Has anyone had any experience with taking a non paying client to small claims court?
If so any insight to the process and results.
If so any insight to the process and results.
Small claims
- Thread starter Ben Lawrence
- Start date
Re: Small claims
Judgment does not equal collection.... You can win and still never see a dime.
The process varies among the states, but in general the litigants represent themselves - only a few jurisdictions allow attorneys. You need to have all your paperwork and other evidence with you when you go to court as judges typically do not grant continuances in small claims courts. If you're missing something important the judge may dismiss the case or find for the defendant. Take contracts, phone logs (date/time/person talked to/nature of conversation), printed emails, screen shots of social media conversations if used to book the work or rental, etc.
If you win your case and the defendant does not pay, you'll be back in court for another hearing to get garnishments or seizure orders, and even then there is no guarantee you'll get what is owed to you. I view small claims court as a way of inflicting damage on credit reports and reputation, but note that most deadbeats that hold out on you screw a lot of people and generally don't care about their credit or reputation.
Judgment does not equal collection.... You can win and still never see a dime.
The process varies among the states, but in general the litigants represent themselves - only a few jurisdictions allow attorneys. You need to have all your paperwork and other evidence with you when you go to court as judges typically do not grant continuances in small claims courts. If you're missing something important the judge may dismiss the case or find for the defendant. Take contracts, phone logs (date/time/person talked to/nature of conversation), printed emails, screen shots of social media conversations if used to book the work or rental, etc.
If you win your case and the defendant does not pay, you'll be back in court for another hearing to get garnishments or seizure orders, and even then there is no guarantee you'll get what is owed to you. I view small claims court as a way of inflicting damage on credit reports and reputation, but note that most deadbeats that hold out on you screw a lot of people and generally don't care about their credit or reputation.
Re: Small claims
How much do they owe? If it's a small amount, going to court may cost you more in terms of time and effort than it's really worth. Sending the client to a collections agency is another option. If you go that route, the MOST you will collect is half, as the collection agency typically keeps half that is collected. However, they take care of all of the expenses of harassing the client until they pay up.
Small claims is easy to file. Usually costs around $100 to file which you can add on to what they owe if you win. You will have to make a couple trips to court. When you file the claim, you will make an initial appearance in court to set a court date. At that point, if the defendant doesn't show up, you win. after the court date is set, you still can negotiate with the defendant to settle without going in front of a judge. If you don't settle, you will present your case to the judge. Again, if they are a no-show, you win. You present your case to the judge and they will issue a ruling either for or against.
Now, if you win, all that does is put a record in the court that you won. It does absolutely nothing to get the payment. The advantage is, it sits on their record which does affect their credit. If they ever want that cleared up, they have to pay. If you want to get the money, you can go through the process of garnishing wages, sending to collections, etc.,
How much do they owe? If it's a small amount, going to court may cost you more in terms of time and effort than it's really worth. Sending the client to a collections agency is another option. If you go that route, the MOST you will collect is half, as the collection agency typically keeps half that is collected. However, they take care of all of the expenses of harassing the client until they pay up.
Small claims is easy to file. Usually costs around $100 to file which you can add on to what they owe if you win. You will have to make a couple trips to court. When you file the claim, you will make an initial appearance in court to set a court date. At that point, if the defendant doesn't show up, you win. after the court date is set, you still can negotiate with the defendant to settle without going in front of a judge. If you don't settle, you will present your case to the judge. Again, if they are a no-show, you win. You present your case to the judge and they will issue a ruling either for or against.
Now, if you win, all that does is put a record in the court that you won. It does absolutely nothing to get the payment. The advantage is, it sits on their record which does affect their credit. If they ever want that cleared up, they have to pay. If you want to get the money, you can go through the process of garnishing wages, sending to collections, etc.,
Re: Small claims
I have done it a couple of times.
But we never made it to court.
They always paid up ahead of time-fearing the worst-
I have done it a couple of times.
But we never made it to court.
They always paid up ahead of time-fearing the worst-
Re: Small claims
I once had a sleazy businessman jerking me around on a few $k of royalties he owed me. I finally got PO'd and hired a lawyer straight time to collect. I asked my lawyer how much it would cost to file a lawsuit in court ($300 or so IIRC). I authorized my lawyer to sue and sic'd him on my outstanding collection issue. The sleazy businessman ASSuming the lawyer was working on contingency, was pretty calm until my lawyer shared that I was paying him straight time and had authorized him to sue. The creep paid in full immediately.
Apparently slow payers with a real business do not want the publicity of a collection lawsuit that would trigger a similar feeding frenzy among all the other outstanding debt holders.
YMMV if it is just a one off flake do the calculus of your cost to collect (don't ignore time and mental anguish). I did what I did because I was angry and didn't care about the money as much as the principle. (funny my lawyer wanted a bonus when we got the settlement so quickly... I told him NO, but bought him dinner.)
JR
I once had a sleazy businessman jerking me around on a few $k of royalties he owed me. I finally got PO'd and hired a lawyer straight time to collect. I asked my lawyer how much it would cost to file a lawsuit in court ($300 or so IIRC). I authorized my lawyer to sue and sic'd him on my outstanding collection issue. The sleazy businessman ASSuming the lawyer was working on contingency, was pretty calm until my lawyer shared that I was paying him straight time and had authorized him to sue. The creep paid in full immediately.
