For those who helped me in collecting information about timing belt changes/inspection etc, thank you! I was fully prepared when I went to the small claims court appeal today. I felt confident and ready, and then the dealership didnt show up! So, I won the $2100 anyway.

Thanks again to everyone, i'm so glad I found this site!

Catherine

Today I recieved something else from court. The notice says:" Defendant files a motion for a payment plan. Defendant to provide proof that supports the need for a payment plan."

and the date to return for this motion for a payment plan is July 16, 2004 at 9am.


he's a dealership....... why does he need a payment plan???? I'm not to sure i'll see this money now. And i'm not all for a payment plan, i didnt get to do a payment plan to pay for my engine and labor! I want the money in full so i can pay off the loan and move onto another car! Is there a guarentee that the judge will aprove a payment plan? Do I have the right to say no, that I want the money all together, or will the judge decide that??


Catherine

Reading your original post, I'm frankly surprised you won since you didn't have the statement that the timing belt had been chamged in writing. Just about all sales contracts for cars have what's called an "integration clause" that states that only this written contract is the ONLY contract, which means that oral representations are not biding.

Since the dealer did not show, it probably means that he felt it wasn't worth his time and instead he'll just delay payment for as long as possible. Another tactic is to file a countersuit against you in REGULAR court, therefore likely delaying execution of judgment on the small claims court. But that seems pretty unlikely for a few thousand dollars.

For collecting your judgment, some states allow the sheriff to "tap the till". When the sheriff executes the judgment, you don't have to seize assets and sell them. Instead, the sheriff goes right into the business and takes it from the cash register! However, as pointed out by others, small claims court procedure varies greatly among states. Advice at a law school clinic might be good but many law students don't have much practical knowledge of the law. Better would be if the Court itself has small claims advisers. The sheriff's office and the court clerks should be able to tell you how to execute the judgment. A few tears helps alot.

You're a student? Does your university have a law school? If so, does the law school run a legal clinic or have any other resources you can tap, if it's not worth it to you to pay a lawyer? At the very least, you need a good understanding of how the courts work in your jurisdiction in this type of case.
Advice from people in other states is likely to lead you into both confusion and costly error.
--
We have met the enemy and they is us. [Pogo] S70 T5 cop car : Rough Rider tires& suspension, Walmart fog lights, eBay speakers, ambiance by Pall Mall, trim by Le Duc d'Tape, 8-channel THD by OEM amps

great suggestion. I just graduated in May, and my school did not have a law program. However, i think BU and/or BC have a legal clinic i can call..... i'll have to do that! thanks!

Catherine

Thanks for the updates!

You have helped develop a lot of ideas and knowledge.

I see from this post that you are likely in the Boston area. I also live in the Boston area, (Danvers). Can you tell me who the dealer was that sold you the car?
--
'96 965 with 16' wheels at 117K. Had '85 745 Turbo Diesel for 200K.

They are in Braintree, called the New Pearl Street Motors.... wish i never met them!


Catherine

Dear Catherine,

Good p.m. Great news, but don't relax!!! You will likely need to find out from the Court's officers, what you need to do to get the judgment satisfied.

They might tell you to send a letter to the dealer, with a copy of the judge's order. If so, send the letter via USPS Certified mail, with return receipt. Certified mail enables you to be sure the dealer received the letter. You should ask the dealer to send you a check for the amount of the judgment, plus your filing fees. If they do so, that's fine.

If the dealer does not reply - or replies, but tells you to get lost - you will have to ask the Court to authorize the Sheriff to seize some of the dealer's property, which will have to be sold, to satisfy the judgment. This could take some time.

You hold the high ground. Victory is not yours, until you have the cash in hand.

Go Girl!!!

Yours faithfully,

spook

first things first, how are you amazingly knowledgable about most everything on here? cars, court, etc??

second of all, the court sends out an identical notice to myself and the dealership that says how much i won, and the date it must be paid by. they automatically reschedule you a date if the payment is not recieved. On the original judgement they had one month to pay in full, or else we were to appear tomorrow at 1:30. However, obviously since he appealed, that was cancelled out and now another one will be sent out saying when he owes by, and then another date if he hasnt paid.

I know it might be tough getting the money, and I saw many of these non-payment cases in the court room this morning. If they dont show up or they dont pay I know it will be trouble, but I just hope to get the money eventually. At this point i'm out the money, have been since January..... it can only get better from here.... hopefully!

I would think it should be pretty easy to get your money at this point...
With a few copies of your judgement in hand, stroll down to the dealership, and tell prospective customers that you would like to talk to them about the car they are looking at for a minute. Hand them a copy, and tell your story. If they call you a trespasse, and threaten to call the police all the better. 50% odds the police will be sympathetic and suggest that they pay up to get you to leave. If they see a few $5000 sales walk out the door they will be itching to have you out of their hair. Especialy if their business practices haven't broken their bank. This has worked for me in the past, but I am a fairly thick skinned individual able to calmly accept harsh language and guilt trips from such people. Like it is our fault that they sell defective crap...
Well, good luck

that could be fun, thanks for the idea!

