Small claims/debt court any of you dealt with it???

AS plantiff or defendant??? What was the out come? Guess every state handles it different. Around me the issue seems to be you can go and win (or lose) but collecting is a different matter. Also many times one party will not show up. There is a movement afoot that if you lose and do not pay, your drivers (and any state issued) licence will be suspended till you do.

Well here if you win in small claims court then you have to get a judgment against the person that lost to you. The trouble is many times the person does not have anything that you can collect your judgment against.

I have mixed feeling about making judgments apply against a person's license. If the person is truly broke how are they going to work if they can't get to and from work. There sure is not much public transportation in the country. I think you would reduce your chances of collecting from many people.

It is kind of like this mandatory health care. If your broke what good does a tax credit do you at the END of the year????? You have to PAY the premium and then get the credit/rebate.

When in business I used small claims in Missouri. If the respondent does not appear the plaintiff prevails by default. The judge gives you very little time. One time I sued a woman who was good looking and the judge dismissed without prejudice and now the judge is married to the defendant.

Deere seller I don't agree They had same issue with child support (deadbeat dad) State came up with similar law and it got 90% of it cleaned up fast!!!! Seems people know they don't have to pay and won't. You are correct on the judgment then wage garnish etc. Oh state also took those $3-5000 income tax refunds!!!!

My wife used to work for a collection agency they took deadbeats to court all the time and as said actually collecting the money was a problem but if they own anything you may not be able to confiscate it but if it has a lien it can't be sold until the lien is taken
off.Also once its entered into a credit agency's records they'll not be able to get much credit until its off.You just have to keep trying.Of course a bankruptcy by total deadbeats that don't own anything will wipe it out in most cases.

Yes currently the best case is to win and put a lien on real estate. Far as equipment not so good, as guy just sells old tractor for cash and moves on. In some cases you get take items on a court order.

I had a guy back into my car in a parking lot. Private property so the cops didn't do anything. He had no insurance and promsed to pay then never delivered. Took him to small claims and collected $900. Then it took 4 years of garnishments to get the money. Filing and enforcing the garnishment was much more work than small claims court.

When a guy ran into the back of my car I filed a small claims case. I had to pay for filing the claim and for a sheriff to issue it. Turned out the person's name and address was complete fiction and they couldn't find him. The state doesn't give any of your fees back.

I got tired of trying to get the money that a guy owed me for some hay one time. I had to pay to have him served with the notice since he lived over in the next county. He didn't show up for court,so the judge said "You win". I said "Ya,I know he owes me the money,that's why I'm here. Now what?".
He said I could garnishee his milk check. I tried that and MMPA sent me a letter telling me that the guy had so many liens on it now that there was nothing left. I waited until spring figuring he might be up a little bit on milk,and tried again. I got it that time. Good thing I did it when I did,because his cows went out of there not long after that.

Jocco - I've got to agree with you - though I do sympathize with some as JD Seller pointed out, the reality is that most people will magically find a way to come up with the money once real pressure is put on them.

I don't mean this to sound disparaging in any way, but when dealing with people at the lower end of the income spectrum, you'll find a lot of talent in evading collections like this. People know how to work the system so to speak.

Sometimes you have to put up a hard wall like that to block all the avoidance techniques.

Unfortunately the REAL honest hard luck cases end up getting hurt. It's hard to distinguish between the people with real troubles, and the uncaring deadbeats (who unfortunately greatly outnumber the people with real problems).

got a judgment against a guy for work on his tractor, several years later, I had the sheriff attach his farm sale. Sheriff served papers on the auctioneer the morning of the sale-Judgment had to be paid before the auctioneer could start the sale. I agree with jocco and JR, I now work as a financial agent for a buy here pay here car dealership. They will do almost anything and give you numerous excuses for not paying-yet you can see them in the bar on weekends.

Guy with no ins. sideswiped my son in Kansas City. We did a lot of detective work on our own, found out where he worked, talked to his supervisor, etc.

Took him to small claims court, had good records, etc.

We did it all on our own, no lawyers.

Judge found in our favor. The other dude had gotten an attorney.

The attorney, since he represented the guy and lost, had to write a check to the court then and there.

Seems an attorney is considered an "officer of the court" or something and could not risk the guy skipping out and not paying.

We got our money then and there.

