Yep, so after a few years of litigation and hours of time filling out forms on your state’s awful judicial portal (hopefully correctly!) you might stand a chance at a judgement. Then you can spend more time going back to court when they don’t pay, talking about time payment plans, etc. Maybe they’ll pay some of it, maybe not. Then they move to another state and you need to get your judgement domesticated there (with an in-person visit). Also, remember to keep renewing that judgement or it goes bye-bye!
Remember that the goal of the defendant is to exhaust the plaintiff, and cause them to spend more time than the judgement is worth. This is how the small claims system works.
> Yep, so after a few years of litigation and hours of time filling out forms on your state’s awful judicial portal (hopefully correctly!) you might stand a chance at a judgement
Do you have any examples of states where it takes hours of filling out forms for a small claims case?
The ones I've seen have been pretty simple.
California asks for plaintiff contact information, defendant contact information, how much money plaintiff is asking for and why the plaintiff believes they are owed that, the date that happened and how they calculated the amount, whether or not you've asked the defendant to pay you, a multiple choice question on which geographical aspect of the case takes place within the territory covered by the particular courthouse where you are filing, the zip code of the place that aspect of the case took place if you know it, whether or not the case is about an attorney-client fee dispute, if you are suing a public entity, if you've files more than 12 other small claims with the last 12 months in California, and if you claim is for more than $2500 and if is if you understand that you cannot file more than two small claims above $2500 in a single year.
California's is one of the more involved ones that I've seen.
Washington is pretty just much name the parties, how much you think you are owed, what it is owed for (checklist with categories like faulty workmanship, merchandise, rent, property damage, and a line to write in something else), and explanation of the reason for the claim.
Remember that the goal of the defendant is to exhaust the plaintiff, and cause them to spend more time than the judgement is worth. This is how the small claims system works.