small claims court

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 7/19/02 7:12:12 AM Central Daylight Time, 
jformsma@dixie-net.com writes:


> Dear List,
> 
> Do any of you have advice for the following?
> 
> I am owed a little less than $200. Is it worth the effort to go to small
> claims court when the court is located some 75 miles away?
> 
> I hope no one has experience with this, but if you do, I'd benefit from
> hearing it.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> John M. Formsma
> Blue Mountain, MS
> 
> 

John

It might be worth it, if you have the time. The expense of filing is added to 
what the client owes you. But there are two things to consider. First is your 
time. With the court 75 miles away, it will take you a minimum of three hours 
to go to court. Is it worth three hours of your time to get $200? The second 
thing to consider is that even if the judge sides with you, all the court can 
do is order the client to pay you. The client is still not obligated to do 
so. If the client doesn't pay, then you have to go to the sheriff, who will 
charge you a fee, to go the client to collect the money. If the client has 
the money when the sheriff shows up, then that is all there is to it. But if 
the client doesn't have the money, then you have to go to court again to 
place a lien on his/her property.

If the client thinks he doesn't owe you the money, and is hoping the judge 
will dismiss the case, then you might have a chance of collecting it after 
the judge rules in your favor. But if the client is dodging you, even if the 
small claims judge tells the client to pay you, you might have to go to a lot 
of trouble to get it. 

I have done about 10 small claims. 5 of them sent me the money. 4 of them are 
in litigation, and I decided it wasn't worth the money and time to go after 
the last one. 

Wim  

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