Would You Go Small Claims or Not? & If Yes, What Venue?

[ROFL BOX 6649]

Truck not running, blown engine.  Got a replacement that is 1 year newer & ALL related aftermarket components (bolt on type accessories) that I wanted from the old truck were not to convey.   Buyer mostly just wanted the transmission.

Sold truck approx 9 months ago.

Buyer shows up faster than I wanted, has flatbed with winch.  In a hasty run, "we" (all of us... me + buyer & his pals) removed grill guard, headache rack &... I think one or two other items.  I recorded video on phone (& sent to him via text so we both have a record of this transaction) stating I would track down the title (again, he shows up faster than I was able to reasonably accommodate) & trade that out for the other components:

 - Side step bars

 - LED fog lights (Rigid brand, best in the business), D.O.T. approved, replacements for factory location.

 - Aftermarket tail lights (LED)

 - Aftermarket headlights (Dodge / Ram is notorious for shitty headlights & tail lights)

 - Curt trailer brake controller

 - Swing out side step (for access to the truck box; step bars noted above were only long enough for front & back doors on crew cab)

Moving ahead to August & I notified him I had the title & was coming up in around 2 weeks or so (when I could get a friend to help me peel off all sorts of parts as noted above).  Had a couple of delays & eventually it was like 20 odd days or so after that "I'm gonna get up thataways soon" when we actually make it up there.

 . . .

Day prior to trip, he says "My Dad will be there, not me."

I finally get to the shithole of Mart with my friend (E of Wacko, a 2½ hour drive for me) where the truck is supposed to be @ his Dad's shop & find the truck has been stripped of all sorts of stuff - not a surprise, it's not mine anymore.  What he did NOT tell me is the truck was now heavily overgrown in weeds & Dad says "Yeah, I told him to letcha know it was high in the brush.  I cain't do nothin' 'bout that"

The front wheels were off (& maybe the back; couldn't see them), no reasonable way to drag the truck forward or even lift it so I have reasonable access to the step / Nerf bars or single swing out step, headlights & tail lights are gone, the brake controller is gone, the LED fogs are gone (& in a text he says "The foglights didn't work" to which I responded "They are / were Rigid - lifetime warranty & could have been repaired if that's true") & as much as I wanted to say it, I left out "hey, fucknut..."

All together, it's close to $ 1,000.00 in parts if full retail, not even including the labor.

Now, stay with me here - I'm already ahead of y'all that are saying "Shit, if you win he's probably judgment proof under generally being a deadbeat & shitty human.  Isn't living in Mart penalty enough?"

From reading HF / Shaggy-B / Shaggy-H / Surly all these years, I'm thinking the 1st thing is make a roux.

1.  Then:  Send formal sounding text telling him my request for compensation or for the parts & that he @ least meet me in Temple (more than ½ on my end) to hand over the goodies or full $$ on material alone.

2.  If I am ignored or maybe even get a "suck it" response, send strongly worded letter via certified mail (to the address where pops has his shitty workshop).  Explain my request / demands & reasons why.

3.  If fully ignored from there & having been returned a receipt of letter, file in JP Court.

4.  ???

5.  Profit.

...if Small claims, can I drag his ass down here to Hays County?  Do I have to drive up there to visit with the fine officers of the court system in McClennan County?  Because obviously I would much rather have the venue down here with me.

So, what sayeth thee, Opinionated Court of Shaggravation?

[TwiceHorn 31471]

Sounds like kind of a mess, but maybe you have documented sufficiently to prove a claim.  You can't get "replacement value," but only the value in the used condition, so don't show up trying to prove retail value.

As far as venue, it's more than likely McClennan.  

(1) the county and precinct where the defendant resides;

(2) the county and precinct where the incident, or the majority of incidents, that gave rise to the claim occurred;

(3) the county and precinct where the contract or agreement, if any, that gave rise to the claim was to be performed; or

(4) the county and precinct where the property is located, in a suit to recover personal property. 

The problem, as you note, is collecting on any judgment you receive.  The most efficient collection mechanism is a writ of garnishment if you happen to know where he banks (cancelled check, other payment info).  I'm not sure how helpful small claims/JP people are with that kind of thing.  It's not rocket science, but it may be beyond a layperson.

[South Austin 52504]

48 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Sounds like kind of a mess, but maybe you have documented sufficiently to prove a claim.  You can't get "replacement value," but only the value in the used condition, so don't show up trying to prove retail value.

As far as venue, it's more than likely McClennan.  

(1) the county and precinct where the defendant resides;

(2) the county and precinct where the incident, or the majority of incidents, that gave rise to the claim occurred;

(3) the county and precinct where the contract or agreement, if any, that gave rise to the claim was to be performed; or

(4) the county and precinct where the property is located, in a suit to recover personal property. 

The problem, as you note, is collecting on any judgment you receive.  The most efficient collection mechanism is a writ of garnishment if you happen to know where he banks (cancelled check, other payment info).  I'm not sure how helpful small claims/JP people are with that kind of thing.  It's not rocket science, but it may be beyond a layperson.

tl;dr version:  Take the loss, pussy.

