October, 2003

Small Claims

When I was in law school, I did some contractor work to help make ends meet.  Nothing too big: some painting, wall papering, light maintenance, etc.  Of course I got stiffed on one of my jobs.  After I wallpapered his bathroom, the guy moved out of state, owing me about $1,200.  Well you would think I was robbed at gunpoint the way I ranted and raved about how I was going to extract my vengeance on this miserable @#$%^&*!  I was going to sue him, put a lien on his house, garnish his wages, and put him in jail to boot. 

Of course I needed an attorney.  And since I was a student, I wanted one of those free ones.  But even if I had to pay for one it didn't matter because I'd just add that to my lawsuit.

The reality slaps that hit me in the face that day caused permanent brain damage.  Not only is there is no such thing as a free lawyer in a civil case, but even if I won, I wouldn't collect my attorney's fees.  That doesn't (often) happen in our judicial system. 

This presents a common problem for many of us.  Someone owes us money.  To us, it is a lot of money.  But to the courts, it's too little to hire a lawyer to go after.  What's the point in hiring one to collect $1,200 when I have to pay him $3,000 to take on my case? 

This is what Small Claims Court is for: to provide a simple process to sue someone for relatively small amounts of money.  In Massachusetts, the maximum amount you can sue for is $2,000.  So what if someone owes you more than $2,000?  Do you cut your losses and stay in Small Claims or do you go through regular court?  Tough call.  Certainly if you were owed $2,001, you would eat that extra buck and stay in small claims.  But what if you were owed $3,000?  It gets a little more iffy at that point.

So what's the procedure?  Go to the court house, and pick up a small claims complaint.  This is a simple form that you fill out and then file with the clerk along with your filing fee in the amount of $30 to $40.  (You get this back if you win.)  The form is very simple.  Fill in your name and address and the defendant's name and address and then a short statement of why you are suing them and how much they owe you.

The court will then mail both parties a notice of the hearing.  You show up at that hearing and present your case to the Magistrate.  See my article last month on trial in a divorce case.  That will guide you how to prepare and present your case to the court.  Then you go home and wait for the judgment.  If you are the plaintiff and you win your case, then you can sit back and wait for the money to roll in.  LOL (computer acronym for "Laugh Out Loud.")  Okay, collecting on a judgment is going to require another article altogether.  We'll save that for another day.

So how did my case go?  I settled for short money.  It turns out I really did a lousy job hanging the wallpaper in the bathroom.  It looked like The 3 Stooges did it.  So I probably got more than I deserved.