Anybody here have experience going to small claims court?

[phylny]

I am not looking for legal advice, just want to hear other peoples' experiences.

We have a situation where one of three college house mates decided not to pay rent during the last month of her rotation (they rotated months, each of them paying one full month) because one of the students (not my daughter) had a boyfriend who stayed over all the time. Yes, literally all the time. The boyfriend, though, had an apartment with a lease. It's the last month of the lease that they didn't pay for, due July 1st, and the parent sent the letter June 30th. Nice, huh?

The non-payer's parent is stating that since boyfriend "lived there," they're not paying for the last month, and boyfriend should have to pay. We ended up paying it so that our daughter's credit rating wasn't damaged and are compiling paperwork to prove that she/parents owe that last month, since only our three daughters' names are on the lease.

Anyway, if any of you have experience in small claims court and care to share, I'd love hearing how it went, etc.

Thanks!

[Cleita]

1. No, but I used to watch Judge Wapner. The main lesson I took was to

state your case as thoroughly as you can in as few words as you can or you could lose your case just because the judge didn't want to hear everything you wanted to say if you couldn't rein it in.

[elleng]

2. No such experience but

I agree with Cleita AND suggest you write a short and firm letter to her parent(s), stating the facts, and stating your intention to seek relief in court if the family fails to do its duty. Among the points to make, briefly but firmly, BOY was not on the lease, the 3 women were, and boy has NO LEGAL obligation to pay,

SORRY you have to deal with this.

[msongs]

3. present the facts and avoid personalizing it in any way. stick to legal obligations only nt

[phylny]

4. BAH, LOVE the Wapner advice :)!!

Thanks, too, to the rest of you. Yes, this is why I'm doing it, not my husband. I love the man, but he can go on.

I am gathering all the info - got the signed lease with the signatures, I'm going to get the guy's lease (other girl's parents are just grateful we paid, they can't afford to - daughter is getting married to the guy who stayed over all the time, well one of OUR DAUGHTERS IS GETTING MARRIED TOO, but what the hell), and once I have everything I need, I'm sending the girl and her parents registered letters telling them that we paid and that we are taking them to small claims court by X date. Unfortunately, we have to take the girl to court, her name is on the lease.

I intend to keep it short and sweet, have all my ducks in a row, papers neatly arranged, and basically say that it doesn't matter if the Harlem Globetrotters were living there (they weren't), there were three names on the lease, and the records show that all rent payments except for the last one were paid, and we paid July's that should have been paid by the people we're taking to court because legally and ethically, we knew that our daughter's name was on the lease and we didn't want to be in violation of the agreement, nor did we want her credit rating to suffer due to the negligence of another party.

To think - these parents thought it was a good idea for the three of us to open a JOINT checking account last year. Ha - nope.

Thanks again!

[NV Whino]

5. Send a certified (signature required) letter to the parents requesting payment

And why you are requesting payment. Give them a deadliine to respond. Then document, document, document.

I have won every case I've taken to small claims because I'm organized, have documentation and can present the case quickly and succinctly. Dress nicely when you go to court.

Most people are illprepared to present a defense to a judge. Organization wins over disorganization.

Also, assess whether you have a better than 50% chance of winning. This has nothing to do with being right, it has to do with winning.

One of the cases I won was actually a little iffy; it could have gone either way. But I knew my opponent was not terribly organized and that pushed it in my favor. Sure enough, the day of court she was sitting in the hall frantically making notes. Had she been better prepared, she possibly could have pushed the case in her favor.

[phylny]

6. Thanks, NV

We are gathering everything, and will have everything neatly presented. My "presentation" should take about 60 seconds. I can't imagine I'll lose, simply because his letter to the other parent (never let me know our daughter was at risk of violating the lease she signed due to nonpayment of the last month's rent!) states that they are refusing to pay their portion because "K" was living there and should pay. Well, "K" stayed there in his girlfriend's room, but had a lease at another apartment, and his name was not on the lease, hers was, and she lived there. Yes, she moved out in May, as my daughter did - common in college townhomes.

He's also asking for their portion of the damage deposit. Ha! That'll happen when we're reimbursed for the rent his daughter didn't pay. We'll escrow it until this is all settled.

[NV Whino]

7. Sounds like you're on top of it.