Small claims collection continues to be problematic
Despite a $3,250 judgment in her favor, Amy Ruppert left the Santa Monica Small Claims Court last Monday no richer than when she arrived.
Like dozens of others each week who prevail in small claims court, Ruppert must now pursue the money she is legally owed. It could be a long chase. She is rapidly finding out that winning a judgment may be only half the battle.
Cheryl Noda, the Santa Monica landlord who accepted Ruppert’s check as down payment on an apartment for Rupert’s June 1 move-in, deposited the check into her mother-in-law’s bank account, where it was promptly spent.
However, the apartment is still occupied and Ruppert never moved in. But Noda now claims to be broke and won’t refund the deposit.
“There’s acrimony here in the court,” said Pro Tem Judge Bonita Churney, an attorney. “But getting payment can become very acrimonious as well. If someone wants to make themselves scarce, it can become very difficult (to collect a small claims judgment).”
Attorney and Pro Tem Judge Norman Axe said just because a plaintiff wins doesn’t mean the battle is over.
“Getting the judgment is one thing,” he said. “Collecting is the more important and difficult issue.
“Once you get the judgment you’re on your own,” he added. “First, you contact the defendant and say ‘pay.’
Now if they don’t pay, the big problem you’ve got is you have to find their assets.”
That’s when the sheriff’s department can step in. For a nominal fee, the department will collect the money the plaintiff is owed. But first, he has to find out where it is.
“State code does not allow the taxpayer to shoulder the burden of collecting a judgment,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Gray, who oversees the levy crew in Santa Monica. “The code puts everything on the judgment creditor to do all his own investigation.”
By having to pay all fees up front and doing the leg work themselves, many people are deterred from trying to collect at all.
“It’s an expensive and cumbersome process,” said attorney and Pro Tem Judge Ed Schaffer.
Axe added that even court-ordered examinations, where the defendant is asked about his or her earnings and assets under oath, often fail, although they are available to every small claims victor.
“So someone comes in and says, ‘I don’t have a job. I don’t have a bank account.’ What are you going to do? A lot of the time, someone who doesn’t want to pay will be one step ahead of you.
“Unfortunately, the average person often can’t (gather all the necessary information). But there are always collection agencies. They’ll handle everything for a chunk (of the judgment).”
Then there are defendants who are accustomed to losing small claims cases and become experts in making themselves “judgment-proof” — by putting assets in relatives’ names or simply hiding them.
Meanwhile, Ruppert is still looking for housing.
Noda said she intends to repay Ruppert, but she doesn’t have any money right now.
Ruppert isn’t holding her breath. “Here she is with a big home in the Marina and three new cars in the driveway,” Ruppert said. “It’s very irritating. It’s like I’m financing $3,000 for a complete stranger. It’s ridiculous.”
“It’s very irritating. It’s like I’m financing $3,000 for a complete stranger. It’s ridiculous.” — —AMY RUPPERT Santa Monica small claims plaintiff
Ruppert might take heart from a Colorado man who once sued a small commuter airline over some lost baggage. After pointing to a plane waiting to leave the airport there, the man persuaded the local sheriff to padlock it — until the air-line paid the $175 in question.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 22, 2002. Read the original PDF.