filing small claims against minors

What is the name of your state?
Pennsylvania.

My 13 year old son loaned his mobile phone to a friend of about the same age at school for approximately 2 weeks and his friend ran up a phone bill of almost $800.00. When I contacted her parents, I was pretty much stonewalled by them. They accepted no responsibility whatsoever for their daughters actions and made clear that they had no intention to reimburse me in any way or in any amount.

Their daughter asserts that my son told her she could use the phone as much as she liked. My son -naturally- asserts that he told her no such thing. He said-she said; it boils down to her word against his. I'm not sure who's telling the truth but I suspect that neither are recounting the exact terms of the exchange as it actually occurred.

At this point, I don't really care who's telling the truth because ther is no definitive resolution to the question. What I do care about is the $800.00 that I'll need to come up with to pay the bill. Regardless of how or what she thought the phone's usage terms were, ultimately, she is responsible for running up an astronomical bill.

In the state of PA, is it possible to file a small claims suit against a minor and if neccessary, to use a judgement in my favor to seek compensation from her parents if she cannot or does not reimburse me?

Aside from a small claims suit, what other options might I have available to me to gain recompensation?

I've even considered placing a lien on her parents house as a little attention-getter, however, at this point, I'm not sure that I would be able to provide the proper documentation required to show cause to the county. I can, however, document without question that she is the one who ran up the phone bill and not my son.

name the minor and parents in your suit.

however, the judge may look at you and ask why you werent aware what your son was doing with his cell phone.

you should consider a prepaid cellphone plan so that this problem does not come up in the future.

BTW, why does a 13 year old need a cellphone?

He has the phone so that we are able to keep in touch with him as needed.

During the period of time when the phone was on loan, he had been grounded for some less than stellar grades in school (which have since rebounded). Thus, when not in school, he was at home and under supervision. Don't need to call the boy's phone if he's in the next room, ya' know.

With the exception of this glaring incident, his having a phone has been a tremendous convienence to our entire family. His usage of the phone is rather moderate and is more cost effective than a pre-paid plan (again, barring this incident).

My response:

Everybody's got an excuse or reason to justify their actions or inactions. Everybody thinks they're right, and justified, for the things they do or don't do, regardless of the controlling law.

I've got a prediction for you - - when you take your case to court, the judge is going to look at you with a blank stare, and wonderment, as he tries to discern your "cause of action", which, will be none.

You see, a minor can disaffirm their agreements and contracts. So, that's what the little girl is going to do, placing the liability back on your shoulders.

The parting shot by the judge will be, "Why didn't you know where that telephone was all this time?"

Judgment for defendant. Plaintiff to pay all costs.

IAAL