OT - Anyone been to small claims court?

[UHSLA]

I'm thinking about taking a furniture rental company in the area to small claims court. The claim is for only about $500, so I'm wondering if the hassle would totally outweigh the reward if I were to win. Thoughts? Advice?

[Stussy109]

Well... My only experience has been to take my commercial landlord to court for the max allowed in Nj which was 3k... The court fee is like 40 or 50 if I recall, so it's worth it. The risk is, like what happened in my situation was that the landlord countersued me for 10k and for physical assault which was total fabricated B.S... In your case, it may be worth it provided you have a legitimate claim.

[TracyLee]

I took Dunn Tire to small claims For $500 about 17 years ago. I had new tires put on four brand new American Racer rims and specifically told them to hand torque the lugs. They power torqued them and gouged every one of the rims in one or more places around the lugs. They denied the damage but the judge ruled in my favor. I got a check for $500 about a week or two later. It was worth it in my case.

[ROSCOE P. COE TRAIN]

it is a bad idea to take to legal advice from anyone that is NOT a lawyer and for anyone that is NOT a lawyer to give advice. be careful here...

[Wacka]

Went with my mother . She was suing a distant relative for not repairing crash damage to her car. The guy didn't show up, so she won. Problem was he was in bankruptcy court that day. We went to the hearing for that and she eventually got her money (at $10/week).

 

Roscoe, Small Claims is for people to sue without a lawyer. You can't have one there- Sort of like the People's Court. They take those cases from the Small Claims docket.

[Hammered a Lot]

I have been there. I had to take a guy to court over money he owed me for services provided. You only get one chance to make your case so make sure you

have all your paper work, pictures, witnesses, and if they cannot be there in court have them write a letter. If you are not a public speaker, write a outline of your points. Good luck.

 

I am not a lawyer, but have spent time in jail, er a Holiday Inn.

[Fezmid]

Roscoe, Small Claims is for people to sue without a lawyer.

 

Exactly.

 

EDIT: This post turned into one that FFS would be proud of....

 

I had to take my former landlord to court for withholding my entire security deposit AND trying to charge us $1,000 extra on top of it. If he had just taken the whole security deposit we probably would've just let it go.

 

I did a LOT of research before the trial, specifically on tenant/landlord laws in Minnesota (they differ in each state). I think we must've been the only people to ever take him to court, because he showed up with his lawyer. The entire trial was like something out of Judge Judy or People's Court -- totally hilarious. The judge started letting the lawyer talk, so I interjected.

 

Me: "Your honor, I didn't think lawyers were allowed in this court?"

Judge: "You're right. Sir, you have to sit down."

Lawyer: "But I'm a partial owner of the building."

Judge: "Oh, ok then, continue."

Me: "Your honor, we've never heard of this guy before. All checks were made payable to the landlord at his home address."

Lawyer: They could've checked the official city records to see that I am a partial owner.

Judge: They shouldn't have to do that! Sit down and keep quiet."

 

 

Later in the trial I showed the judge pictures of the carpetting (landlord wanted us to pay to replace it all, even though we lived there ~7 years).

 

Judge: "Carpet needs to be replaced after a few years, especially cheap apartment carpet."

Landlord: "That was high quality carpet that lasts a long time!"

Judge: "How much are you paying for the new carpet?"

Landlord: "$1,000!"

Judge: "For the hallway?"

Landlord: "No, for the entire apartment."

Judge: "THAT'S CHEAP CARPETING!"

 

 

Later in the trial the judge told the landlord that he has a claim on the blinds (our cat bent some of the flaps, as they were made of metal; we didn't disagree with that). The judge asked the landlord for a receipt for the new miniblinds, and the landlord said, "They were $500." The judge again asked for a receipt and the landlord said he didn't have one. Here's where the whole courtroom started laughing:

 

Landlord: "I don't have a receipt."

Judge: "How do I know you really spent $500 on them then?"

Landlord: "Well, I raised my right hand and promised to tell the truth, didn't I?"

Judge (obviously pissed): "Well so did they, it doesn't mean you don't have to show me any proof!!!

 

 

It was a great day for us, and as I said it was just like a court show on TV. (I'm guessing not everyone is as stupid as the landlord was when they go to court though). We didn't get everything we sued for (talked to a lawyer friend about it later and he said the judge usually wants both sides to feel like they "won" so rarely awards the maximum in tenant/landlord disputes). However we ended up getting about $100 more than our initial security deposit so that wasn't too bad.

