaintiff Directly
This is the most efficient way to find out the lawsuit against you. You can contact the plaintiff directly and ask for the settlement.
Why It’s Important to Act Quickly
You must respond quickly if you learn about any lawsuit against you, as all the legal notices and the legal actions have deadlines to fulfill them. If you failed to respond, you may face the default judgement, which will result in you bearing the loss.
Conclusion
This is very important to find out if you have lawsuits against you so that may take some serious action on it. There are many ways to find out lawsuit against you. You must keep an eye on your emails, mail, summons, legal documents, public notices, and social media. You can also approach the clerk office, online databases, court records, lawyers, insurance companies, and different search tools.
You must respond quickly if you learn about any lawsuit against you, as all the legal notices and the legal actions have deadlines to fulfill them. If you failed to respond, you may face the default judgement, which will result in you bearing the loss.
