Have any of you ever taken anyone to small claims court?

[gator75]

I'm asking because without going into the long sorted story we are taking our cabinet maker that did our kitchen remodel to court. He rally screwed up and this is the kind of thing he deserves. So can any of you share your experiences with this?

 

[mickeyboat]

We did years ago. We took a tenant to court who did not pay her rent and did damage to the rental property.

We got a default judgement because she failed to appear, which was great, but we forgot the part about having to collect. She had no job, so we could not garnish her wages. She had no property, so we had nothing to place a lien on. I had no time to pursue it, so we were never able to collect.

I am very surprised that your cabinet maker is refusing to make things right for you.

Good luck!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Took a general contractor who really did a horrible job. I recovered a partial amount (the contractor showed up and plead his part of the case). Once we received the judgement, we were unable to collect. After a certain amount of time we made re-filed the judgement (it allows you to collect interest and for the life of me I can not remember the proper term) and ultimately the company filed for bankruptcy. I received nothing but was able to write off the bad debt on my taxes the following year.

 

[MSLRAC]

We did years ago. We took a tenant to court who did not pay her rent and did damage to the rental property.

We got a default judgement because she failed to appear, which was great, but we forgot the part about having to collect. She had no job, so we could not garnish her wages. She had no property, so we had nothing to place a lien on. I had no time to pursue it, so we were never able to collect.

I am very surprised that your cabinet maker is refusing to make things right for you.

Good luck!

We took a tenant to court as well. They claimed their rental agreement was a rent to own contract. When we informed them that it wasn't and that we were no longer going to accept the rent late or in partial payments, they stopped paying rent and refused to leave. It took us almost a year to get them removed from the house and they didn't pay any rent during that time and destroyed the house. We too got a judgement against them but they had nothing. We've been watching for anything of value to pop on property tax records and they have since bought everything they own in their children's names to keep us from collecting.

So good luck because even if you win, it's probably just going to be a moral victory.

 

[FergieTCat]

Took a general contractor who really did a horrible job. I recovered a partial amount (the contractor showed up and plead his part of the case). Once we received the judgement, we were unable to collect. After a certain amount of time we made re-filed the judgement (it allows you to collect interest and for the life of me I can not remember the proper term) and ultimately the company filed for bankruptcy. I received nothing but was able to write off the bad debt on my taxes the following year.

This same thing happened to me. I didn't know I could right off the bad debt on my taxes (I do them myself). I need to look into this and amend my taxes.

Small claims court is great if the other person is honest enough to pay the fine. And if they were, you probably wouldn't be in small claims court!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

This same thing happened to me. I didn't know I could right off the bad debt on my taxes (I do them myself). I need to look into this and amend my taxes.

Small claims court is great if the other person is honest enough to pay the fine. And if they were, you probably wouldn't be in small claims court!

I would look into it. It didn't make a huge difference, but enough that I was able to get some satisfaction and put all the bad thoughts and stress behind me.

I wish you all the best.

 

[NHdisneylover]

We took former/evicted tenants to court as well. we won.
After a year of not being paid, a follow up judgement was passed that they have to pay $50 a month and 50% of tax returns towards the amount. That was in November. we did get $100 in December. Have not seen anything since. They have to fall 3 months behind on that before the next thing kicks in.

It is really not worth our time, but the principal of the issue bothers me so much we are following up for that alone.

 

[kirstenb1]

Yes, back in college. We had each paid $475 security deposit and she wouldn't refund any of it. My best friend and I spent hours scrubbing that place clean. So we filed all the paperwork, and she refunded the entire amount a day before the court date.

 

[Micca]

Yep, won, never saw a dime. Total waste of time.

 

[Janepod]

I also won and never saw a dime. A problem with a landscaper.

Ironically he very recently married an old high school friend of mine. Hmm, maybe I'll go knock on her door. Or should I mention it on Facebook to our friends?

(I won't do that; not that kind of person. But it's so tempting!)

 

[timmac]

Did once several years ago; a camcorder we had stopped working, after hardly being used, and the manufacturer wanted an unsurly amount of money to fix it. After all was said and done, ended up winning the value of the camcorder, court fees, plus about $100 for the various phone calls and expenses to try to work it out with them originally.