 

Short cliffnote version: Small claims court isn't that scary. As someone else said, bring all the pictures, receipts, documentation, witnesses, etc, that you need and have EVERYTHING there. Read up on the laws (preferably the actual laws, not the dummied down ones) and then go for it. You'll pay about $40 to file (which you can get back in the lawsuit, at least in Minnesota) and spend a day at court.

 

I'm not sure if this is a Minnesota thing or if it's everywhere, but the judge didn't actually make a ruling while we were in court like I expected him to. He heard the facts then said we'd hear back in a week or two. We got the decision in the mail and the landlord had a month to pay us. He paid us on the last possible day (figures).

 

I actually thought it was kinda fun

CW

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

The first thing is that the law varies from state to state. Just because one person had a particular experience does not mean that you will have the same experience. Not only is their variation from state to state in terms of the letter of the law and how it is applied, but there is even variation with a state or municipality in from judge to judge and for a particular judge as to whether he is felling plaintiff oriented or defense oriented that particular day (generally the courts and the system try to avoid these variations).

 

In general, my understanding for my state is that small claims courts cases involve such relative peanuts compared to big cases that the emphasis is speed and reducing complexity rather than involved stories and explanations. I have been to small claims court once in Buffalo. You could see a number of cases where one of the parties had obviously spent a lot of time accumulating general data and preparing it for presentation and it certainly was related but did not address the specifics of the case and the judge was quite abrupt in moving things alomg and actually cutting off the plaintiff (the overly prepared one in this case) and trying to get to what he thought was the cental point of dispute.

 

In Buffalo, small claims court can and does involve lawyers. They tend to be folks like the defendant in your case (businesses) that actually pay a retainer to a lawyer to handle the several small claims cases the business is involved in each year. The judges actually recognize and develop relationships with lawyers they see a number of times. Again, this does not gurantee the outcome of the case going in favor of the lawyer he knows, but the judge seemed to appreciate it when the lawyer he knew helped move the case along and did not drag out cases he would likely lose or conversely when the lawyer seemed to be sticking to a case or a particular point the judge seemed to give the close call the benefit of the doubt.

 

Overall, there may be a couple of things which are worth doing from your perspective, but you will need to make the judgment whether there is enough money on the line to make it worth your time or it is a point of large enough principle for you to make a stink.

 

1. Go to small claims court in your town and spend a couple of hours-

 

This expenditure will give you a real sense of how it goes and how things flow. It will let you know how much expertise seems to be required, how often lawyers may be involved (here it is rarely but it is not unusual at all), and how much judges emphasize speed or justice. A couple of hours may not be worth your time or the claim. On the other hand, when you come back simply knowing where things are and having a sense of the process will likely make that trip more efficient, faster amd more successful. The court really is an interesting place and process and going on this field trip with nothing on the line for you could be fun.

 

2. If you go to court, identify a lawyer who does small claims and talk to them or go spend a free session with a lawyer to present your case-

 

Even though he will probably reject taking your small potatoes case (in fact you may get no further than a phone conversation) the lawyer will actually give you his sense of whether you have a good case or not, what a lawyer can do for you in this case and why they are not necessary, and to the extent you have a nice conversation and develop a friendship with the lawyer get some free advice on how to present your case.

 

Any lawyer you talk to will be quite mechanistic and not want to spend a lot of time with you since time is money. However, mosty lawyers are people as well and if spending some time shooting the crap with you is fun for them because they get to feel important and appreciated sharing knowledge they might give you something you can use for free.

 

3. Call the consumer affairs reporter for a local TV station-

 

Any lawyer you talk to will likely be quite mercenary and not want to spend a lot or any time on a case with no profit for them. However, a local consumer affairs TV reporter (I think Marie Banks is one here in Buffalo but I never watch the local news so who knows) has been to and is familar with small claims court. If your case is interesting and is about a local consumer taken advantage of by a company, she/he may be willing to talk to your about the potential of doing a report.

 

This canm serve two advantages:

 

1. You might be able to get the reporters' objective perspective on the small claims court process and what works or doesn't work there.

 

2. If the reporter bites at all and you are interested, this may give you some leverage to force a settlement out of the rental company. For example, if you call the principle of the company and tell them you have talked with a local reporter and tell them that the unidentified reporter has asked you whether your opponent would agree to appear in a story but they did not want to ambush them, your opponent likely will not want the bad press of a story that even presents commerce with them as on one hand or the other.