Good news. Does that decision have any bearing on the dealership having to pay? Some small claim courts render decisions that can not be enforced without further filings in additional courts using the findings of the small claims court as leverage. Hope you realize returns on your efforts.

Randy

uh oh. I am not smart enough to understand what you are asking. I also get a bad vibe from it.... after the judge dismissed it, she said the original judgement still stands, which is for the max $2000 plus $50 filing fee, as well as interest. I left the court room, went to the small claims office and asked what now? I was told the newest judgement will be sent out to both of us within 15 days and it will have the date to pay by, as well as the date to appear back in court by if it is not paid. If i'm lucky enough to get it paid, I have to call the court and tell them I was paid so that they can take me off the list for the court session they have us scheduled for. I read about if they dont pay and/or show at that court session I have to pay to have someone serve him a summons etc, but I will get reembursed the money. Does that make sense? I'm learning as I go along.... not a fun experience!!

Justice sometimes needs to be extracted. The wind is blowing to your advantage but you have not won yet. I think the fact that the dealer or his representative was not in attendance shows he does not feel threatened by the action. Continue to play by the rules and keep every piece of documentation organized along with the notes you are keeping about every aspect of your case.

I didn't mean to send bad vibes; consider it more of a heads up to be ready to dig in for what may turn into a drawn out process. Good luck and please keep us posted on the sequence of events. Anyone who has even suffered at the hands of a service gone bad is rooting for you.

If you posted about the experience that brought you to court I missed it. Do you have the link so I can catch up?

Randy

rather than a link, here is my story copied and pasted:

Last May I started car shopping and found this 92 volvo 960. I test drove it and checked it out and really liked it. The mileage was 115,000 and this was my first car so dad and i were a little bit skeptical and said just that. The dealer (not volvo dealership) and the only guy working that day popped the hood and said "as you can see by this gooey sealant (surrounded the engine cover) the timing belt has just been changed, so really you're in good shape, this car could go over 200,000 miles easily" or something to that effect. NO, i dont have it in writing....but my dad was my witness and so far that has worked for me. I brought the car to my mechanic feeling good about the timing belt. My mechanic checked the car out, and then told me what he thought and what he found, most stuff was cosmetic, but his number one point was "the only thing i would question is the timing belt, because with the mileage, you would need it". I have the bill with that concern typed on it. i said not to worry, i was assured it was just done, and the gooey sealant shows it. off i went back to the dealership and I told them what my mechanic said about the belt, and the same guy was like "well we already know that its a new belt, so we dont need to worry about that" and i bought the car the first week of June.

In November while driving to my intern the timing belt snapped. I called my cousin near by who owns a tow truck company and they towed it to the mechanic they use, which was conveniently close to where the car broke down. The mechanic diagnosed the problem as a snapped timing belt, and then said it is the original belt. While he had the car, my father and i went to the dealership and told them what happened and that i guess its the original belt and i had been lied to, they played dumb, saying they doubt the timing belt would do that much damage yada yada yada......said to come back when the guy who sold us the car was there. We kept calling and showing up and the guy NEVER worked again and has since died (am i supposed to feel bad?...i dont know if i can) Still without my car the mechanic says the timing belt is fixed but it bent all valves when it snapped, and because it was thanksgiving week his company couldnt get to my car to get into the engine. I had the car towed to an engine repair shop who contacted the dearler telling him how extensive the damage is, and suggested the dealership might want to look around for a used engine to put in. When the dealership was unresponsive to my attempts as well as the engine repair shop I decided to file with small claims court. You can only sue up to $2000 on my type of case, so I did. At that point i had spent around $2400 for labor plus engine plus towing. I also looked up some stuff on the internet and sent a 30 day demand letter to the dealership stating they had violated a particular massachusetts consumer protection law and now i am at a loss of $2400 and they have 30 days to respond or they could possibly have to pay double or trebble damages. They responded with a letter that just said you have no case we'll see you in court. Off we go to court this past April and I never even got to mention the consumer protection law and the 30 day demand letter (which means no double or trebble damages to be awarded because the judge didnt even know about the letter and consumer protection law). In court the dealer said they did not tell me the timing belt had been changed (eventhough the guy in court wasnt THERE the day I was told) and that they would never tell me that, because since its a volvo I would have been fine with much more mileage on the car before i needed the timing belt changed. I know i'm naive but i KNOW thats not legit. they also said they offered me an extended waranty, which i said i was advised not to purchase private company exteded waranties only ones given out by the manufacturer of the car. The dealership also questioned why i took it to get the timing belt fixed BEFORE telling them. And to that I said i needed my car back asap because i'm in college and need to get to my intern for a class. I had all sorts of documention and letters to submit but the judge didnt want anything. I left thinking I lost, and then get a letter saying I am awarded the full $2000 plus interest and the small claims filing charge I had paid.

