Has Anyone Ever Sued in Small Claims Court? How to Collect? (Joshua: get credit, how much)

[NMCamper]

I was wondering if anyone has ever won a small claims suit for money owed and had a hard time collecting. I have heard that sometimes there are a lot of hoops to jump throught after you win the case. How much extra fees to collect money? Can you have defendent pay those fees? Can you garnish their wages in Texas? How long does the process take? I have done research, but don't seem to get any clear answers for the state of Texas, and I know all states are different. I know you can put a lien on any property they have other than their personal residence, and attempt to collect any property they might own, but not sure of what property could be considered exempt for them Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need my money!

[queenofsand]

You can't garnish wages in TX.

Preliminary info:Bexar County - Small Claims

[Paka]

I know of two folks that have filed and won in Small Claims Court and neither one ever collected a dime...don't know if that is common, but that is the case for the only two that I know of.

[fusQer]

It is common!

[sinsativ]

If you win in small claims, and get a judgement against someone, then you need to secure payment, which entails, collection, the judge should set forth terms. If the defendant has no assets, or liquid cash, then you're just up the creek. Main thing is go to SARMA on Broadway and make sure the thing is recorded on their credit record. Sometimes the courts don't do that. They just let it go, it also has a stronger appearance when that person tries to get credit in the future, and you can get it renewed yourself at SARMA, you don't have to let it die after the 7 year term.

[NMCamper]

If the defendant does have cash, stocks, IRA's etc., can they judge order that they pay me? Can the judge order that personal property be sold or auctioned to satisfy the judgement amount? Thanks for the SARMA tip!

[V3rtigo]

i've won twice, got paid twice. first was easy since it was a company. the second took 2 years to pay, and i had paid out almost as much trying to collect over those 2 years.

[Drzy]

Do y'all think it's worth suing more for principle than money? We paid $300 to have someone put up our Christmas lights and take them down. The full $300 was paid up front when they came to put them on, and we were told to call and schedule an appointment to take them down anytime after Christmas. After numerous unanswered calls and emails and the arrival of late January, we gave up and got some quotes on getting other people to do it. Quotes ranged from $75 to $150. We ended up buying a 40 foot extension ladder (it's a large 2-story home on a hill) for $175 off Craigslist and doing it ourselves.

We're going to ask him to reimburse us $75, the lowest quote. I doubt he'll answer. Assuming he doesn't, do you sue? On one hand I want to teach the guy a lesson (for lack of a better term), but a) he might not care, b) it may not be worth my time.

[cheermomof4girls]

We are having a similar problem. At first we told them they will be sued if they don't show up (long story short). Well they showed up with a pole instead of the ladder they used to put the lights up. They left a lot of the clips on the roof and told my dh that they don't have to remove those and that they were not a business. We have a receipt from them with their business name on it. My dh is has set up a mediation meeting first and if that doesn't work he will take them to small claims court. Are the guys you dealt with named Joshua or Tony by chance?

[scuba steve]

Odds are, these are some of the guys that leave those illegal signs up at all the intersections around town. So I hope they go down in small claims court!