 

They might settle by giving you the $500 bucks because they might lose even more business if they end up with a 30 second anti-commercial on the local news about a bad consumer experience with them.

 

The one thing i would add about my small claims experience was that we also won the case, but it was against an individual who boroowed money from us and did not pay it back (I think he used it for drugs).

 

We won the case in a slam dunk when he did not even show up to contest it. However, the difficulty then was how do you collect your winnings. The court may give you a verdict, but the court does not help you collect. Just because you win DOES NOT mean that the sheriffs are going to show up at your neighbor's door to get your $500.

 

There are mechanisms for doing this like collection agencies and what have you, but these services also cost money. Fortunately in our case, the opponent had also burned bridges and pissed off various folks who knew where his limited money was.

 

His ex-wife was pissed at him and told us the bank he used and gave us his account number off a bounced check.

 

The bank tellers were pissed at him because he whined at them all the time and probably illegally told us about a government disability check he was getting.

 

Having won a small claims case and having the documentation of the court finding against him, we were able to put a lien of his disability payments and the disability folks who he yelled at whenever his check was a day late, were happy to enforce this lien against him and deduct our claim from his check and send us the money and send him a smaller check.

 

We were simply lucky this drug addict was on disability so we could collect as many poor people are immune to law suits as they have no bank account and it is impossible to collect. In your case it is a small business so you are in luck that they can be found easily, but maybe not in luck that they may have a lawyer on retainer who handles these cases all the time.

 

A more successful method for you maybe to show up on the stret in front of their business with a sandwich board sign which says ASK ME HOW XXXX RENTALS IS RIPPING ME OFF DOING BUSINESS WITH THEM.

 

You likely will cost them more than $500 in business with this anti-advertising to their potential customers. They likely will call the cops to try to get you moved for blocking their entrance. However, if you have a sandwich board that asks people to ask you and you are not assaulting anyone or blocking their entrance they will have a tough time stopping you on a public throughfare (if they are in a mall, generally this is not the public commons and would be a tougher case).

 

What you might do is spend an hour walking in front of their store with a blank sign. They will notice and ask what you are doing, in a meeting with the store principle let him know that the next several times you spend an hour walking around he sandwhich board will have the ASK ME MESSAGE.

 

Give them a chance to settle.

 

Now this is an FFS overly lengthy reply.

[RunTheBall]

You lost me after the second bulleted item of Section 2.49 (g) of that last post. Did anyone check the references or footnotes for accuracy?

 

RTB

[Campy]

I'm thinking about taking a furniture rental company in the area to small claims court.  The claim is for only about $500, so I'm wondering if the hassle would totally outweigh the reward if I were to win.  Thoughts?  Advice?

336218[/snapback]

I didn't read all of the posts, but among the shorter ones I did read, Hammer offers some sound information.

 

When you file the suit ask for compensation for missed time from work, court fees (filing fees), and request statutory interest - in VA that's 9% daily - in addition to the $500. Provided you win, you will certainly receive the $500 plus court fees, but it doesn't hurt to ask for lost wages. Also, request that the statutory interest is retro-active to the time of the incident/disagreement.

 

Lastly, file the suit in the name of an officer of the company AND the corporation if they are incorporated. If it's a sole proprietor, file it in the business owner's name with the dba (doing business as) - or in the case of a partnership, both owners' names.

 

To learn more check out this book and this book because even if you win, the court doesn't order them to pay, you'll have to enforce the judgment yourself using the tools provided in your state's statutes.

 

I'm no attorney, but I unfortunately do have a lot of experience in suing people to collect money I was owed back when I was self-employed.

 

Good luck!

[OnTheRocks]

i took our wedding photographer to scc for a mere $50. fee.

his contract stated there was a $50. fee if we ordered our prints after one year from the date of the wedding. we ordered them two weeks before the deadline and he tried to charge me $50. So he withheld our prints until we paid him this extra money. I was so livid with the guy I took him on shere principle. My wife and I won that case without sweating a drop. The assclown got beligerant before the judge and we ended up getting a partial refund for the price we paid.

 

I took another guy to scc. A guy i had paid in advance (with a written contract) to snowplow the driveway.

he came the first couple months, and then stopped coming. I lost this deal because the pinhead literally left town. His name is however on file with the town so if his name ever pops up again on any kind of property title as moving back within the county...(maybe just this township...I am not sure)...he will be flagged and taken in....simply because as it turned out, he left about 200 customers midway through that winter.