Now, i get a letter saying they are appealing, and their reasons are:

1) the car was not under waranty
2) there was no representation made regauding changing the timing belt, only that it had been CHECKED
3) I had the vehicle inspeded by my own mechanic prior to purchase, my mechanic could have checked the belt himself
4) i changed the belt after it broke and and only then, after it failed to opperate I returned to the dealership. (why would i return to the delership if the car was opperating correctly???)

i swear these people saw me coming......... i believed people were honest, such a naive girl!!!!

i probably wrote way more than the allowed amount here, but if anyone has any input by all means....... i return to court on june 28th



then today was the appeals where he didnt show up, and the judge dismissed the case and said the original judgement stands and the appeal is dead.

there must be something about dealers and that car

I bought a 1992 965 in late Feb. It had all the records and I saw that the timing belt had been changed 20,000 miles ago (all done at a Volvo dealership). So I figured it was ok, took it to the independent volvo mechanic, had it checked, carfaxed it...all that stuff...first time I did all the "right" things before buying a used car

3 weeks after I bought it...the belt slipped...I had it towed to my mechanic...took him a bit to realize it was the belt since it didn't actually break, it just slipped off the pulleys...not completely...but just enough to crack the head and bend valves and all that good stuff

as soon as he figured that out...I said..ok..that's good enough and called the dealer...of course he insisted it be towed to his facility where his mechanic could check it out...what do you know, it was exactly what my mechanic said...he wanted me to pay for repairs... at his cost not marked up...I laughed at him and told him to try again

to make a long story short...I just got the car back a month or so ago...all fixed, new head, new valves, new belt, new tensioner, new pullies, new water pump and new oxygen sensor
and the good news is...I didn't pay a cent...and I didn't have to go to court...I did ask for the receipts for my records and his cost was $1700...boy am I glad I didn't have to pay that

I think two things got to him...one, they are a reputable used car lot...and, two, I threatened to go to the media...bad publicity scares the shit out of most businesses...if you have a consumer advocate/reporter with the local news, it might be worth contacting them if stuff gets messy

congratulations for not having to pay! Isnt the whole process just such a mess though? I have a feeling this dealership, which wasnt a volvo dealership saw me coming, first time car buyer, know next to nothing about most cars. They were screwing me from day one, and I wish i were as strong as you. I sincerely thought some of their lies at the begining werent lies and they just were busy etc. I was calm about stuff, tried to stand my ground about others. One time i actualy cried to the guy who sold me the car... stupid story and I was trying to get things my way, and they were being mean and I kinda broke down and a couple tears rolled down my cheek. It was then that the guy actually panicked and was like 'uum, you know what... let me see what we can do' and i got what i wanted within 10 minutes. haha.

i'm anxious to see what does happen with the money. i'll probably first wait the initial time allowed and return to court on the date assigned and just say they havent paid/ cooperated. After that if they still dont pay i'm gonna see what else I can do, I definitely like the idea someone suggested of showing up at the dealership. I think I could easily ask out loud in front of customers if they had intentions of paying the court ordered judgement to me after they lied to me. That would be fun.

Catherine

Dear Catherine,

Good a.m. and may this find you well. If you want to warn those coming to do business at this dealership, make sure you are not on the dealer's property, when you do so. Make sure you're on a public sidewalk or public road. If you enter upon their property, they can seek to have you arrested for trespassing.

If you're on their property, the responding police officers likely will ask you to move, rather than arrest you at once. However, there's no guarantee they'll cut you slack: it depends on the approach to policing in the city/town where the dealership is located. In some places, officers tend to want to deal with matters in a civilized way; in others, a "take no prisoners" approach prevails.
Obviously, if a police officer asks you to move, comply at once. A lawyer's fees for getting an arrest expunged from the record, will quickly eat up $2,000.

If the dealer declines to come to Court and/or to pay the judgment, you should first try to have their assets seized. If that is too costly or time-consuming, contact local newspapers and television stations, as has been suggested. They welcome "human interest" stories. The bad publicity you could get for this dealer is priceless.

They could sue you for damages. Your defense: you told the truth, and nothing but the truth. Most Courts will be persuaded. However, you'll still incur defense costs.

In sum, the best way to get your money is to get the Court to order the seizure of their assets. If their bank account is frozen by Court order, that will get their attention. If some of their vehicles are seized to satisfy your judgment, that, too, will get their attention.

Most judges react badly, to their orders being ignored. While police in the US do not have a duty to protect the law-abiding person (US Supreme Court, South v. Maryland, 1854; exceptions are witnesses and paid informants), police officers do have a legal duty to carry out judges' orders to arrest persons or to seize property.

