Has anyone ever won their case in small claims court?

Question

I am suing a former roommate for leaving 6 months early on a 1yr lease, plus damages and harassment. I fell I hav e a 99% chance to win being that I have all of my bills, lease, signed agreements, police reports, etc. He even declined to come to court mediation before I filed for this case. I am pretty sure that I will win considering I have a lot to support my case. Has anyone here ever won in small claims? After a judgement happens how do I go about collecting the judgement? (the case in being heard in Brooklyn, NY) Someone told me u have to go back to court after u get the judgement and file a new judgement to appoint someone to collect for me. Someone else told me all you need to do is tell the bank where they work and the bank the use so they can start garnishing their wages? Can anyone tell me for sure what the next steps are after you win a judgement? How do u ensure collection? How soon will I start recieving payment? The case is being heard at the end of this month. Thanks!

ok, some of your have been extremely informative, esp with the forms online (great info) but i was curious if u knew how the whol garnishing funds from banks work. one person said u can get sued if u dont go about it the right way. 2nd shoudl i just get a lawyer, would that be a better way of garnishing the funds?

Answer 1

How you enforce depends on many things. If you know where he banks, you could serve a restraining notice and information subpoena on the bank. The form can be gotten from a legal stationery store, or you can go to Blumberg's (62 White Street) or you can try online. One form that you might use is http://www.blumberglegalforms.com/Forms/410.pdf.

If he owns real estate, you will want to file a lien against the property. To do that, you have to obtain a transcript of judgment from the clerk of the Civil Court, Kings County, and file it with each county clerk in which he owns real estate. Once you obtain a transcript of judgment and docket it with a county clerk (starting with Kings County, you must docket first in the court's home county) you must issue enforcement papers out of Supreme Court, using the sheriff rather than a marshall.

A wage execution is very tricky and I would not suggest you try it unless you have the assistance of counsel.

Once you find assets, you serve a restraining notice on the garnishee (the bank if you're going after a bank deposit) and issue an execution to the marshall (if you have not docketed the judgment) or the sheriff.

Answer 2

DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE AMATEURS except maybe to Cybersharque and part of what the first woman said about judgment recovery. Then there's what that other guy said about winning, but his friend trashed his car. Do you want that? Don't take my harshness personally. I mean to help you by keepin it real because I was in Collections.

Let me start by saying, You cannot ensure anything, especially collection. Second, good luck collecting the money, honey. Sure you win the judgment, but will you be able to collect? If your roommate left you in the dust, chances are the roommate has no money. If you hire a judgment recovery service they will take 50%, that's HALF baby. You can attempt a wage garnishment which will get you 10% of the roommate's income maximum and only if they're making a certain amount of unprotected money (you can't attack pensions, child support, etc.). But get in line. I'm thinking the roommate has a long list of creditors. LOL, I liked cybersharque's answer overall, but real estate? Give me a f**kin break. This guy has no real estate if he has you as a roommate, and he clearly has no money, and you can take that statement to the bank. What, you think he moved in with you to not pay you the rent later because he's renting out his condo in Florida?

DO NOT call the bank where they work and tell them to start garnishing wages. Are you retarded? Are you? You cannot disclose private, potentially embarrassing information like that lest you enjoy being sued. You've done all this research, but you didn't read anything where it says only a Judge can do anything? Only a Judge orders a garnishment (often the clerk can do it). And you better serve the person properly or you're looking at a service defense. In NY, you have to serve the person personally. Yeah, yeah, there are exceptions, but it's basically personally. Due diligence is a very strong word, don't take it lightly. And if you trust a service guy, hahaha, good luck not having him pull some illegal service where you could be sued.

Your case is in Kings County? Normally, the Landlord has a duty to mitigate. This is where they have to relieve the pangs of early vacation by finding another tenant. Landlord's in KC usually only get one month rent at most if they sue and the tenant vacated. You may have a limited duty to find a new roommate, and the Landlord an affirmative duty. If this is true, you will be looking at jack sh*t for a judgment and it certainly won't be worth your time to pursue it.

Next time, pick your roomies better. You're just mad right now and it will blow over. Get your judgment, then hire your JR service at a 50% cut, but let it go. Counting on the money or a smooth ride is dumb. Hey, there's a chance I'm wrong, but it's your dime so do what you wanna do.

Answer 3

Unfortunately the only thing you can do is file a judgement with the court. This will cost you more money but a fairly nominal fee and more paperwork. Any time in the future that he tries to get credit for anything your judgement will pop up. He won't be able to buy a house or a car etc. until he pays you. Also find out who licenses pool builders and try to get help from them in collecting. Register a complaint with the Better Business Bureau too, although if you mess with his business and he has no income then you still lose. Good Luck to you.

Answer 4

Oh you'll win, then you got to collect the money and that can be a problem if he has little or nothing.

My story:
I loaned a "good" friend $600 with the promise it would be paid back within a month. A month later, no money. Two months later I went to his house to get the money and he refused. Took him to small claims court and of course won.

Then collection:
Three months later despite the court order no money. So I went down to the DMV and found out he owned a broken down truck with current registration and a real nice Camero. I then went to the Sheriffs office and had his Camero towed. legally you can not take a persons mode of transportation or the tools of their trade away, but if they have two vehicles, then you can. It ended up costing him over $700 by that time. He paid by that afternoon.

Two months later he trashed my car.

Moral of the story, never loan friends money.

Answer 5

well, if you have the evidence, then you will be awarded what you are asking

but in a civil matter (which is what small claims courts fall under), you have to procure your own method of getting hte payment from the person. You can do it in person, with the escort of a police officer (or peace officer from the court)

or you can hire a judgment recovery service, which will take a percentage of your judgment to collect on your behalf.

Answer 6

You can garnish his bank account and/or his wages. If you win ask the clerk how long it takes for the judgment to become final. Once it is final the clerk can show you the forms to garnish.

Answer 7

yes i have with a car company that made me pay for things that was in my warenty.. so go for it

Answer 8

do you know anybody thats lost? that means somebody else won......