Re: Small claims/debt court any of you dealt with it???

Posted by Dave H (MI) on October 29, 2015 at 08:13:58 from (50.108.116.240):

In Reply to: Small claims/debt court any of you dealt with it??? posted by jocco on October 29, 2015 at 05:23:16:

I have had to go to small claims court a lot for my business. In Michigan you have to be an individual to sue in SCC. If you have incorporated most judges will require a lawyer. Lawyers cannot represent you in SCC, so you have to take it up to general civil. At any point, either party can move it to general civil just because the want to. Once there, a thing called "discovery" comes into play. Parties have a right to depose you and any potential witnesses. Things get very expensive and the time frame can extend to years. If you stay in SCC, have impeccable records and the other side has no claims against you...chances are you will get your judgement. Otherwise you may get a strong recommendation from the bench that you step into the hallway and settle...generally 50%. It is generally unwise to ignore strong recommendations from the bench. Often I have sat in court (my wife works there) and have seen plaintiff lose and occasionally a cross complaint from defendant brings a judgement. But assuming you win, the court is not a collection agency and will not require payment. You have to wait most of a month and then can ask for a creditors exam and have the defendant come back in and you can question them about their assets. If they show up and if they have assets, you can then go after same. Should they not have assets or should they file bankruptcy you are pretty much SOL.

Lately when I sue for collection I am seeing a tendency on the part of the bench to let the defendant off the hook, even with the impeccable records that I bring to the table. The pendulum in our society has definitely swung in favor of those who do not want to pay. Twenty six years of doing collections, that is what I can tell you. The tendency of the uneducated is to sue, sue, sue. I stand firmly on the advice of my wife's first employer, a respected judge..."better a bad settlement than a good lawsuit".

If you don't know what he means, then you haven't spent much time in the system.

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