I have obtained judgement for a claim in the small claims court...?

Question

Does the defendant have to pay the amount of the judgement or can he now make a counterclaim and make deductions? He ignored the original claim and did not respond in the allowed time. Please assist

They have now part paid but have made deductions. They have also not paid the court fee. They have also deducted a counter claim. Can I refuse their payments and hold out for the whole judgement amount.

Answer 1

In the Uk for small amounts of money owed, one can make a claim for the amount from the Defendant whereby the physical act of going to court is not usually required. The Defendant should respond either admitting or denying the claim.

If he denies the claim the court will address whether he has reasonable prospects of successfully defending the claim. If they do not consider that he has a part 24 summary judgment will be made against him. If he wants to counterclaim, he should do this at the same time as he enters his defence so that the court can address all issues relating to reasonable prospects fo successfully defending .

If a Defendant fails to reply at all to a claim that has been recorded in the court a judgment in default will be made of which is a purely administrative procedure. Unless he had a very good reason for not entering a defence or reply at the time asked and he later wants to contest the default judgment such would be denied him. The court if he had a good reason for his delay may consider this, but rules are strict.

He cannot make a counter claim after a judgment has been made, he should have done this with his defence / reply. If he thinks he has a claim he will have to start the same action that you started ( from the beginning so to speak)
He is obliged to make repayment, if not ask the court for an enforcement order this should at least give you some money back.

Answer 2

The counter-claim would need to have been filed at the time of the original suit. The other party cannot come back later and start a new trial for the offsets.

Once a judgment is rendered, the other side must either pay, or appeal the decision. And while appeal rules vary by state and jurisdiction, most appeals need to be filed within 60 days.

If the other person does not pay you within a month or two, and does not file a formal appeal of the decision, then you can go back to court and ask the judge to order garnishment of wages, or seizure of assets (bank accounts, etc.) to satisfy the judgment. Sometimes that can be done in the same small claims court, sometimes it requires a separate civil action in state court. It all deoends on the local jurisdictional rules.

Answer 3

Assuming the defendant wasn't present at the court date and you won by default, there is no way he can counterclaim and make deductions. The law allows for a certain period of time before you can enforce judgment against this individual. It is stated in the forms you received from the court. Past that stated time, you can send him a letter indicating you have won a judgment against him and expect payment before you proceed further ,or simply bring him back to court for examination and ask him about personal assets ( property that is) and collect from there. You can also garnish his wages or take is car, bike, etc...
The most effective way is the garnishment of his wages since the Marshall's take care of that by sending a letter to his employer and the employer is required by law to enforce it least he may be penalized or hold in contempt. The employer then will deduct a portion out of the individual's check and forward that amount to the marshal's office where you can collect. The cost of doing this is paid by the defendant and you can add it to your request for garnishment

Answer 4

No he generally has what is called a compullsory counterclaim..meaning it was required for him to answer and to file the counterclaim them...since he did not he no longer has that right.

If he has another claim against you for an action unrelated to the one that made you sue him...he can bring a claim which is not a counterclaim but a new claim to court...it wouldn't offset your judgment it would just mean you both have judgments...His time for a counterclaim has come and gone.
By the way do not go to the court and ask for legal advice they cannot advice you.

Answer 5

Realistically his Ball game is over for this case and you can hopefully nail him to pay everything that the Court awarded you.

Being realistic again - He can file a new law suit against you in court for whatever he claims you owe him for whatever UNLESS it was determined by the small claims court that what he is now claiming was not proper. This would be a matter of "Res Adjudicata" or a matter that has already been been decided by the court.

I certainly would not worry about it at this stage of the Ball Game but if he does sue you do not make the same mistake as he did by ignoring it!

Good Luck!

Answer 6

You should bear in mind that although the court may make a judgment in your favour (this means ordering the defendant to pay you), the court will not automatically take steps to make sure that the money is paid. If the defendant does not pay, you will need to ask the court to take action (called ‘enforcing your judgment’), for which you may have to pay another fee.

Answer 7

You can put a lien on his property and have the sheriff take it to be sold to satisfy the judgment. If the guy doesn't have assets you can garnish his wages and bank account(s). If that doesn't work, then you're screwed. The guy could also file a motion for slow pay. What this does is make sure you get money but at a certain amount per month. Usually it's very small. But If the guys doesn't have assets, you're done. You may as well have sued the Easter Bunny.

Answer 8

Small Claims Court does not enforce payment of a judgement.
It takes a civil suit.

Answer 9

Edward if what your saying is correct then what is the purpose of the small claims court//i thought that was the whole idea so it looks like you wasted your time Adam

Answer 10

If you go back to the Court and go to the Issues department and explain it to them, they will be able to advise you what to do.