Small Claims Advice

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I need to file a suit in small claims court.

It involves an out of state property, however the agent is local.

I have no idea how to do this.



Can anyone offer some advice?



I live in one county, and the agent lives in another county.



Do I file at my local courthouse?

What do I need to do?

Comments(8)

  • JamesStreet11th March, 2007

    In Minnesota you must file in the county where the property is. Is the agent close? Not sure about Cal. What are you going after make sure it is worth the hassle.

    J

  • sirbeigealot11th March, 2007

    The agent misrepresented the cash flow on a property I bought.
    Instead of a 500 per month positive, promised verbally and in writing on her website, I ended up with a 450 negative.
    If I sell I will have a prepay (three years), plus commision.
    Whether I keep or sell its a loss.
    If I get a judgement that she refuses to pay, I can apply to the DRE which has a fund to pay judgements, and holding the agent responsible to pay it back.

  • cjmazur12th March, 2007

    Do you have an arbitration/mediation clause?

    Where was the purchase contact entered into, your state or the other state?

    If you state (at least in CA) you can sue in small claim.

    otherwise you have to sue in other state.

  • rglover54812th March, 2007

    Well Sirbeigealot, I guess i can understand how you got suckered in on this deal. Using CA vs MS comparisons, im sure you could be off market by 20k and not realize it. Sort of like me buying a condo in Asia, 40k would seem cheap..to me...until i went and found everyone paying 25k.

    If they wrote it on paper ($2200/mo), then you should win pretty easy in Mississippi, they dont like con artist down south. If not, i cant see how you would win, even if the judge agreed. He would just give them a stern lecture character, then tell you theres nothing he can do...

  • sirbeigealot13th March, 2007

    Tbird,

    rather than "taking my lumps and moving on", I think I will attempt to win in small claims court.

  • sirbeigealot18th April, 2007

    An update on the situation...the broker for the agent in this transaction has agreed to settle with me out of court for 7500.00...the max amount I could have asked for in small claims.
    For me this is satisfactory, instead of either going to small claims or hiring an atty.

  • finniganps19th April, 2007

    Glad to hear you got the $7,500 without having to go to court. Do you have the place rented? How is that going?

  • rglover54820th April, 2007

    Glad to hear that they settled, $7500 seems fair. Its just lucky that you had he ability to hold this property, even though the rental income was way off.

    I think, they knew you believed the income was $2200, I guess thats all that mattered. Thats why they settled.

    Good luck, MS is a quiet place, so you can always use this condo as a retreat or something.

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