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Small Claims
Judgment Enforcement
Thousands of cases, millions of results
Turn your small claims judgment into money
A quick caution about small claims and contractor lawsuits: Claims against contractor bonds cannot be brought in small claims court
Every year many individuals contact us to tell us that they won a small claims case against a contractor and they want to go after the bond. Sorry, you are out of luck.
By law, any claim to be brought against a contractor where you want to also attach the bond can only be brought in superior court. The contractor must be served through the normal service of process as well as having the contractor, and its bond company, served through the Washington State Labor and Industries Contractor Registration office. Failure to do so will prevent the bond from being liable.
Also note that the statute of limitations for claim against a contractor bond is never more than 2 years (residential homeowners), and is often only 1 year for everyone else.
What are small claims?
Small claims courts were created to provide an economic way for people to go to court for their civil disputes. Often small claims courts are used for small business debts such as unpaid rent, property damage from a car accident (if a person is injured they will typically hire an attorney), a complaint about a service provider, or generally any type of case where the person is seeking an award of money. For an individual the claim can be up to $10,000, but for a corporation or similar the limit is $5,000. The claim can be for more, but the most that can be awarded are those amounts.
By law, attorneys are not permitted to represent people at their small claims court hearing. Attorneys may aid in preparing and are generally used to enforce the judgments obtained during the small claims. Making the entire process free of outside attorneys and less strict rules is intended to keep the overall costs lower.
Small claims cases are started by filling notice of claim and serving the defendant. Most courts will schedule an initial settlement conference or similar hearing before the contested hearing. During the contested hearing (the trial) itself, both parties will be permitted to introduce evidence in a largely informal way. There are no strict rules of evidence, but there are still rules and requirements for what evidence will be allowed. There will not be a jury, and a judge will make a decision typically on the day of the hearing.
I won, now what?
After the small claims court enters its ruling it is the same as other judgments. The other side may appeal and they may make a payment. However, neither is typical. The court will not enforce the judgment and, like other judgments, it must be collected through normal judgment enforcement means. Typically, this will be wage or bank garnishments.
Ready to collect what you are owed? Contact us online to get started or call us at 253-212-0353. In most cases there are no fees unless we collect!
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Small claims judgments are some of the best candidates for wage garnishments. The amounts involved can often be collected in a reasonable time. We've helped hundreds of people enforce their judgments through wage garnishments writs.
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Small claims judgments can be enforced by bank garnishments, which sometimes collects everything at once. Did you ever pay the debtor with a check or receive one from the debtor? Then you have their bank information!
Often, you do not know where a debtor banks or works. Don't worry, we have multiple ways of finding out that information.
Your Partner Through the Process
If you’re ready to turn your judgment into dollars, we’re ready to help. Let’s find what’s collectible — and go get it. You worked too hard to have a small claims judgment go unpaid. Call us at 253-212-0353.
Our clients often work hard to get their small claims judgments. Whether it was obtained by default or after a trial, they still had to figure out a process that is unusual for most, and not always straightforward. We congratulate you and are here to support in the next step of making sure that judgment gets paid. Our collection process ensures you are kept aware each step of the process and maximizes your chance of enforcement.
Sit back, we've got this
Want to know more? Read some of our articles about small claims.
Small Claims, but big results
Does this sound familiar: someone does something wrong, you take them to small claims court. You win your case. The judge orders the defendant to pay, but then they refuse and the Court says you are on your own for collecting? That is where we come in.
We force debtors to pay for the small claim's judgment by garnishing wages, bank accounts, and other legal enforcement techniques.
As a bonus, it is sometimes possible that any attorney fees you have to pay (usually a percent of what is collected) can result in a supplemental judgment against the small claims debtor.