How binding are small claims court rulings? A local yokel owes us and my sister-in-law $4000 for last year's hay crop. He's been promising for several months that he would pay us 'next week.' Except next week never gets here. Yesterday, my DH went to his house. The guy practically threw him out of the house telling him to get the f*@& and the h*#@ out of his house and that he didn't have the money and didn't intend to pay us.
My DH thinks we should take him to court. If he doesn't have the money, will a ruling from small claims be worth the paper it's written on? Can you get blood out of a turnip?
'Won' a small claims court case in NC 4 years ago -- have yet to be paid. Can't speak to Idaho, but in this state if there are no assets, then no payment...........
It was a total waste of time - however they will continue to 'serve' him for up to 10 years if he doesn't pay and I pay the fee to have documents served by sheriff....of course, if he ever pays up he'll pay for the fees to serve - but I'm not holding my breath in this state!
I just had a sitituation where small claims court was suggested, but in MO. it must be $500 or less to qualify for small claims court. You do not need an attorney to represent you and the judge is supposed to 'help' you present your case or defend yourself by asking the right questions, etc. My understanding is if you get a judgment the sheriff can attach something he owns and give it to you in lieu of cash payment. Don't know how it works where y'all may be, tho.
Take a judgement out against him, which will go on his credit record. This will affect his credit rating and it won't be removed until he pays it.
I have an outstanding judgement against a uninsured driver for damages to my car. I'll probably never get the money, but at least she won't get a loan or a credit card until she pays up.
Step 2, if they don't pay up you can also file for an affadivit of service, for them to submit a list of their assets to the court. Thisis the first step in garnishing wages. If they don't do this they can be held in contempt of court.
Big pain is all the fees for these filings are paid for by YOU, so you need to keep receipts, etc.
You need to take that award and have a judgment entered. Then you can attach his assets. An award from small claims has the same umph as any court award.
I can answer based on how it is here in California. Please be sure to check with your local court for information on how it is in your area.
You can sue a person or business for maximum $7500. In your case for last year's crop, it falls within the statue of limitations for time, so you're good there. When you file your claim, you will pay a filing fee unless you apply to have fees waived due to low income. To have the other party sued, it is best to have him served by a registered process server or sheriff's marshall. The cost for either one is added to you court filing fee for "prejudgment costs". It is your responsibility to make sure the proof of service of your claim is filed with the court, not the job of the process server or marshall.
Your county may have a mediation service they offer, to allow you to meet with a neutral third party and resolve matter before court hearing, but all parties must agree to it.
On the other hand, the doofus may offer to settle with you, but if the cold hard cash is not in your hand at the day of the hearing, then go forward with it! [If he pays you partial, you can amend your claim downwards]
When you go to court, take all your paperwork. If he does not show up, you will have to prove your case. After the judgement, you can apply to attach or garnish wages, or put a lien on real property. The judgment is renewed every 10 years, and does gather interest.
If he pays you in full, you will need to file a dismissal of case before the hearing, or if it is after, file statement of payment completed. It may do you well to let the doofus know that when you win the case in court, a judgement is recorded against him and it goes on his credit report.
Here in NY you are responsible for nagging if you win a decision in small claims court. For amounts over I think it is $500 or $1000, you can enlist the help of the sheriff, and the sheriff is authorized to confiscate anything he thinks you can get about the right amount of money for.
You might want to check the farm laws though. In some states you would do better asking for judgment under those than in small claims. Especially if it was a big chunk or all of the crop.
donna, IMO get a lawyer. go for it. that's a whole lotta money. he should be ashamed of himself. i cant help compare that farmer to my XH. when the divorce was final, i was to get 1/2 of his retirement. havent seen it to date, but i have a lawyer and will get it back plus interest when he retires, which, compared to what he could've given me and what it will be worth at 65, he should have done it while the giving was good. with the market the way it is, i could be getting the whole balance.
Small claims court rulings ARE binding, but do your homework before you go for the best results.
We took someone to court and they didn't show. A LOT of money, just like you. We had to prove that the person was not in the military in order to have the court rule in our favor. The very good reason for this is to keep military personnel overseas from being sued when they can't show up in court. But it would have been easier if I already had the documentation from the military.
In NJ, if you can find out the checking or savings account number, you can ask that the court officer collect your debt from the account! Getting the numbers is not too difficult, if you make it a practice to collect down payments by check, and COPY the check. Bingo, you have the account numbers. (Of course, I had CASHED the down payment, without copying the numbers... now ALL checks are copied).
I am linking the NJ pamphlet on debt collection. Your state may have a similar one, or the information may prove useful anyway.
formatting link
Even if you don't think you can collect, DO file. The court costs are usually small. And, you may collect YEARS later, when the person sells an asset that was protected (like their home) or when their estate is probated.
Sometimes small claims court works exactly the way it's supposed to. We were awarded $1,500. But it was up to us to collect. We got a garnishment on the guy's paycheck and got our money that way. If he doesn't have a steady job, or a bank account, it's probably just throwing good money after bad. It cost us around $200 in fees.
I had a neighbor hit my car while attempting to get to his house up the street after a long night of partying. He ruptured his radiator and the trail of antifreeze let the police right to his garage. He had no insurance and refused to pay for the damages to my car, which were extensive. My insurance paid but I had a large deductible. I took him to court and won but have not collected a dime. A judgment is on his credit report but I don't know if it will affect his getting a house or car loan I can only hope so. So, you may win your case, but still not get paid. The judgment at least will hurt his credit.
If it is the same as over here, the fact that he has a 'court judgement' against him, will make it almost impossible for him to get any credit. So, even if you don't get the money - it will make his life difficult from now on. . In message , snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com writes
Four and a half years later - we did take the jerk to small claims court. He didn't show up so we won by default. We asked the judge what happens now after the ruling. She said, "Pray!" We immediately filed a lien on his property. My DH and his sister have both passed away. Pretty sure I'll never see the money. Keep hoping he'll try to sell his place and have to pay me!
Interesting that an answer to this post from April 2008 would just have a reply!
-------------- In many states, an oral agreement or handshake is binding. Several years back, we made a handshake agreement for a guy to put in a septic field. Du mDum paid the guy ahead of time. He refused to do the work. DumDum went to the guys house, with the same results you had. I insisted Dum go to court a nd file against him. At that point, we found several other people who had b een rooked, and filed joint suit. The guy never showed up in court, so the judge ruled against him, and we got the money back. This guy used all the out-of-towners' monies for the yard full of toys h e had--several boats, ATVs, trucks, cars. Turnips always have some sort of blood. The trick is finding out what sort of blood you could lay claim to. You nev er know, at the very least, the judge may rule that he has to pay you so mu ch a month, or go to jail. I'd ask around--you may not be the only ones on the losing end of deals with this guy. A joint suit-filing is always cheaper. Cea
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.