BANGOR, Maine — When Monday morning’s small claims court proceedings at the Penobscot Judicial Center began, District Court Judge Bruce Jordan had 39 hearings on the docket.
About an hour later, the crowd of 40 people in Courtroom 101 had decreased to about a dozen waiting to have their cases heard.
What remained included a landlord-tenant rent dispute, a woman suing her father over inheritance money, a lawsuit over damage resulting from a clothes dryer installed without a vent and two men arguing over who pays for an insurance deductible.
Just another day in small claims court, arguably Bangor’s busiest court, with an average of 1,010 claims filed annually over the last three years.
“In 2009, we had 865 small claims filings. It was 960 in 2010, and last year the total was 1,206,” said Diane Jackson, an assistant clerk at the Penobscot Judicial Center. “We’ve seen a very noticeable rise in cases, and a lot of it seems to have to do with a high volume of credit card debt.”
It was a first-time experience — and an education — for many of the people who actually presented their cases before Jordan.
Even Laura Baxter, a Bangor jewelry store assistant manager with two years’ experience as a paralegal, found her experience as a first-time plaintiff to be both nerve-racking and enlightening.
“This was the first time I’ve done anything like this in court,” said Baxter, who was suing a former landlord for $2,500 to get her $850 security deposit back plus damages. “I got to read some depositions for an attorney I was working for, but I hate getting up in front of people, and started having anxiety about it.”
Like many in the courtroom, Baxter was surprised to find out there would be no same-day judgment. Judges typically take the cases under advisement and issue rulings within a week or two.
“That was kind of weird. I thought we were going to have a decision, but we have to wait for the judge’s ruling,” she said. “It’s a little frustrating. I just don’t know how I feel about the whole thing.”
She’ll feel much better if the judgment is in her favor, but if that’s not the case, Baxter already knows what her next move is.
“If it doesn’t go in my favor, I’ll appeal it, only this time with an attorney,” she said.
Preparation plays a big part in presenting a solid case, even in small claims court, and knowing the rules is key.
Plaintiffs can take a case to small claims court only if the amount of restitution they’re seeking is $9,000 or less, but the most they can be awarded in a judgment is $6,000 plus court costs.
Plaintiffs also need to make sure they file their cases in the right court, as Penobscot County, for instance, is covered by four courts.
Another thing to consider is court costs, which include the $50 filing fee, the cost associated with having a defendant served by a law enforcement officer, and the postage required for certified mail.
After a small claims case is filed, defendants must be given at least a 10-day notice of the court date.
“The plaintiff must prove the other party is aware either by mail or in person of the filing, so they should send anything by mail using certified mail restricted delivery, which means only the defendant can sign for it,” Jackson said.
Most small claims are done pro se, which means self-represented, rather than using a lawyer.
If plaintiffs are too poor to pay court costs, they can still file suit, as well as a filing fees waiver. They must also fill out paperwork, including a financial affidavit.
At least two professional mediators are present at each court session in an effort to settle cases before they go to the judge.
As each case is called, if one party is present and the other is not, the judge usually finds in favor of the present party with a default judgment.
“When a small claim gets established in court, it affects credit,” said Jackson. “Credit bureaus check these things. And if they fail to appear and continue to ignore it, it can become a criminal offense.”
Defendants who don’t appear are summoned to court for a disclosure hearing and have 30 days to take care of things. If they don’t appear again, a judge will authorize a civil order of arrest, which gets sent to the sheriff’s department. Bail is then issued on personal recognizance. If they fail to show again, it becomes a crime and goes to the district attorney’s office.
“The worst thing you can do is keep ignoring it,” Jackson said of small claims or any other kind of lawsuit. “It will snowball and catch up to you.”
“Defendants who don’t appear are summoned to court for a disclosure hearing and have 30 days to take care of things.”
This is not true. If a defendant doesn’t appear, the court will most likely enter a default judgment for the plaintiff. Once the ruling is issued, the defendant has 30 days to pay or appeal. If the defendant fails to appear, the plaintiff must initiate a financial disclosure hearing. If the defendant fails to appear at the hearing, the plaintiff can ask the court to arrest the defendant.
If the court does issue a warrent for an arrest, they often don’t even try to arrest the defendent. I often notice the only time these defendants are arrested is when they are involved with a larger crime and its handy to arrest them on an old warrent.
Small claims court isn’t a criminal court. If the plaintiff moves for a civil arrest and the court grants the motion, the sheriff’s department has to arrest the defendant and bring the defendant to the court.
I’m wondering whether Mr. Neff got the judge’s permission to take the photo for this story…
Small claims court is a joke! I have been going to court for the past three years and have yet to receive a dime. At the contempt of court hearing we were asked to mediate again. Guess what? The promise of a weekly payment has yet to arrive, and it has been another six months. The court costs just keep mounting up. Small claims keep the court people employed, that’s about it.
