• Sit down and write a clear and concise statement. Once you have done that, the exact controversy will probably become clearer to you and you won’t forget crucial information.
• Do your homework to clearly establish the dollar amount of your damages. Picking a number out of thin air, particularly for emotional distress won’t convince a judge of anything except that you’re emotionally distressed.
• Document damages, find comparable cases and bring in witnesses. You will need originals or copies of all relevant documentation such as receipts, contracts and canceled checks. You may want to prove damages by bringing the damaged item to court, showing photographs of the item before and after the damage occurred, or submitting the report of a repair person. The best evidence you have is a damaged good.
• Make sure you are suing the right person. Write the exact name and home or business address of the defendant. The name of the person or business must be complete and correct. If the defendant does business under a trade name, you’ll need to know its legal name. To obtain the real name, go to the county clerk in the borough where the business is conducted.
• Don’t assume the judge will understand that you are clearly on the side of righteousness. Usually it’s unclear to someone who is hearing the case for the first time.
3B3,• Stay calm and stick to the facts.
• Make your case simple, methodical, easy to understand and unemotional.
• Make sure you follow proper procedure by filing all the necessary paperwork and serving the parties correctly. The clerks at Santa Monica Small Claims Court are very helpful, but they can’t do your work for you and won’t give you legal advice.
HOW TO COLLECT A JUDGMENT
• Don’t rush it. Don’t be in a hurry to start bugging the defendant to pay up. Most small claims courts allow a losing defendant to appeal, so wait until the appeal deadline (30 days) passes before asking for money. Otherwise, your pushing your may nudge the defendant into filing an appeal, which you may lose.
• Don’t forget to ask. A surprising number of debtors will pay once a judgment is issued, if you politely ask for the money. A written request that reminds the debtor that an unpaid judgment will probably show up in the debtor’s credit file also helps.
5A4,• Treat the judgment as a long-term investment. Every state authorizes you to collect interest, commonly between 8-12 percent, on a judgment. Viewed as a long-term, uninsured investment, court judgments can pay off big time. Compared to limited partnerships, start-up companies and even many stocks, a court judgment has relatively low risk and moderate performance.
• Think through your collection strategy. Your strategy must depend on the debtor’s assets and income and the cost of collection methods available. You can get assistance of a sheriff or city marshal located in the county where the defendant works. You must provide the official with the information needed to locate assets (money or property) of the defendant and the sheriff or marshal can then seize those assets to satisfy your judgment. The official may request mileage and other fees before he or she seizes the assets. In many cases, those fees can be added to the original judgment amount, which covers the cost of preparing and sending a summons by certified mail to the defendant.
• Do your homework. The more you know about the business or person who owes you money, the more likely you are to get paid. Be a private detective and keep tabs on the debtor’s assets, lifestyle and projected financial situation.
• Know when to call it quits. Don’t throw good money after bad. Keep a sharp eye on how much you are spending to try to collect — you may not get it back.
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Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 20, 2002. Read the original PDF.