Currently, I have a small claims suit filed against a former landlord for failing to return my security deposit. The letter I got made no attempt to itemize or justify the deductions, and this is after spending a day scrubbing the place clean. Hearing is a few months out, though.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

When I read the thread and posted, I was hoping that I would be in the minority by not getting paid. It seems to be the opposite though. Quite discouraging that most do not get paid and do all the work and follow through as required.

I think the system may need an overhaul. A way to guarantee that payment is made. I know it is wishful thinking, but obviously the current system is not working.

At least if you agree to go on Judge Judy or People's Court, you are guaranteed your settlement. Maybe it should all be televised. But then we would have 29 stations of just court cases, 24/7. That would get old quick!

 

[happywanderer2]

we did, or rather my parents did. we had a tile sheet floor put in the kitchen and a few weeks after it was put in it started to bubble up. we contacted the installers and they sent someone over who "cut a hole in the tile" (supposedly to send to manufacturer) and then left. we then spent weeks trying to get them to repair the "hole", at least, or replace the floor. the installer was blaming to manufacturer and the manufacturer was saying the floor was improperly installed. meanwhile-we have a gapping hole in our kitchen floor.

we took installer to small-claims court and after we gave arbitrator the letters we got from installer and manufacturer, and pictures of the hole and the rest of the floor the arbitrator had just one thing to say to the installer-- "replace the floor". the installer was like ..but,but,but.. and the arbitrator just repeated "replace the floor". and, a few days later they did.

 

[Arielle22]

19 years ago when we had our house built we took our General Contractor to court. It was a modular home and he was responsbile for the finish work when it got to the site. He neglected to do several things that we in the congtract and would not return calls so we sued.

We actually sued him and another man who GC said was his partner. The other man turned up at court. He wasn't a contractor but an employee who had a license that the GC used. Case against him was dismissed and we won by default against GC.

Employee tells us after court that GC had a drug problem and took money from the jobs to supply himself. While our job had only minor issues, a stick built home done after us had major problems. We never got the money but did take it off taxes as bad debt.

 

[Disney845]

Our company extends credit to some of our customers for the purchases they make with us.

We have taken several customers to small claims court over the years. Same story in almost every instance. We win the judgement, but then are never able to collect (they go bankrupt and it discharges the debt, they have nothing to garnish, etc).

In one instance we knew that a particular customer happened to still have the equipment he purchased from us. The judge ruled in our favor and also ruled that we could go to the scene (with sheriffs officers) and reclaim our unpaid for property as there was little chance of recouping funds from him.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I filed a small claims lawsuit against Firestone Tire Company; specifically one of their stores, for a repair they did which actually caused internal damage to my car.

Within a week of their having been served the papers they called me and agreed to settle the full amount of my claim, including the filing fees. The funny thing was they said that normally all of their check payments were made by a central location, and asked if I would accept cash.

I went over, signed the papers their legal people had provided releasing them from any further action, took their cash (several hundred dollars), and went right over to my bank (in the same shopping center) and deposited it.

I did also send a letter to the court, with a copy to Firestone, withdrawing my suit.

 

[Andtototoo]

My father went to small claims court and won many times for failure to pay him for services rendered as a plumber. He never collected ONE cent. Although one time he was able to get the cops to serve the defendant at his house and ended up reclaming the toilet istelf -- the only toilet in the house.

It led him to sadly have to demand to see cash in hand when he went to a customer's home to provide a service.

Overall, I consider SCC a total waste of time.

 

[DVC-Don]

Not small claims but we did take a former employee to court for $22,000+. She never showed up and we were awarded our judgement. The sheriff was only able to collect $20, yes $20 from her before she skipped out. That was 8 years ago and not a dime since. The courts are a joke for this stuff.

 

[lovebuzz]

I once had to take a landscaper to court. He did not show up, so I was awarded a default judgement. I decided to sue him personally instead of the business. After the judgement I then tried to garnish his bank accounts to which he did not have any money. He did however own a house with his wife so I put a lean on the property. Several years went by and they decided to sell, I got a call from the closing attorney asking me where should she mail the check. I ended up with the amount owed to me plus intrest. He had 16 leans on his property. One hell of a business man.

 

[BonnieA]

Took my home builder to court for squeaky floors. They were really bad and although he did try to fix them, he decided to quit trying. I watched a lot of Judge Judy before I decided to take him to court. I made sure I had a video tape of the floor areas with the squeaks. I also brought in the walk thru list where he signed that he would fix the problem. I won. He paid.