ARE you kidding me? So if the judge says that you are granted the money you are owed, THERE IS NO HELP getting it. Oh wait, you can bring that party back after spending more money serving them and filing for ANOTHER disclosure hearing. Smalls claim court in Maine is a joke! I am still owed money from 3 years ago and the weasels that owe me work under the table so the “judge can’t make him pay if he works less than 20 hours.” JOKE almost as bad as our welfare system!
The defendant will have to pay all court expenses you incur to force payment. If you’re unable to pay the fees as the plaintiff, you can get a waiver from the court.
Put a lein on his property. I did that. Took a year and a half but I finally got my money.
It’s sad, the scumbags know how it works so they don’t pay. They laugh at us everytime we bring them back to court. Something needs to be changed!
A daughter suing her father. A more reasonable solution might be family therapy.
Maybe they already did! But you being the Bangorian already knew that right?
The legal system is best avoided, period. Whether it is a cop, a judge, or a lawyer. There is nothing but pain, financial or emotional, at the end of the road in a court room. My former partner and I just “prevailed” in a civil suit that took three years and thousand of dollars in legal fees. It always comes down to the same thing in a court room. How much justice and satisfaction can you afford? It has nothing to do with who is right and who is wrong. It has to do with a little thing called billable hours. You will not get out of there until all the attorneys who are involved have had their fill at the trough of justice. It is also ridiculous that you can not sue your accuser for legal fees when you prevail in this country. This would discourage people from bringing forth frivolous law suits and the lawyers might lose business. Like I said, the legal system is best avoided, period.
Spot on.
A smart person wouldn’t waste money on an attorney for small claims. You can do your own legal research. Also, the rules of evidence and rules related to questioning witnesses are rather lax in small claims.
My case was not small claims.
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The case against All Benner Homes makes one wonder how many homes burned do to his negligence
The Vent to the Dryer is a firecode violation and I hope Al Benner Homes is help responsible. Lots of the manufactored homes that have burned could have been from this result
Do I understand this correctly? If the defendents don’t show, they will be arrested? This, for very little money. In other states, if a defendent is a no-show, the judge counts that in favor of the plaintiff. But arrest? That’s crazy. Like I would ever pursue a small claim if the person could end up in jail for a no-show. In addition, other states also have same-day judgment. I’m glad I never acted on the many small claims I could have pursued here.
when one receives a summons to court its not a friendly invitation that you can just ignore. some judges take it very seriously and many plaintiffs consider their time wasted by the no shows. i’ve sat in small claims many times and watched a certain plaintiff request warrant issues one after the other for people who don’t show up for court. not showing up for your case can actually put the determination of your case in favor of the plaintiff and some will jump to the option of showing how unreliable you are when their getting paid to collect your money.
No, it’s not true. See my previous comment. It’s only if the defendant fails to appear at the financial disclosure hearing that he can be arrested. The reporter apparently didn’t read the small claims court guide very well, or the copy desk mangled the details: http://www.courts.state.me.us/maine_courts/small_claims/smallclaimsguide/index.html
It’ll be interesting to see whether Monday’s paper will have a correction…
A witness who fails to show after being served a subpoena CAN be arrested and brought to the court. If the defendant or his attorney doesn’t show, a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff will be entered in most cases, unless the plaintiff’s case is bogus.
I cannot speak for the Bangor Court, But here in Calais its worse then a joke. I have been using this system for about 15 years and have lost well over $20,000.00 in legal judgments. For the first six to seven years when the Judge would give me a ‘Civil Order Of Arrest’, the Sheriff would not serve it, stating that the Judge did not follow established rules (And he did not). Now after fighting the system it is being served, but the first thing the Judge puts on the order is-Do not arrest the Defendant, just put them on PR bail until the next Court date. If you are able to get them into Court, then you must prove that they have the necessary funds to pay you, and with today’s privacy rules, lots of luck on that one. The Judge will tell you that you can bring them back again in 6 months, costing more money, but with still the same results. The Courts are supposed to be busy, so they should do away with this Court, unless they are willing to enforce it. The real sad part is that if i did something like that, its off to Jail for ‘Taking money under false pretenses. Another interesting point, Ms. Saufley, Who heads up the Court System, will not longer respond to my complaints, even while i help pay her salary. I have even tried to work with the House and Senate Judiciary committee’s, to get some teeth put into this Court, but they simply do not care. The Legislature and Courts should stay out of ‘Civil Law’ until they are willing to enforce their own rules.
An official, signed request must be submitted to a court clerk for permission to take video and still photography, as well as use recording devices in the courtroom. That request must then be approved by a judge.