Legal Consequences of Not Paying a Small Claims Judgment?

Question

My mother signed up for a plan for 4 cell phones with a 2 year contract. My sister stole the phone she gave me to use and gave it to her boy toy at that time. He's run up the bill to several hundreds of dollars over the past few months. If we were to take him to small claims and win the phone back and all the charges he's made will he have to pay it? What are the consequences of not paying what the courts tell you to pay? My mother feels that small claims would be useless since she feels that if he's told to pay her back all they'd do is give him bad credit and she'd then be out of court costs. What are the North Carolina laws concerning this? Please provide some links to law websites. Thank you.

No it was never reported stolen because it was stolen by her daughter. My sister used the excuse "you never used it anyway" as an excuse for her illegal actions. Now my mother is having to suffer because of these actions. This guy's bill is about half if not more of her monthly bill. We're in contact with him about returning the phone but he hangs up when we call him on the cell. Surely there must be a way to settle this.

She knew right away that it was stolen but my sister assured her that he would pay for all of the charges he makes on the cell. Even now we're trying to get this guy to be mature and pay what he owes but it doesn't look good. My mother is too wishy washy and very hesitant to take action. When I bring up the cell she becomes defensive and turns it around on me and starts raising her voice about it. She can't afford to keep paying this guy's bill. Unfortunately my sister's thieving ways are too easily over looked.

In response to misspipik: I do work you moron. My mother wanted a cell phone so she got us all phones on her plan (free phones excluding the charges) so we could keep in touch. I rarely used the phone I was given so the bill was always $15 or less per month. Maybe you should work yourself or better yet go back to school so you can learn how to spell.

Answer 1

Since the phone was stolen, he can be held accountable for the use, though since the bill was run up over the course of "the past few months", you also bear some of the responsibility of the bill because you should've told your mother, and she should've had the phone shut off immediately. Therefore, you will not get fully reimbursed for all the calls made. In fact, most courts will only give you that month or a fraction thereof, since it wasn't shut off. Thus he will not bear the burden for all the calls.

If he fails to pay amount that the court orders her to pay, she will be held in contempt of court, though you may have to bring it to the court's attention unless payments were to be made through the court. Many courts will in this day and age for a fee (paid by the plaintiff, usually a percentage of the payments) accept payments through the court, and thus track what has been paid.

Answer 2

The court judgement only decides what amount is owed and is a legally enforceable debt. Collection the amount owed is the responsibility of the plaintiff. The court does not collect the debt for you. You have to find a source of money or goods to seize a such as a job where a garnishee order can be exercised or a court ordered seizure of goods to pay the debt.

It only works when the party has money to get. You could tell the police that the sell phone was stolen by him and they may get it returned and charge him with theft.

Answer 3

Did your mother report the phone stolen? If not, it may be real hard proving anything even in small claims court. That aside, if a judgement is made against this man and he refuses to pay, it may be possible to have his wages garnished. If it is just a few hundred dollars, your mother may want to ask herself what is more important? The principle is pursuing collection from him or her time?

Answer 4

you said yo momma is wishy washy. that means her head is swishing away in he butt. just about the time the bill gets to about $5000 you want to grab her by the shoulders and pull her head out. 5 grand is the top limit for small claims court. if you win, give me a call . i will collect it for you ...my fee is half. or just take my expert advice. just ask him to pay half. the most you can recover is half because you do not know how to collect. you are too busy doing stupid things. if you want a cell phone then go and buy one. if your mommy wants to help you out she can give you money for food and you can pay your own phone bill. if you cannot afford you expenses, turn off the computer and go to work. simple solutions for all simple and complex problems