small claim ?

[danauk]

I had my x girl friend sign a Promissory note saying that she would pay me back,well she was unemployeed from Feberary until two months ago10/01/2003. now she is working she has not yet paid me(she said she gets paid monthly)should i take her to small claim court or wait another month or so???she owes around $1000.She went to LV an got married to some "friend " while she was seeing me. we talk to each other but that is it. Do they tell her to pay infull or make payments??

 

[lwpat]

What you have to do is to contact the magistrate in the area where she lives. They will provide you with the forms and information on how to fill them out. There will be a filing and serving fee which is usually around $50.

If you win in court all you will get is a judgement which you then have to collect on your own.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Originally posted by danauk
I had my x girl friend sign a Promissory note saying that she would pay me back,well she was unemployeed from Feberary until two months ago10/01/2003. now she is working she has not yet paid me(she said she gets paid monthly)should i take her to small claim court or wait another month or so???she owes around $1000.She went to LV an got married to some "friend " while she was seeing me. we talk to each other but that is it. Do they tell her to pay infull or make payments??

You are one of the few who was smart enough to obtain a signed promissory note. You may want to send her a 'demand letter' via certified return receipt mail. The filing fees vary from state to state and in many cases is under $20 (I'm not sure where lwpat got $50, which may be the case in certain jurisdictions but I've never heard of it being that high.)

lwpat is correct that you'll only win a judgment and that if the ex isn't cooperative, you'll have to do some work to execute and that part is not fun.

 

[danauk]

The county does charge $50. ,but can i get back atfer they garnish her wages.i have a record of everything that she owns me and i will add filing fee plus and ring she has not returned but no record of it (can't find reciept).Total is $1300.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Originally posted by danauk
The county does charge $50. ,but can i get back atfer they garnish her wages.i have a record of everything that she owns me and i will add filing fee plus and ring she has not returned but no record of it (can't find reciept).Total is $1300.

My comment was on the relatively large amount the county is charging for small claims court -- the point is not to require such a huge outlay from people dealing with small disputes. It will not incentivize people to go to court since the outlay and investment, if recouped, is high and somewhat risky.

Good luck to you -- sometimes 'execution' on the judgment is not so easy (to obtain payment) especially if that person moves jobs. I hope that it works for you and let us know how it turns out!