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Question

How do I get a court order?


Sent to Legal Experts January 26, 2007 1:47 p.m.

A hacker broke into an online account of mine and sent the money to another account. I have all the information on the history of the transaction, yet the company will not release the information of who holds the other account unless if I get a court order or subpoena. How would I go about doing this without a lawyer?

Optional Information:
Newark, Delaware

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status: Closed   Value: $15   
Answer
January 26, 2007 2:12 p.m. (24 minutes and 51 seconds later)
ACCEPTED Check Mark

Dear lawgirl,
In order to get a subpoena, you must do so either administrtively, or through the courts. In your state, their may be an agency which supervises financial institutions which has the authority to subpoena records. This might be called the Banking Commission or something like that. You can take a look around the state web site and see what you find. If you do find such an agency, you can contact them and see if 1) they have the authority to subpoena records, and 2) if they will do so in a case such as yours. This may or may not work for you.
The alternative is for you to file a lawsuit against the financial institution where the second account is located, seeking the return of the funds. This may be complicated, especially if the institution has no physical offices in your state.   If they do not, they will contend that your state courts have no "jurisdiction" over them. Fortunately, lots of institutions have Deleware offices, so you may be in luck. Nevertheless, after filing the suit, you can either seek the records in the process of "discovery" by filing a Request for Production of Documents, or you can schedule a deposition for a representative of the institution to appear, and demand that they produce the records at that time.
This is not simple stuff, though, and the institution is likely to fight you about producing the records, by citing the confidentiality of their records. Then, you would have to convince a judge that you are entitled to the records. You will probably have a very hard time of it without a lawyer, but you can give it a shot!

Good luck. If this has helped you, please click on "Accept."
The Legal Eagle  -- Lawyer (JD) -- 100% Positive Feedback on 107 Legal Accepts
Juris Doctor '74, National Law Center of G. W. U. 30 years exp, mostly real estate & bankruptcy

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