First time in small claims lawsuit - loaned $7,000 and ghosted

[SmallClaimsHelp]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

Here's a quick summary of my situation:

- In January of 2022, a close friend of mine informed me he was about to lose the house. He asked if i could loan him $5,000 to help cover the mortgage for a month while a loan came do. He said he would be willing to sign anything but just needed this money for a couple of weeks.

- Knowing this money may never come back, I made the decision to help this friend and loaned him and his wife the money. All is documented in text messages.

- 3 weeks later he said he needed $2,000 more to bridge the gap which i loaned and we documented in writing.

- Date for payment came and went and he said things fell through for him and his wife. I said ok i need the money back and of course he said i dont have it because we had to spend it. He soon became unemployed. His wife was and still is employed as a pharmacist.

- I think he and his wife may have declared bankruptcy.

I live in Texas. This he and his wife live in Ohio.

I reached out to him countless times in the next few months and he ghosted me.

I filed suit in the small claims court in he and his wife's county in Ohio. Our court date is scheduled for next week.

I've filed suit for the max allowable amount - $6,000

To date, the certified mail has been sent and the defendant has not responded. I've called the courthouse and theyve said they've received nothing from USPS saying it was undeliverable.

I will be flying to Ohio next week for my court hearing.

4 days ago defendant sent me first text message in 10 months saying "dude. i can't get you your money back until i pay back these people $2,000 cause they have my bank card. chill out dickwad"

I assume this means he has received the courthouse's communication that he and his wife have a court date next week

A couple of questions:
1) what happens if they never acknowledge officially that they have been served when i show up after flying there from Texas?

2) in general, what are the odds that i could win a judgement? I dont have a "signed contract", but everything is documented in text messages and printed out and submitted to the judge as evidence.

3) what can i do to best prepare for the hearing? (the time slot is 20 minutes)

4) should I wear a suit? I've never participated in something like this

5) what additional information can i provide to help inform me to make best use of my court hearing time

Thanks for any thoughts

 

[adjusterjack]

I think he and his wife may have declared bankruptcy.

Look them up on PACER.

Public Access to Court Electronic Records | PACER: Federal Court Records (uscourts.gov)

If his name is on a bankruptcy filing, your lawsuit is "stayed" and you'll be wasting your trip because the hearing won't happen. And if he's filed for Chapter 7, his debt to you will disappear when he gets his discharge.

Check for the bankruptcy. Come back and report. If he did file for bankruptcy, there's no sense answering the rest of your questions and we'll save each other some time.

 

[SmallClaimsHelp]

Look them up on PACER.

Public Access to Court Electronic Records | PACER: Federal Court Records (uscourts.gov)

If his name is on a bankruptcy filing, your lawsuit is "stayed" and you'll be wasting your trip because the hearing won't happen. And if he's filed for Chapter 7, his debt to you will disappear when he gets his discharge.

Check for the bankruptcy. Come back and report. If he did file for bankruptcy, there's no sense answering the rest of your questions and we'll save each other some time.

Thank you for the suggestion. a couple of quick questions:

1) in looking at the site i supply a credit card when i register. Can i then look someone up by name?

2) if he declared bankruptcy but his wife didnt, does that change the situation?

 

[quincy]

Thank you for the suggestion. a couple of quick questions:

1) in looking at the site i supply a credit card when i register. Can i then look someone up by name?

2) if he declared bankruptcy but his wife didnt, does that change the situation?

Once registered, you can look up cases by party name.

If the wife was not part of the loan agreement, it won’t change your ability to collect.

You have posted here before under a different username.

 

[SmallClaimsHelp]

Once registered, you can look up cases by party name.

If the wife was not part of the loan agreement, it won’t change your ability to collect.

You have posted here before under a different username.

I havent but a friend of mine that recommended this site to me did.

Is that a problem? Hopefully i havent violated any rules. just seeking information so not sure if that's a problem

Here's what PACER provided me if i used it correctly:

hmmm...cant see how to post an image. Here's the text with names redacted:

PACER Service Center
03/11/2023 15:30:50

User
Client Code
Description	Bankruptcy Party Search
	All Courts; Name Poxxxxx, Sxxxxxxxx; Jurisdiction BK; All Courts
Results	The search returned no results.
Billable Pages	1 ($0.10)

 

[quincy]

I havent but a friend of mine that recommended this site to me did.