Yours faithfully,

spook

excellent advice, thank you so much. I guess I was being too optimistic thinking I would get my money sooner rather than later. I hope theres a chance he'll just pay it and then we can end it!

I don't know what jurisdiction you're in, but if you know a lawyer who might be amenable to taking this for you on an hourly basis (not a percentage), it might be worth your while.

First, if the dealer has appealed, you probably have the right to file your own appeal (within the time the law in your area gives you). You might have some grounds for appeal, or this may be an appeal "de novo" (which basically means, you're just starting over -- appeals from "small claims courts" are that way in some areas). If this is an appeal "de novo", you do just start all over, in which case you get to raise the consumer sales practices allegations and all the other stuff the judge didn't hear. If this is an appeal on error (the judge screwed up at the trial level, and here's how), then usually the appellate court hears only the errors alleged. However, if THEY appealed, you can file your own cross-appeal, as to the failure of the court to hear the info you wanted to bring out. You'll need to look at the rules in your area to see how long each party has to file their own appeal. Try www.findlaw.com for help on court rules in your own area.

It's starting to sound more like a lawyer might help you navigate these waters. I guarantee the dealership has one, and you don't want to be at a disadvantage, particularly since you've already won down below.

The advice about going to the dealership and picketing ?? I WOULD NOT do that. It will just muddy the water when things are starting to look good for you.

Keep it up !!!

also, you really think he has a lawyer? thats no good. I really dont want to go that route. Why wouldnt he have shown up then? Do you think that was his plan, maybe the plan that the lawyer had????

"However, if THEY appealed, you can file your own cross-appeal, as to the failure of the court to hear the info you wanted to bring out."

yes, they appealed when the judgement was made in my favor. I do not know or understand why they didnt appear at their own appeal. Why should I appeal? I really dont understand what I can do.

The fact that the judge dismissed it and the original judgement stands doesnt sound as good as I thought when i left there. I thought i won and was told he cant do anything but pay or show up in court again to explain why he hasnt paid. After reading posts here i'm way more nervous that this is gonna last a lot longer. I know the court will give us the date I'm owed by, and at the same time (probably assuming people wont get paid) they reschedule another court date to review why I havent been paid. My plan at this point is to wait for that judgement, hope for the money in full, probably not get it and return on the date to explain I have not received the money. I then figured I would see what the judge says. Is there something I should be doing before that? Or should I wait till the first run around in court for non-payment? (assuming they dont pay)

Catherine

Dear Catherine,

Good p.m. If you have a copy of the judge's orders:
(a) awarding you damages
(b) dismissing defendant's appeal on account of defendant's failure to appear
you should make copies, and send them to the dealer - USPS Certified Mail, with Return Receipt [the green card] - with a letter, neutrally worded, demanding that they send you a check for the amount owed.

The letter might read:

Re: Catherine vs. Dealership, XXX Court, Docket #____________

Dear Mr. _____________

May this find you well. For your ease of reference, I enclose an copy of an order signed by Judge XXX, of the YYY Court, according to which you are required to pay me the sum of $z,zzz.zz. I also enclose, a copy of an order signed by Judge VVV of Court NNNN, dismissing your appeal.

Unless you propose to avail yourself of further legal remedies, please send me [[[pay into Court (if that is specified in the judge's order)]]] a Bank Cashier's check for $x,xxx.xx, the amount specified in the Court's order.

If you file further appeals, I will file cross-appeals, and introduce further evidence, which might enhance your liability. If I have to involve a lawyer, I will certainly ask the Court to award me those costs.

You can speedy conclude this sad matter by [forwarding to me / paying into court] the sum of $x,xxx.xx, in the form of a Bank Cashier's Check

Yours sincerely,

Catherine XXXXXX

You should get copies of the Court orders, preferrably with the Court's seal impressed into them. Send photocopies: keep the originals.

Use USPS Certified mail, with a return receipt, so that you can be sure the dealer gets your letter. Send the letter to the owner/president of the dealership.

I infer from the fact that neither the dealer nor his lawyer appeared in Court, that they don't have a lawyer. Few lawyers want to have to explain their non-appearance to a Judge. A lawyer's failure to appear is unseemly - it suggests incompetence or discourtesy to the Court. Even if the lawyer can only tell the Judge, "Your Honor, I have no instructions from my client", the lawyer needs to be there to say that.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

spook

thank you thank you thank you!

would you mind if i use that template of a letter you made??

Catherine

Dear Catherine,

Good p.m. and hope you're well. Of course you may use the draft I put up! That's why I took the time. Hope it helps.

I've no use for those, who try to rob the unknowing.

Hit back. Hit back hard. Hit back hard, until you win. Above all, STAY IN THE FIGHT!

Yours faithfully,

spook