I WON!!
Jan 28, 2015 15:10:26 GMT -5
Post by mtdman on Jan 28, 2015 15:10:26 GMT -5
I just wasted an hour of my life in small claims court. A neighbor of a customer was suing me claiming we were blowing leaves and snow into her yard. She wanted $600 in small claims court, an amount I'm pretty sure she decided on because that was the limit she could file on for the $25 fee. She was a constant source of harassment for us for the last 2 years, and when she called me in October threatening to sue me I told her to go ahead. And she did. I had to do a mediation in November where the mediator tried to convince me that I should pay her off to keep it out of court. I knew she had no case, no proof, she was just full of hot air and I told her I wasn't going to pay her a dime. So off to trial I went. It was actually scheduled for trial on the day of my surgery so I got it bumped to today. She brought no proof, and just basically told lies for 10 minutes. I punched holes in her story by offering emails from the former customer saying they were happy with the service and from a customer across the street saying that my crews did a great job, were nice and well mannered. She offered pictures of leaves in her yard, which proved nothing in her case and I told the judge she had no pictures of us doing what she alleged. I also took my crew leader in to back up my testimony.
The judge listened to her blather. Then told her that small claims court was for damages, and that while there was a disagreement between us, she had shown no damages. And then dismissed the case in my favor with prejudice. She has 21 days to appeal the ruling, which I am sure she will do so since she loves to waste my time with nothing.
Only problem I had was that she sued me personally for the damages. Her allegations were against me, my employees, and my business. My business is an LLC which creates a separate legal entity from me personally, and the LLC laws indemnify me from liabilities of the business. I asked the judge to dismiss based on that, but he asked me to continue the case and hear both sides before ruling. Before he ruled on her case, he declined to rule on the LLC question but said I could appeal. What I didn't know was that if he dismissed it, and she wanted to pursue the case, she would have to file in a different court setting which would require lawyers for representation. He asked if I really wanted to pay for a lawyer on a $600 small claims case, and I told him not really, especially after he ruled in my favor.
So in the end it was a huge waste of time. That woman did not like us from the get go and started complaining day one. I told the judge I went out of my way more for her in that yard then I did for my customer. She thinks she had it bad with me, wait until she has to deal with the next lawn care company that I guarantee will not go to the lengths I went to to make her happy.
The judge listened to her blather. Then told her that small claims court was for damages, and that while there was a disagreement between us, she had shown no damages. And then dismissed the case in my favor with prejudice. She has 21 days to appeal the ruling, which I am sure she will do so since she loves to waste my time with nothing.
Only problem I had was that she sued me personally for the damages. Her allegations were against me, my employees, and my business. My business is an LLC which creates a separate legal entity from me personally, and the LLC laws indemnify me from liabilities of the business. I asked the judge to dismiss based on that, but he asked me to continue the case and hear both sides before ruling. Before he ruled on her case, he declined to rule on the LLC question but said I could appeal. What I didn't know was that if he dismissed it, and she wanted to pursue the case, she would have to file in a different court setting which would require lawyers for representation. He asked if I really wanted to pay for a lawyer on a $600 small claims case, and I told him not really, especially after he ruled in my favor.
So in the end it was a huge waste of time. That woman did not like us from the get go and started complaining day one. I told the judge I went out of my way more for her in that yard then I did for my customer. She thinks she had it bad with me, wait until she has to deal with the next lawn care company that I guarantee will not go to the lengths I went to to make her happy.