What are the legal limits to proving someone is commiting fraud in California?

Question

My friend is being sued by this guy who we'll call ronald over an accident he claims that she owes him 100k plus yet he has not given any documentation or anything. He claims he is homeless by this and lost his job, wouldn't give any info at all!! Yet my friend was served..

NOw we did our research online and it turns out is not homeless! In fact, he lives in a very nice neighborhood, would it be illegal if my friend goes to his house and takes a picture of him going into his house..in order to prove that he was just trying to milk it for what he can?

Ronald also uses 3 alieses such ronald, reynald, reginald..same address so he's shady

I found him in the white pages the address is a condo in a very expensive neighborhood...

Answer 1

It is fraud if he has made a sworn statement that he is homeless, when in fact he isnt. By sure of your facts though. Find out who actually owns the property you claim he lives in. (If he is staying with someone, and owns no property, he is technically homeless) If he in fact owns the property, check to make sure that their are no liens that were filed in time after the accident.
If he in fact owns the home, and has sworn that he is homeless, offer to withhold this information from the courts if he dismisses his suit.

Answer 2

When your friend gets to court the plaintiff has to prove his case by the 'preponderance of the evidence'.

That means he has to prove both the fact that your friend was responsible for the accident, AND prove the amount of his damages. She should take with her all the claims that he made, and evidence that they're false. Yes, it's legal to take pictures of his home, but that proves nothing - he could claim it's a friends house that he's staying at.

If he's suing for $100,000 then that's not small claims court, it's regular court, which means both parties should have lawyers. If your friend feels that the case is baseless, she should consider a countersuit for her lawyers fees, claiming abuse of process.

Richard