Suing someone in small claims..should I still accept payments?

[brklyn2007]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

Hello Everyone,

I have two questions.

I have filed a small claims case against a former friend of mine who borrowed my credit cards, and is refusing to pay off the loan. I can prove without a doubt the amount of money and it was a loan in emails, bank statements and credit cards. My question is, she is making payments but very small, barely enough to cover the minimum which I am fronting, and she refuses to do more. I filed just the other day. Should I continue to accept her payments or should I stop accepting them because the case is pending? I'm afraid accepting the payments after I have filed the court case is unethical, but then not accepting them may hurt my case.

The second question is she has threatened to expose me in court for alleged illegal activities (which are bogus) but could be a headache if someone decides to investigate. I believe she is doing this to bully me into not filing the small claims, but she is crazy and will say and do just about anything. Is there anyway this could make a problem for me? Can a judge prosecute if illegal activities are exposed during a civil trial?

 

[brklyn2007]

Any advice

Anyone? If anyone could reply that would be great.

 

[STEPHAN]

I can prove without a doubt the amount of money and it was a loan in emails, bank statements and credit cards.

You can't prove anything without a doubt if you rely on emails. It takes me minutes to fake an email conversation.

Sure you can accept payments.

 

[tcushing]

paralegal student

What is the name of your state

My advice is to accept the payments; and place them in an escrow type account. Making payments would indicate that She/ He does in fact have a debt owed to you.
Contact your credit card company and cancel the cards or card, (this may cause a negative credit flag) obtain 'all' credit card receipts that you believe she is responsible for and create a time-line of the transactions (for the Judge).
As for your concern for what she may allege, you need to; save all e-mails and document any conversations. Research slander and libel.

 

[quincy]

... As for your concern for what she may allege, you need to; save all e-mails and document any conversations. Research slander and libel.

The research on slander and libel would be for what reason, tcushing?

What is said during a court proceeding is absolutely privileged and cannot form the basis of a defamation claim, and what is said by the former friend only to brklyn2007 is not defamation. Defamation requires communication to a third party.

brklyn2007, judges do not prosecute crimes. Prosecutors do.