Utilizing the Maine Small Claims Court to recover money owed to you can be either a rewarding or a frustrating experience. How it turns out is largely up to you, and how you prepare.
If you are going to be successful in Small Claims Court, you have to make sure the case makes sense in a number of different ways. If not, you will add the a very large list of Maine Small Claims bloopers and blunders:
“I went to Court and won a judgment but I was never able to get paid”
The court does not collect the money for you. If you win your case, you obtain a court order, or judgment that you must collect yourself. Before you file a lawsuit, research your customer. If you believe the customer has assets, it makes sense to go forward. If not, you may wind up with a judgment that is useless.
“I did not serve the lawsuit correctly, so I was only able to get a judgment against one person, instead of two.”
Each party to a lawsuit must be served separately. If you are suing two people each must get a copy of the lawsuit. There can use the mail or a sheriff to get service, but you must prove to the Court (with an affidavit) that each party received the lawsuit.
“I sued a customer for $500. They did not show up for Court so I won a default judgment. Shortly thereafter, the customer appealed the lawsuit. We had a hearing, and my judgment held. However, when I did not pay, I had to bring customer back for a disclosure hearing. I did not realize I would have to go to Court three times!”
Maine Small Claims Court judgments can be appealed within 30 days after the judgment. A disclosure hearing is used to determine what assets, if any, the Defendant has to pay the debt. Before you start, realize that you may need to go to court more than once. Is the time away from your business worth the effort?
“I filed a number of lawsuits against delinquent customers. I did this because I thought it would be cheaper and easier than hiring a collection agency. Boy, was I wrong!”
If the only reason you are going to court is because you think it is cheaper then going to Maine Small Claims Court, think again. There are many collection agencies out there, and you should be able to find one with a competitive rate. All too often, business owners obtain judgments and then still have to hire a collection agency to actually get paid. Collection agencies have the experience and specialized tools to find people and assets. Plus, collection agencies are paid on contingency basis, so you will likely have no out of pocket expenses versus paying Maine Small Claims Court fees and costs.
