Is it worth using them if your tenants have caused damages a few hundred bucks over the value of their deposit and they're unwilling to pay that sum up? What experiences have you had with such courts? Does it take a lot of time to get things done?
This is a good question. If the expenses of the damages are just for a couple hundred dollars I guess that it's what the deposit if for, no need to go to court.
It all depends. As far as I'm concerned, it's worth taking someone to small claims if it's going to inconvenience them and prove the point that you need to handle your obligations. I'm willing to spend a little bit more than I'm going to get in return to use small claims to get what's owed to me. It's more of the principle of the matter more than anything else, but not everyone wants to spend the extra money and effort just to prove a point.
You may not get all your money even after taking them to the small claims court. They may delay paying you to spite you. You could be forced to go back to the court again which will end up costing you a lot of your time and money. Asking for a deposit is the best way to ensure it caters for the damages.
You can go to small claims court and sue over the issue, but it does not end with just the judgement going in your favor. You actually have to take that judgement and, I forget what the term is, but you have to make it so that the judgement is enforcible. This costs more in time and money. What I mean is that you can get a judgement, but the judgement itself would not be enough to actually garnish wages or put liens on things ensuring that you actually get the money you are owed. I have had to go to small claims court a couple of times on behalf of my employer and it is such a time waster. If it is only for a couple hundred dollars, it really is not worth it.
If you're only talking about a couple hundred dollars, really the tenant's deposit should cover that. You don't want to go to small claims court for such a small sum of money. You will have to pay attorney fees, maybe court fees, it's a very big inconvenience and there's still the chance that you could lose. Save yourself the trouble and just take it out of their deposit. If there is no deposit, then you've learned your lesson.
It would depend on how the damage was done. To me there are two types of damage, one is caused by normal wear and tear, the other is malicious (or accidental) damage. Usually if it is something done maliciously it will not be cheap. Then all bets are off, YOU will pay whatever I can wring out of you and I will follow you till I get every cent. Accidents happen and can't be foreseen, theres a huge difference between intentional and accidental, accidental will always be about the circumstances, If it was a true accident and no one was hurt or sued try to negotiate something for the damage. Wear and tear is just that. Take the cost off your taxes and give them their deposit back. You should expect wear and tear of a reasonable level. No one walks around in bubble wrap.
That is true 401k, I don't expect them to walk around in a bubble, but at the same time there are things that are not wear and tear, so that need to be analysed to see if it's something reasonable or not.
In my area, its the big cases that go to court, but for small claims, to sort that out, the area chief is involved and knows how to handle such cases the best known way possible
I think small claim court that can be really great are quite required. I totally love such courts who can solve certain issues within a given time. I think it is quite a waste to go to big courts for such matter.
