Qs about winning in small claims court.

[mardyn]

Years ago, I had a MF'n crooked lawyer stiff me on a repair on a boat engine for $1500.00...

Got a judgement in my favor(after he didn't even bother to show up to defend himself) from the Court... My Attorney calls me up a says "good news/bad news"

Good news = you won the judgement..
Bad news= there's $3 million in judgements against him already before they ever get to yours.

I never saw a penny of it.

The crooked bastard knew all along he wasn't paying me or the others with judgements against him. Some people are just sorry MFrs.

mardyn

[svauto-erotic855]

Years ago, I had a MF'n crooked lawyer stiff me on a repair on a boat engine for $1500.00...

Got a judgement in my favor(after he didn't even bother to show up to defend himself) from the Court... My Attorney calls me up a says "good news/bad news"

Good news = you won the judgement..
Bad news= there's $3 million in judgements against him already before they ever get to yours.

I never saw a penny of it.

The crooked bastard knew all along he wasn't paying me or the others with judgements against him. Some people are just sorry MFrs.

mardyn

You should have gotten a mechanics lien on the boat and repossessed it until he paid up. You can charge storage fees and auction it after 30 days.

[Gasser64]

Why did you hand the boat (or the engine?) back over to him before you had payment? Maybe he wrote a check?

[svauto-erotic855]

Why did you hand the boat (or the engine?) back over to him before you had payment? Maybe he wrote a check?

If the guy wrote a check that bounced it becomes theft by check and it is a felony in TX. I always file a theft of services report before anything else.

If he let the guy take the the boat before any payment was made it became an issue of him getting hustled by trusting someone. That boat would have be a pile of ash if I were in his shoes.

[mardyn]

You should have gotten a mechanics lien on the boat and repossessed it until he paid up. You can charge storage fees and auction it after 30 days.

Boat was already delivered at that point... it was kinda' a "checks in the mail" story. My mistake for trusting the bastard in the first place.

Strangely enough, that occurred circa 1988... thieving bastard's name was Robert "Bob" Holmes, now, 2017, some nearly 30 years later, I get taken again for a similar amount of money $1250.00 by another thief named Robert "Bob" George.

My advice? Beware of Bob

mardyn

[David]

You can have the judgment recorded with the County Clerk. It's called an Abstract of Judgement. People do it from "small claims" JP Courts all day everyday. It creates a public recording of lien or claim. These judgments are what show up on credit reports, title searches when someone tries to buy property etc.

It won't force payment, but it can become a hassle down the line for them.

[kingjason]

So I took a guy to small claims court because of some money he owed me. He got a lawyer and I represented myself but I still won. Now I have a piece of paper with a judgement in my favor. Anyone know how I'm can make him pay up now?

What David said andddddddd a you can pay the local constable and get a writ of attainder or something like that.

Here is the catch in Texas. In order to take property, they have to have like two of each. IE, two paid off cars, two TV's, two whatever and you can also put a lien against their shop or house. I won a case 20 years ago before I was LE. Fucking shade tree mechanic never fixed my RX7 turbo and scratched the new paint job. I beat him and his lawyer in court but when we tried to get him he really owned nothing of value.

This could have changed but that is how it was explained ot me at the time.

[David]

I believe Bills or writs of attainder are illegal under the Texas Constitution.

[Baron Von Crowder]

You can have the judgment recorded with the County Clerk. It's called an Abstract of Judgement. People do it from "small claims" JP Courts all day everyday. It creates a public recording of lien or claim. These judgments are what show up on credit reports, title searches when someone tries to buy property etc.

It won't force payment, but it can become a hassle down the line for them.

i'm dealing with one of those right now, you can add one to a property for any or no reason at all. Know how the property owner fights it? Pay it, and take them to JP court. There is no authority over it whatsoever. Mine is a pool service that quit coming, and then put an affidavit of mechanic's lien on my house for $500.

Other than hiring an attorney, there is nothing I can do. In all my research Ive found I'm one of 39 that he's filed in Tarrant co. The DA didnt really care much until they found out that it was over $20k worth.

[Stng5Pnt8]

Nope. There are ways to do that but not from a small claims judgement.

That's odd, I put a lien on a general contractors home for $10k that I paid him and he never completed the work at my office.

Had to take him to small claims court and once I had the judgement I took that over to the records building in downtown Dallas and they put the lien on his home. Now I have to apparently wait until he sells his home to collect.

He actually listed his home for sale not long ago, it was pulled from the market a week or so later. I wonder if the lien is coming up at this point...

[Baron Von Crowder]

That's odd, I put a lien on a general contractors home for $10k that I paid him and he never completed the work at my office.

Had to take him to small claims court and once I had the judgement I took that over to the records building in downtown Dallas and they put the lien on his home. Now I have to apparently wait until he sells his home to collect.

He actually listed his home for sale not long ago, it was pulled from the market a week or so later. I wonder if the lien is coming up at this point...

doubt it, mine didnt come up until well after the contract was in.

[David]

i'm dealing with one of those right now, you can add one to a property for any or no reason at all. Know how the property owner fights it? Pay it, and take them to JP court. There is no authority over it whatsoever. Mine is a pool service that quit coming, and then put an affidavit of mechanic's lien on my house for $500.

Other than hiring an attorney, there is nothing I can do. In all my research Ive found I'm one of 39 that he's filed in Tarrant co. The DA didnt really care much until they found out that it was over $20k worth.

You're talking two different scenarios.

[Baron Von Crowder]

You're talking two different scenarios.

same mechanism

[David]

same mechanism

I mean one you get the opportunity to go to a court, right to an appeal, etc. The other secures monetary interest in a property in benefit of those who have supplied labor or material.

[Baron Von Crowder]

I mean one you get the opportunity to go to a court, right to an appeal, etc. The other secures monetary interest in a property in benefit of those who have supplied labor or material.

and I mean that it works the same way.