Apparently slow payers with a real business do not want the publicity of a collection lawsuit that would trigger a similar feeding frenzy among all the other outstanding debt holders.
YMMV if it is just a one off flake do the calculus of your cost to collect (don't ignore time and mental anguish). I did what I did because I was angry and didn't care about the money as much as the principle. (funny my lawyer wanted a bonus when we got the settlement so quickly... I told him NO, but bought him dinner.)
JR
Re: Small claims
Only once. It cost $6.00 to file, but I paid an extra $3.00 to have the summons hand-delivered by a uniformed deputy rather than use the USPO. The guy phoned me while the cop was standing there and caved.
Only once. It cost $6.00 to file, but I paid an extra $3.00 to have the summons hand-delivered by a uniformed deputy rather than use the USPO. The guy phoned me while the cop was standing there and caved.
Re: Small claims
That reminds me of my work as a photographer. Did a wedding, delivered the goods and waited for the balance.... and waited. Customer was about 50 miles out, didn't think there would be a problem getting paid, oh well. After 60 days of billing I filed a small claims suit and, like you, opted to pay extra for personal service. I had her business address and used it for service. The night before, she somehow got wind that a deputy would be there the next morning and demanded that I stop the service. I told here that if I had the cash in hand when court opened the next day I'd go in withdraw the suit but I couldn't guarantee that the service would be stopped.
I got cash plus my filing fees and she got served anyway, as she was in another county and my court couldn't withdraw service before it had occurred.
That reminds me of my work as a photographer. Did a wedding, delivered the goods and waited for the balance.... and waited. Customer was about 50 miles out, didn't think there would be a problem getting paid, oh well. After 60 days of billing I filed a small claims suit and, like you, opted to pay extra for personal service. I had her business address and used it for service. The night before, she somehow got wind that a deputy would be there the next morning and demanded that I stop the service. I told here that if I had the cash in hand when court opened the next day I'd go in withdraw the suit but I couldn't guarantee that the service would be stopped.
I got cash plus my filing fees and she got served anyway, as she was in another county and my court couldn't withdraw service before it had occurred.
Re: Small claims
Outstanding bill is in the 1k neighborhood. Like someone mentioned previously it is a matter of principal and there is goods that have not been returned. I have been very patient with the client but keep getting the run around. It appears I am not the only one owed.
Its a bit of a bummer as I had several transactions with full payment prior to this. I am basically sending one last invoice stating the next step is small claims. Was just checking to see if it might be worth my effort to go that route.
Outstanding bill is in the 1k neighborhood. Like someone mentioned previously it is a matter of principal and there is goods that have not been returned. I have been very patient with the client but keep getting the run around. It appears I am not the only one owed.
Its a bit of a bummer as I had several transactions with full payment prior to this. I am basically sending one last invoice stating the next step is small claims. Was just checking to see if it might be worth my effort to go that route.
Re: Small claims
Might also be worth reminding the customer that not returning goods is theft, and that matter could easily be referred to the police...
Might also be worth reminding the customer that not returning goods is theft, and that matter could easily be referred to the police...
Re: Small claims
Ben, in some places the courts have a brochure or information sheet that tells you about the procedures. If your business is an LLC or a corporation, you should check and make sure that your entity is eligible to be a plaintiff in Small Claims Court. The laws vary from state to state, so other folks experience might not apply. They all are correct when they say that winning your case does not necessarily mean you can collect on the judgment. Mark C.
Ben, in some places the courts have a brochure or information sheet that tells you about the procedures. If your business is an LLC or a corporation, you should check and make sure that your entity is eligible to be a plaintiff in Small Claims Court. The laws vary from state to state, so other folks experience might not apply. They all are correct when they say that winning your case does not necessarily mean you can collect on the judgment. Mark C.
Re: Small claims
I have done that once here in Pennsylvania. I had to pay a small fee to file the claim.The customer never showed up for the hearing so I won by default.The customer paid the bill plus the court fee. If the customer doesn't pay,you can go back to the court and pay another small fee to send a constable out who will come up with a list of property the customer owns which will be sold at sheriff's sale to satisfy the debt.
I have done that once here in Pennsylvania. I had to pay a small fee to file the claim.The customer never showed up for the hearing so I won by default.The customer paid the bill plus the court fee. If the customer doesn't pay,you can go back to the court and pay another small fee to send a constable out who will come up with a list of property the customer owns which will be sold at sheriff's sale to satisfy the debt.
Re: Small claims
It might be easier to try to get the goods back.
Even if you don't get paid but end up with used gear the loss may be less than the cost of going to court.
Either way, you have to do something. you don't want word to get out that you're a pushover.
Jason
It might be easier to try to get the goods back.
Even if you don't get paid but end up with used gear the loss may be less than the cost of going to court.
Either way, you have to do something. you don't want word to get out that you're a pushover.
Jason
Re: Small claims
It looks pretty straight forward to take it to small claims here. 50$ fee to file. I am sending one last warning stating that's the next step and will go forward with that. Thanks for the insight all.
It looks pretty straight forward to take it to small claims here. 50$ fee to file. I am sending one last warning stating that's the next step and will go forward with that. Thanks for the insight all.