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Civil Court Case was Dismissed Without Prejudice - Now What?

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GRG

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Montana

This is a very long and protracted situation, but I'll cut to the chase:
An architect/contractor filed a civil suit against me for a supposed uncollected debt on work he says he did.

This debt has been fabricated by unsubstantiated charges on invoices that just keep arriving in my mailbox each and every month. Despite repeated requests for itemization of tasks and how long they took, as a condition for payment, the invoices continue to Spartanly show only amounts and finance charges hence, they remain unpaid and here we are.

The civil suit was dismissed without prejudice, as the architect/contrator did not have counsel representing him. He will not hire an attorney to move the civil suit forward, because he does not have concrete evidence that he does, indeed, have an uncollected debt from me and, he does not want to pay to have an attorney represent him; it would cost more than what the debt is.

Therefore, may this person now move his protest to small claims court if the monetary amount he is claiming resides within the small claims court realm (~ $2680.00)?

I would like to fend off his next move by paying some of his bill. Could I have an attorney craft a letter with release language and a check?

Frankly, he has exhibited behavior that is quite irrational and vindictive: I would be very happy to never have to interact with this person ever again.

Thanks for your assistance.
GRG
 


justalayman

Senior Member
Therefore, may this person now move his protest to small claims court if the monetary amount he is claiming resides within the small claims court realm (~ $2680.00)?
from what I can find, yes.

I would like to fend off his next move by paying some of his bill. Could I have an attorney craft a letter with release language and a check?
Not sure how paying some of the bill would affect anything. If he files and you make a payment, he simply amends his complaint to reflect the reduced debt. You can have an attorney write anything you want. That doesn't mean the other party has to accept anything less than full payment, as he calculates it.
 

GRG

Junior Member
Any Recourse?

Do I have any other recourse (other than paying his padded, ridiculous bill) than to wait until his next move, which is most likely Small Claims?

Probably not**************.
 

Dave1952

Senior Member
Sending this guy a check for any amount may look like an admission of the debt. You do seem to acknowledge a debt but you don't agree with the amount being billed. I'd advise doing nothing.
It's up to the architect to show up in court with the proof that he needs to convince the judge of the amount that he seeks. If he shows you definitive proof then settle. If he won't show such proof then wait for the Statutes of Limitation to apply. That's 8 yrs for unwritten and 5 yrs for written contracts.

Good luck
 

GRG

Junior Member
Ok, then. I'll take Dave1952's course of action and pray nothing else happens.

By the way, thank you to all you provided input. Great website!
Happy Hoildays to all.

GRG
 

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