Gene

I've been satisfied with small claims as both defendant and plantive. Win,get judgement,file with state which lien's all realestate. If they don't pay up debt accrue's 9% intrest so just set back and wait until they need to sell some realestate. As defendant,the judge talked with me and plantive in his office and made reccomendations that pleased both us. Non-binding arbitration is often a better alternitve if two or more parties simple disagree on what is reasonable and fair. A classic example is where you and your sister disagree on the value of your deceased mothers rocking chair and pet alligator.

As usual, Legal or Electrical questions get more answers then any other topic.

You ask "AS plantiff or defendant??? What was the out come? Guess every state handles it different"

YES, I have been there as PLAINTIFF as DEFENDANT as Attorney for either party

YES, different states have different small claims laws and provisions, so what Billy Bob experienced in his state may be far
different then Bubba in his state.

You ask "Around me the issue seems to be you can go and win (or lose) but collecting is a different matter.

YES I have seen or won may judgments HOWEVER if the defendant is "judgment proof" and/or don't own real estate its likely
YOU MAY NEVER COLLECT A RED CENT (Garnishment or real estate liens if available can help but cost money)

You ask "Also many times one party will not show up"

In that case move for a default judgment which should normally be granted. Have the defendants name and address and
phone number and employer and other info you can gather up.

Don't bet the farm or risk money on non professional or lay opinions or even professional (mine included) advice until such time the local laws have been researched as well as all relevant facts and evidence.

Best wishes, have all the facts and evidence and any witnesses etc in order and be prepared as small claims hearings are brief.

John T BSEE, JD Country Lawyer

Won a small claims against my landlord in college for the security deposit improperly withheld. I took court clerk's advice and filed a lien in two counties where she had property. Seven years later I got a call from a realtor who found the lien. Got my money plus interest.

My only small-claims experience was as an "expert witness" back in the mid-1970s in Iowa. A friend at work had bought a '68 Camaro with a "freshly overhauled 327" V8 from a corner used-car lot. The engine very quickly developed a horrific knock. I diagnosed it as a rod knock and found a replacement engine for him, which I installed. After pulling the "overhauled 327" I found the engine was actually a '64 283 with a bad crank and a lot of spare parts left in the oil pan. The dealer refused a settlement, so my friend took him to small-claims court. Armed with a Motors Manual and engine block ID number, I showed the judge the engine was not what had been represented, and the dealer was ordered to pay several hundred dollars, which my friend quickly collected. FWIW, it all seemed to be a smooth process, except the friend had promised me a share of any settlement for my work in swapping engines, but all I ever ended up with was the 283 with a bad crank. (Still have it on an engine stand in my machine shed.) Oh, yeah, I also had to visit the ER to get four stitches in my finger after I sliced it with a razor knife while scraping off gasket material; I had to finish the installation with a heavily wrapped finger and my hand in a plastic bag to keep it clean.

I have had to go to small claims court a lot for my business. In Michigan you have to be an individual to sue in SCC. If you have incorporated most judges will require a lawyer. Lawyers cannot represent you in SCC, so you have to take it up to general civil. At any point, either party can move it to general civil just because the want to. Once there, a thing called "discovery" comes into play. Parties have a right to depose you and any potential witnesses. Things get very expensive and the time frame can extend to years. If you stay in SCC, have impeccable records and the other side has no claims against you...chances are you will get your judgement. Otherwise you may get a strong recommendation from the bench that you step into the hallway and settle...generally 50%. It is generally unwise to ignore strong recommendations from the bench. Often I have sat in court (my wife works there) and have seen plaintiff lose and occasionally a cross complaint from defendant brings a judgement. But assuming you win, the court is not a collection agency and will not require payment. You have to wait most of a month and then can ask for a creditors exam and have the defendant come back in and you can question them about their assets. If they show up and if they have assets, you can then go after same. Should they not have assets or should they file bankruptcy you are pretty much SOL.

Lately when I sue for collection I am seeing a tendency on the part of the bench to let the defendant off the hook, even with the impeccable records that I bring to the table. The pendulum in our society has definitely swung in favor of those who do not want to pay. Twenty six years of doing collections, that is what I can tell you. The tendency of the uneducated is to sue, sue, sue. I stand firmly on the advice of my wife's first employer, a respected judge..."better a bad settlement than a good lawsuit".

If you don't know what he means, then you haven't spent much time in the system.

