Has anyone had success with Small Claims Court? Small time contractor miscommunicated with his Realtor and they both hired Surveyors. I eagerly bowed out because after spending a day on his survey I determined it was badly screwed up. I contacted the other Surveyor and asked him if he wanted my research and survey data. He eagerly said yes. Couple months later I realized the Contractor wasn't going to pay my invoice. A year and a half later I've still not been paid. I'm told Small Claims Court is my only recourse. Is it worth the effort?
Depends on how much money it's worth, statutes differ between states.
The maximum amount will be in your statutes and if you're exceeding that it automatically bounces to district court. And if they're willing to fight they can just forego the small claims and go whole hog and just file in district and raise the ante.
you'll also spend time and money serving them.
like anything what's your time worth versus the loss.
if they completely blow it off and you win a default judgement, you can lien their vehicles, houses, property, etc etc etc. all the way to seizing or freezing bank accounts. Getting a bond to foreclosure on someone is an interesting experience.
IANAL.
but Ive learned valuable lessons along the way.
I helped put a few companies out of business that felt it was ok to screw employees.
they're the ones that eventually got screwed.
ping me for ideas if you wish.
For one days work? No
Is the claim within the limits of your jurisdiction? My state limits small claims to $6,000.
A rule of thumb I was told is to assume you will be awarded 1/2 of the claim. Not sure if that is true but that would be in the back of my mind if I did.
Have had fairly good success at teaching people that not everyone will roll over on their belly like a whipped pup. It is a pain in the butt, but, you will learn some things you can't learn much any other way. For example, never work for an oil company LLC. Just say no!!!! Don't take on a job for a couple where both are on full-disability or some other type of income that cannot be filed against.
I took on two more jobs for the first guy I took to small claims court, but, he paid more than what it would have cost him had I not insisted on full pay upfront based on a high estimate.
Got two jobs from a guy who was present in small claims court at the same time as me. He was pursuing some deadbeat who stiffed him for his type of work. Didn't know me until that day. His two jobs led to three surveys for others in his neighborhood.
Took one little b**** to court. Won the judgment. Got every penny she had in her only bank account. All $9.41 of it.
Hit another fellow's bank account about two weeks before Christmas. Got what I had coming and left him with less than $50. He called begging to get that money back as that would leave him unable to buy Christmas presents for his friends and family. Bachelor, no children, spent 18 hours a day hanging out in a bar.
you know I got to say that story right there that goes down as just as good and as deep as Peyton cash baby you two want to get together and write a freaking book any typos I blame on Google's crappy text editor while you're driving
I've filled in Small Claims 3 times in 30 years. Won twice, the third time the defendant paid after getting served. Of the two wins, I collected in full once and collected zero once (judgment-proof developer, saw me coming, never intended to pay).
To me it's worth the hassle just to avoid that feeling of being mistreated without a fight.
In six or seven times I have never lost in Small Claims court. A realtor stiffed me for a measly $100 and died before I could collect (Divine intervention?). An engineer who hired me said he lost my money in Las Vegas! He appealed the Small Claims Court judgement againist him and lost again in Superior Court. I filed an Abstract of Judgement that tied up all his properties in the County. The meager $270 he owed me simmered for almost nine years until he wanted to refinance his house. It cost him $1200 in fees and interest for me to settle and sign off his debt.
funny story. Performed a $4,000 boundary survey for a person w/signed agmt and 18%apr and he never paid but still owned the property. Send registered letters to all his changed addresses over the years and he once responded he would pay. Fast forward 12 yrs later and I get a call from prospective purchaser to mark corners. I mark corners, go to courthouse, file a mechanics lien and furnish title company the recorded lien. Owner calls and says he wants to pay. He reluctantly pays the $4,000. I get a call later from the title company to release lien. I said I would if they paid the $20k in interest. They sent me a check at closing.
never been to small claims court
Every time I have filed in small claims, either the debtor pays me and I stop the process before it gets to court or I go to court and get the judgement. One time I received about 80 percent judgement because the judge believed the debtor's lying brother. The brother showed up and was allowed to testify. He testified that our conversation was on a speaker phone and he heard me say it would be the 80 percent figure. There was no written agreement, yet I still won. All the judge really needed was to see the survey plat which showed that the work had been done. Most of the time it is strictly he said/she said without something on paper.
Getting the judgement is one thing. Collecting is another. Garnisheeing paychecks is a pain in the butt, especially if they already have other garnishments for child support, etc, as there is some limit as to how much they can withhold from any single paycheck. May get part one pay period and then resubmit paperwork to get money from the next paycheck. A large sum owed might take several paychecks if they have a low income job. Hitting their bank accounts will work, if they have one and if you can ever discover where they have an account. They are supposed to fill out a paper providing all of this information but it is hard to enforce that action. Meanwhile, collection slows down.
Now, here it is not required that you show up at the court hearing unless the debtor does show up. Then the judge will set a new hearing date. Typically, the bum never shows so the judge automatically awards you the judgement. One time, about 20 years ago when I should have appeared in court I totally forgot. The debtor did show up. The judge asked him about the circumstances. He told the judge that I had done the work quite satisfactorily and that he did, in fact, owe me the money but simply hadn't been able to do so. The judge asked if he could make the payment that day. The debtor said yes. The judge sent him out to make that payment and then return with proof in hand. The guy actually did it! He probably had to sell a little more coke/meth/weed that day to come up with the cash, but he got the job done and the judge was satisfied.
with no contract, the judge gave you 80% and wrapped it up.
smart judge, you did pretty good considering.
It is rare that the debtor shows up. Slam dunk, otherwise.
Had a good laugh at one of those rare cases, though. The judge strolled in to see only two people awaiting his arrival. He looked at the case then looked up at me and said, "You must be Mr. Cow, because I know that's Mr. Bishop." Slam dunk.
Write the bill off, then the contractor. Never do work without a significant retainer in hand to help cover your costs when things like this happen.
Contract on 98% of all projects with a 50% retainer. It makes it hard to contest that in court. BTW, the remaining 2% is from atrong repeat clients that pay as soon as I call, no questions asked. I wish all my clients were that way.
Calculate the value of the time you expect to spend dealing with this and not working with good clients then deduct it from the best possible outcome and decide if it's worth it. If this isn't a prudent business decision then just write it off.
"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured" Mark Twain