[XYZ 2154]

Isn’t small claims court pretty much useless? Like, a JP (or whatever the judge is called) could issue a verdict (or whatever that is called) saying that the defendant has to pay $1000, and the defendant could go home and never pay anything and he will suffer no repercussions.

[Jerry Callo 8703]

30 minutes ago, XYZ said:

Isn’t small claims court pretty much useless? Like, a JP (or whatever the judge is called) could issue a verdict (or whatever that is called) saying that the defendant has to pay $1000, and the defendant could go home and never pay anything and he will suffer no repercussions.

A judgment in from a JP is still a judgment.  It can be enforced just like other judgments.  

[Jerry Callo 8703]

I think it'd be a good case for Judge Judy.

[South Austin 52504]

[cabowabo 4484]

5 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

A judgment in from a JP is still a judgment.  It can be enforced just like other judgments.  

Yeah, you can definitely collect on them.  Probably won't want to go further than recording an Abstract of Judgment.  I have done that a few times with a JP Court judgment and sometimes (and it may be few years later) you'll get a call from a title company wanting to know how much needs to be paid to get the Abstract released because the debtor is trying to sell property.  That's always a good feeling.

Edited September 23, 2021 by cabowabo

[UTPhil2006 3807]

6 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

I think it'd be a good case for Judge Judy.

This 

[luke duke 6413]

ROFLBOX, do you ever have a normal vehicle experience?

[davidg 4037]

Lol that you would let a wrecked/disabled used vehicle out of your possession to a stranger and expect to go retrieve stuff from it at a later date.

[Clintonaldo 2574]

You forgot to log into your Chad Briscoe account. 

[XYZ 2154]

17 hours ago, cabowabo said:

Yeah, you can definitely collect on them.

How do you collect on a judgement in Texas?

[Jerry Callo 8703]

42 minutes ago, XYZ said:

How do you collect on a judgement in Texas?

Abstract the judgment; send the constable out to seize any non-exempt assets (which will yield nothing); send post-judgment discovery to learn of assets and accounts (which will go unanswered); notice the deposition of deadbeat for same purpose (which will be a no show); file show motion because deadbeat refuses to cooperate with discovery or deposition (which you might get a order); file a garnishment action to garnish accounts (which you have to sue the bank and pay for the bank's attorney's fees); spend a bunch of money in post-judgment attorney's fees and costs; profit?

Edited September 24, 2021 by Jerry Callo

[XYZ 2154]

2 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

Abstract the judgment; send the constable out to seize any non-exempt assets (which will yield nothing); send post-judgment discovery to learn of assets and accounts (which will go unanswered); notice the deposition of deadbeat for same purpose (which will be a no show); file show motion because deadbeat refuses to cooperate with discovery or deposition (which you might get a order); file a garnishment action to garnish accounts (which you have to sue the bank and pay for the bank's attorney's fees); spend a bunch of money in post-judgment attorney's fees and costs; profit?

So…you don’t collect shit?

[Jerry Callo 8703]

5 minutes ago, XYZ said:

So…you don’t collect shit?

Depends on the size of the judgment and the assets of the judgment debtor.  Going through the above-referenced efforts can be worth it with the right judgment and right judgment debtor.  Many judgments are not worth the paper they're written on.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Mart, Tx?

Call Quan Cosby.

[dcbc 14484]

These are more fun when the potential defendant is of the sort that will hire a lawyer and you happen to be a lawyer or have a lawyer buddy that doesn't mind sending letters.  You keep the correspondence going and keep offering to settle until you're satisfied that he owes his lawyer 3x of what he owes you.  Often, once he gets the first bill (or if he's used to paying lawyers, after a couple of calls from his lawyer informing him of your settlement offers and responses), you'll get a reasonable counteroffer. 

With this guy, it sounds like a lot of effort for a judgment that won't yield much fruit for you.

[Sbbruin 21853]

On 9/23/2021 at 7:58 AM, XYZ said:

Isn’t small claims court pretty much useless? Like, a JP (or whatever the judge is called) could issue a verdict (or whatever that is called) saying that the defendant has to pay $1000, and the defendant could go home and never pay anything and he will suffer no repercussions.

I am sitting on 4 small claims judgments from the last 15 years that I've been unable to collect on.  Yeah, not worth the paper they're printed on much of the time.  But if the judgment is recorded, it can fuck them up when applying for loans, etc.

[Sbbruin 21853]

On 9/24/2021 at 8:35 AM, Jerry Callo said:

Abstract the judgment; send the constable out to seize any non-exempt assets (which will yield nothing); send post-judgment discovery to learn of assets and accounts (which will go unanswered); notice the deposition of deadbeat for same purpose (which will be a no show); file show motion because deadbeat refuses to cooperate with discovery or deposition (which you might get a order); file a garnishment action to garnish accounts (which you have to sue the bank and pay for the bank's attorney's fees); spend a bunch of money in post-judgment attorney's fees and costs; profit?

User name (and avatar) definitely checks out.

[shakahorn 1645]

So, a key piece of information which I have not yet been able to glean...who has the title now?

[luke duke 6413]

So, a key piece of information which I have not yet been able to glean...who has the title now?

Who do you think?
#ROFLBOXED