PET ALLIGATOR= NO CONTEST ON MY PART SHE CAN HAVE IT!!!!!!!!

JR case in point judge had a guy in court (for deer poaching or something) not small claims. Fined him guy said he could not pay or would pay $10 per month. JUDGE THEN SAID NO PROBLEM PAY TODAY OR IT 6 MONTHS IN JAIL (OR SOME SUCH). GUY PAID IMMEDIATLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"If the person is truly broke how are they going to work if they can't get to and from work."

I agree that IF they are truly broke it doesn't help. But so many people who don't have a reported income work off the books that it makes sense to go for it anyway.

Maybe my wife is right, I'm a cynic.

100 years ago when I was in the trash hauling business many people would not pay their bill. Once a year I would take all the delinquents to small claims court. Not once did any show up so I have a file cabinet full of judgments in my favor. Does not pay to take it any farther as these people have nothing. I have hundreds of dollars tide up in those judgments and they don't do anything for me. They won't buy a loaf of bread. You do as you want but make sure they have a job or own their house if you ever expect to get anything. I finally turned mine over to a collection agency who keeps half of everything they collect. Now years later from time to time I get a little check from the agency. Oh well, something is better then nothing.

sat in on a few ,,. I think justice was done ,. BUT ,,. back in 1980 , I did siding and trim as subcontractor .. we freelanced ,. and had been doing good like that for 5 yrs or more , worked for astrange couple ,thought everything was great til pay day ,, then KATIE BAR THE DOOR ,, all sorts of stupid complaints, refused to pay . the old guy that was selling the job we worked for,, said he had his money up front , we needed to take them to small claims to get our labor money part ,,.. so we did ,, basically the judge felt their complaints were groundless.. then couple told the judge they were overcharged ,, and he agreed , but the judge did not understand who we were , and would not hear us, he was simply in a hurry to givejudgement and walked out of the court room so we only got 2/3 of our labor work money .., kinda bazaare

As far as I'm concerned, the only ones making money on small claims, is the Court & Process Servers.

The proper way to evict a tenant is through small claims. Judge then gives dead beat tenants another 30 days of free rent to move. 30 days later landlord returns with damages and past rent. Last time Judge awarded me what I asked. Then he chuckled and said to me, Good Luck Collecting. So much for taking a dead beat to court. I do everything I can to get a bad tenant to move instead of using small claims. Good luck collecting.

I tell my dead beat tenants I will give you $500.00 cash to be out by the end of the week. I can get you out one way or the other so you can leave by end of week with $500 or the sheriff will get you out in 90 days with nothing. They will take the cash every time. Then I can get a paying tenant in right away and get it making money right away. Seams to be the cheapest way for me.

You can get his antique tractor,the wife's company once got a mud bog truck.

You do not need a JD to decide what to do with a lot of judgements. Do like like Bubba and Billy Bobp would do to them. Get some tape and roll them around the toilet paper in the wallholder when your less than favorite relatives are coming over.

It's been quite a long time ago, but in Iowa if you win your small claims case and there was a monetary judgment in your favor, and the other guy still doesn't pay, you go back to court and file for an "Execution of a judgment". What this is is you go back in front of the judge and say he still won't pay me. The judge will then command the county Sheriff to find out what bank(s) the defendant may have money on deposit in and will seize the money and turn it over to you. If he doesn't have any money, personal property or other assets of fair market value equal to the judgment can be seized and turned over to you.
There's only about 3 reasons you don't get paid on a small claims judgment. The defendant has no money or assets of any kind, he files bankruptcy and the judgment was not from the result of criminal activity, or you don't go back to the courts and tell them you didn't get paid.

I should add that when you do the execution of a judgment, the other guy is not notified and only finds out about it when his bank notifies him of the court ordered payout, or the sheriff shows up to take something.
If it's a car accident that you sued and won and never was able to be paid on, in Iowa the DOT will suspend his driver's license and freeze the registration indefinitely. You have to notify the DOT every 7 years or the judgment will lapse and the defendant can get his license and registration priviledges back.

Another thing you learn is you can garnish wages but not a disability check.
Also, there is a reason most true deadbeats don't have any bank accounts.

Never thought of that, in the long run, you are saving money by doing that.
I've been a landlord for 45 years. I have ten rentals left. It's time I sell off the rest. Then what would I do for a source of good source of aggravation and something to do?