A legal question from a friend

[reprobayt]

Person A has a legal, notarized contract with Person B concerning monthly payments.

Person B reneges on contract...triggering payment in full of several thousand dollars.

Person A and Person B are in different states.

Does Person A need to hire a lawyer, a para-legal or is there a way to handle this in some semblance of small claims court?

Any help is appreciated...my friend is in danger of losing their place and is looking for answers I don't have.

Comments

[stormkitty.livejournal.com]

Person A should start by checking with both their clerk of courts and the clerk of courts where Person B is located. Someone there should be able to let them know which jurisdiction they need to file in (and which would be easier if they're able to file in either). Since Person A has a signed notarized contract, it's pretty simple and they shouldn't need an attorney. But, they could also look up to see if there is a paralegal assistance place in their area and go there to get some help if necessary.

Best of luck. Sounds like a sucky situation for Person A. :(

[drlaurac.livejournal.com]

1. Search Handelonthelaw.com
2. Amount might be small enough for small claims court, in which I think it'll work as long as person A can travel to where person B is to file and to attend court.

[twochicsinbham.livejournal.com]

What is the amount in question? Here in Alabama small claims is limited to 10k and under.

As far as where to file...it would be advantageous for Person A to file where he/she lives - then it'd be on Person B to figure out the travel to attend court, etc. Person A seems to have been burdened enough.

There will be a filing fee to file a complaint in any court, so Person A needs to be prepared to pay that. Here it depends on the amount sought.

Then Person B will have to be served with the summons and complaint- which can be done by certified mail, law enforcement or special process server. I would suggest certified mail to start with, as that is the cheapest way to get someone served. Here in Alabama small claims court a Defendant has 14 days to answer the summons and complaint. If they fail to do so, a judgment for the plaintiff is usually entered. Then the plaintiff can go on with the collection process. That is a whole 'nother ball of wax, as they say.

Feel free to message me on FB and I'll be happy to go into more detail.

Sorry Person A is dealing with this issue.

D-

[softlywhispered.livejournal.com]

I can offer nothing to the conversation, save, I'm sorry that they're going through this, and that person B is being a douche.

hmmmm

[paidiraiompair.livejournal.com]

Seems like Person B might need one of those "back handed" Injun "blessin's".....

[house-pundit.livejournal.com]

Winning a judgment and collecting it are two different things. Your friend can probably file in small claims court, jurisdiction is probably where they were when they made the contract, money was loaned, etc.--person B probably hasn't changed the jurisdiction just by moving.

Your friend may have to pay to have person B served, or may not.

If your friend obtains a judgment, they have to know where person B's assets are to be able to get an order to execute the judgment--I don't know what that's called. Easiest example is that person B has a bank account person A knows about and knows the bank and account numbers, person A gets a specific court order to be able to yank money out of said account, goes down to the bank (with sheriff), presents the order, and the bank coughs up the money.

Usually, you don't know what person B's bank accounts are. So then you have to do other stuff to find their assets, maybe garnish their wages. But a lot of times in a small claims situation like this, it's blood out of a turnip, and if person B has any sense they'll close out their bank accounts and get their paycheck *not* direct deposit. If someone is trying to collect on a judgment.

I am not a lawyer, as you know. This is me talking out my arse, not specific legal advice.

What it boils down to is that person A should definitely get the judgment and start proceedings to collect, but if they're depending on collection to save their place, they're outta luck.

[house-pundit.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, sometimes if you have a judgment and you tell your deadbeat that you are about to start garnishment proceedings (I wouldn't say you were unless you really could and were), then rather than have their employer get really pissed off at having to deal with wage garnishment, deadbeat will start paying up.

The trick is you don't want to do anything that would make the contract not collectible by counting legally as a "settlement."

However, it's also possible, and reasonable, for person A to go to person B and say, "You owe me. I *am* going to sue you. I will win. Then here's how I can collect the judgment from you, which is going to be embarrassing to you, possibly cost you your job, and all of it's going to be a pain in the ass to me. You can settle the lawsuit before we go to court if you immediately cough up $X."

Your friend needs to figure up the costs and time of recovering his money. Then ask himself does he want the money, or does he want to screw person B on the principle of the thing and make person B cough up every last cent, plus reasonable legal fees (I don't know if that's possible with this kind of case)?

It's not going to save him from losing his place. He needs to find some other strategy for that.

But if over the long term he just wants as much of his money as he can get, then his best bet is to figure out what recovery will cost him and make person B an offer. Then tell person B what the offer is going to increase to if person B waits until person B is served with papers to settle. And so forth.

Or, if person A knows the right people, person A may be able to sell the debt to someone like, oh, I dunno, the mafia? Then let *them* collect on it. I've heard of that being done. And working. But you have to be connected. (In that case it was legal--the note was transferable, the person sold the note, how the mafia collected on the note was, at that point, between them and the debtor. But that was a debtor who easily had the money and just said, "Screw you, jack, I'm not paying. Ha ha.")

It depends on the situation. If person B is unemployed and broke, your friend might get some money by making a decent enough settlement offer that it's worth person B to borrow from Peter to pay Paul. Or to go to court and get that judgment, and then take whatever action to collect the judgment, along the way, that keeps the debt from somehow becoming uncollectable.

As far as being able to collect the debt at all, remember that a statute of limitations applies and has a ticking clock, so friend needs to decide what to do and do it.

[house-pundit.livejournal.com]

Suing people is hard. Contracts between individuals are usually small enough that they're not economically worthwhile to take to court. Deadbeats know this. Don't lend money.

That doesn't mean don't have compassion. If you are having compassion, *give* money. If you can't afford to give it, you can't afford to help that much.

Suing people is hard, etc. When exchanging goods and services with individuals, run it as close to cash on the barrelhead as possible, and don't let someone run up a line of credit (lend money). "I'll pay you back when.... I swear..." Far more often than not, that means I won't pay you at all, or not without a friendship-busting fight.

Perpetual line, "I'm sorry man, I can't afford to do that." Which, because suing people is hard and expensive, if you can't afford to completely lose whatever it is, you *can't* afford to help them.

This is true even if they have the best will in the world, because people in money trouble have the commonality that they (we, lately) are people who tend to get into money trouble.

Not saying don't be compassionate. *Do*. We all need it, we all depend on each other, it's important. Just restrict yourself to what you can afford to *give*. If they do repay you, it's gravy.

Yeah, well. I went ahead and typed it because I'm sad about having learned it the hard way a couple of years ago. I still would have helped that friend, just with less money. She meant to pay me back, but the reason she needed help in the first place was because she perpetually did. Very nice girl.

[djenigma.livejournal.com]

having dealt with small claims court, i can tell you that the max amount depends by jurisdiction, but you generally have to file in the defendant's jurisdiction, so even though person a's getting screwed, they're sadly going to be the one that ends up inconvenienced trying to resolve all this, most likely. :/

best of luck to your friend on getting this sorted... legal messes are no fun.