Is that a problem? Hopefully i havent violated any rules. just seeking information so not sure if that's a problem

Here's what PACER provided me if i used it correctly:

hmmm...cant see how to post an image. Here's the text with names redacted:

PACER Service Center
03/11/2023 15:30:50

User
Client Code
Description	Bankruptcy Party Search
	All Courts; Name Poxxxxx, Sxxxxxxxx; Jurisdiction BK; All Courts
Results	The search returned no results.
Billable Pages	1 ($0.10)

Perhaps there has been no bankruptcy filing yet. He might just be considering filing.

 

[SmallClaimsHelp]

Perhaps there has been no bankruptcy filing yet. He might just be considering filing.

quite possible. he told me he would probably have to file for bankruptcy but i would have no way of officially confirming that other than I have attempted to search for it on PACER if I'm doing it correctly.

 

[quincy]

quite possible. he told me he would probably have to file for bankruptcy but i would have no way of officially confirming that other than I have attempted to search for it on PACER if I'm doing it correctly.

You don’t have proof of service but your court date is this coming week?

 

[SmallClaimsHelp]

You don’t have proof of service but your court date is this coming week?

what is "proof of service"? i have a court issued ID and a time slot for this coming week. this was all filed on 2/8/2023 and my court date was set for this coming week. do i need to provide more proof for this forum? happy to do that. i dont know if that was the intent of your question though.

 

[SmallClaimsHelp]

I was told by the person at the courthouse in ohio that i talked to that they send the mail certified USPS and they can respond or not respond.

that mail was sent on 2/9. as of last week he had not returned the certified mail to the courthouse.

i was told the courthouse's next step was to mail it USPS regular mail and if it came back as returned, then we have the wrong address. I used the address that he and his wife gave me on the text messages and that i confirmed on the county appraisal site that they still own (as of the latest county appraisal records)

 

[SmallClaimsHelp]

Here's the address per the county site just now - redacted info:

​

P S M - the defendant​
​	LO MO <-the wife​
Owner Mailing /​	xxxx Hxxxxx LN​
Contact Address​	COLUMBUS OH 43231​

 

[SmallClaimsHelp]

Case No. xxxx CVI xxxxxx

Status: OPEN

Filed: 02/08/2023

Parties

1​			Type	PLAINTIFF
City		State/Zip
2​	Name	P	Type	DEFENDANT
Address	3xxx Hxxxxxxxxx LN
City	COLUMBUS	State/Zip	OH/43231

 

[SmallClaimsHelp]

since nothing came up searching by the defendant's last name on the PACER site, can i have confidence he hasnt declared bankruptcy?

 

[quincy]

I was told by the person at the courthouse in ohio that i talked to that they send the mail certified USPS and they can respond or not respond. ..

Okay. It sounds like service was made and your defendants just chose not to respond.

Make sure you check with the Court before your flight to better ensure that nothing has changed with the hearing date. Show up in Court at least 15 minutes early and check in with the bailiff.

If your defendants do not show up, you may get a default judgment. With the judgment, you have more ways to collect what is owed. It will still be up to you to collect on the judgment, however.

Dress nicely to show respect for the Court. A suit and tie is best, nice slacks and shirt with sports jacket second best. Avoid tee shirts, jeans, baseball caps.

You can prepare by writing out facts in bullet points and have your evidence easy to present to the judge. Avoid all extraneous information.

Refer to the judge as Your Honor. Do not interrupt. Be polite. If your defendants show up, do not speak directly to them. Especially do not argue.

Good luck.

 

[quincy]

since nothing came up searching by the defendant's last name on the PACER site, can i have confidence he hasnt declared bankruptcy?

Unless the bankruptcy was filed under seal, the filing should show up on PACER. You also could use the PACER Case Locator for a wider nationwide search or contact the federal court where you think the fellow might have filed.

But you cannot be confident that your defendant(s) won’t file for bankruptcy in the future, after you get a judgment. That is a risk you take.