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Some Facts about Small Claims Court
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[Mark Suszko] “the scumbag who had been dodging our calls and registered mail for weeks, and who never showed up to court, calls to say he can’t make rent or eat because we’d tapped him dry.”
Very similar to my experience when I had to get marshals to yank money from the account of the first guy who ever stiffed me. He was very ticked-off and called to complain because we had taken the money out of his account that was intended as the payment on his Mercedes. As I recall, I wasn’t very sympathetic. He later called to tell me how great my work was, and that we won all kinds of awards. I told him to go to Hell.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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I’d never elect to go to court. Court blows.
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100 percent of the time, it’s easier to drive across town and tell some dude “gimme my money, beotc.!” than to feed a system that has nothing to do with justice, ironicly calling itself the jusdicial system. I don’t even do jury duty. It’s too easy to yell “that’s him!” and get back to work.
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After reading all of the posts up till now, I have a few experiences to look back on.
In the 60’s, I was a hard core Harley guy and settled most of my disagreements with a cue stick or a baseball bat. No one owed me money, or at least not for long. I had been to court and too many times, the verdict was based on looks, length of hair, reputation, or some other discriminatory detail.
After mellowing out and balancing the time spent in jail vs the actual score that was settled, I started using the court system. Some of the old guys looked down on that but it was time for a change.
I have been the plaintiff in 5 small claims cases and have prevailed each time. All 5 were for non payment of debt. One was actually a wash where the judge figured that we were pretty much even.
About 10 years ago, we gathered up all of our way overdue invoices and sued about 6 or 7 people or companies. They were all over the small claims limit and we used our corporate lawyer. It cost us about $3000 and we never collected a penny. Money not well spent (This is what Ron is talking about).
A year ago, I had to pursue a client that stiffed us for quite a bit of money. He had been a client for 10 years and always paid, albeit sometimes a bit late. He has a Canadian company and he convinced my wife that he needed to pay for his infomercial after it was completed because of new money transfer laws brought on by 911. I had no knowledge of this agreement and would not have approved. She said ok and he clipped us for just under $19k. We sued, he lost in court by not showing up. We haven’t collected a dime and we are now pursuing the matter with the U.S. Marshalls office to go after his bank account. Just try collecting from a Canadian bank.
My overall experience leaves me with the same taste as Mr. Lindeboom. If you are quite certain that you will prevail in court and that you’re not going to spend a thousand to win 500 or you’re not going to miss a big job to win a small amount, have your day in court. There’s always the baseball bat and there are other, more creative ways to bring people to their knees.
Something that I have thought about for years is having a credit app for people to fill out and sign when they ask for credit. When someone has to put ALL of their financial info on a sheet of paper for YOU to read, they tend to back off. They get a bit nervous when you have their social security number.
And that brings up another thing that most people don’t know. If someone stiffs you, file a 1099 on them with the IRS. They have to claim the entire amount as income, and if they don’t, they will have IRS problems. You simply file a 1099 on them. And if you don’t have their ssn, the IRS can help you with that too. The IRS has their own form of baseball bat, and it ain’t pretty.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1 HD . -
[David Roth Weiss] “I told him to go to Hell.”
Ooo Ooo! I have so many responses to this one. RL, however, would frown on all of them. So just use your knowledge of me and your imagination.
Go David!
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1 HD . -
[Steve Wargo] “ust use your knowledge of me and your imagination. “
No way!!! Let’s hear…
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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[grinner hester] “I don’t even do jury duty. It’s too easy to yell “that’s him!” and get back to work.”
Frankly, this is disappointing from you. First, you’re missing out. Serving can be a very rewarding experience. Second, we’re lucky to have a good judicial system, and it is your duty as a citizen to support it.
Bob C
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