The Process of Taking a Debtor to Small Claims Court
Small claims court is a special form of the court that, without the need for long and protracted litigation, hears cases between two parties. Without the cost of an attorney, you can take a lawsuit to a small claims court. Sometimes, when a debtor is approached regarding clearing their debts, that person ignores the person who helped them in their troublesome times. An individual feels helpless while asking debtors to clear their debts and still does not receive any payment. You can determine that bringing the person to a small claims court is the only way to get the money. There are lawful procedures that exist to help the person who has a claim over debt.
Defendant’s discovery and naming
During the filing of a lawsuit, it is ideal if the person is local and can be contacted easily. First, an individual must find the defendant and submit in the case the proper name and address. Naming the defendant means finding if the lawsuit is against a person, business, or both. If the lawsuit is against a corporation, then their registered agents should be contacted. On the other hand, to find a person their contact number or social media account can be used. Furthermore, if they own any sort of property or own any business, it can also be deduced. However, if an individual takes the other person to the court, it means that their future ties could be detached.
Filing your case and serving it
After discovering the identity of the person or a corporate the next step is to fill out an official complaint in the small claim court. Filling out forms and doing all the initial paperwork is easy, and an individual can easily deal with it themselves. Moving forward, after initial paperwork is done next step is to serve a summon or official notice to the other party, notifying them that a lawsuit has been filed against them. There are two ways in which they can be notified, the first one is an individual who has filed a lawsuit can serve the summon themselves, or it can be done through court directly. However, the court could charge for this service but is considered safer and more reliable if the person is approached through a court, to be sure it is done legally and there is a receipt showing it has been served.
Alternatives for small claim courts
You can also take the individual to court if the money owed to you is higher than the small claims court process, so you must find a solicitor and file a complaint. This means a lot of time and fees for lawyers and legal expenses, but it might not be worth it. You may also want to explore mediation, which, with the direction of a mediator, puts people together more informally to see whether they can find a consensus. Mediation is non-binding, but money may not be the only way to get it.
