• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

I won my small claims case but can't get the defendant to pay

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

The Quincy District Court Clerk Magistrate found in my favor 100% of my small claims case back in October 2018. The defendant contacted me and asked to set up a payment plan. I drafted one up and he signed and returned the agreement to me. The first due date was January 1, 2019 and the defendant contacted me that day saying he couldn't make his payment but would get it to me by that Friday. I went back to court and scheduled a payment review just in case. That Friday came and went and we never received payment. The defendant did not show up for our payment hearing on January 17, 2019 and I was awarded a Capias Civil Arrest Warrant. While I was waiting for that to come in the mail, I reached out to the defendant and offered to have him sign an updated payment agreement starting February 1, 2019. He agreed and said he would sign and send the agreement back. He has not done that and we still have not received any funds to this day (January 24, 2019). He is not responding to my texts about the agreement so I sent one last email this morning telling him he had until January 25, 2019 at 6pm to send me the updated payment agreement and his February 1st payment or we would take further legal action.

He knows we were awarded the Capias Warrant and is still ignoring me so I'm wondering what my next steps should be. What does the Capias Civil Warrant actually do? Can I request that the court grant me a subpoena to get his financial information (bank statements, tax returns, paystubs) to prove he can pay? I also read somewhere about a Writ of Execution which would basically force him to sell an asset to pay me back but how would I find out if he has any assets to sell and is this something I can actually do? I am full invested in getting my money back and just need to know what I am able to do to ensure that I do.
 


Just Blue

Senior Member
The Quincy District Court Clerk Magistrate found in my favor 100% of my small claims case back in October 2018. The defendant contacted me and asked to set up a payment plan. I drafted one up and he signed and returned the agreement to me. The first due date was January 1, 2019 and the defendant contacted me that day saying he couldn't make his payment but would get it to me by that Friday. I went back to court and scheduled a payment review just in case. That Friday came and went and we never received payment. The defendant did not show up for our payment hearing on January 17, 2019 and I was awarded a Capias Civil Arrest Warrant. While I was waiting for that to come in the mail, I reached out to the defendant and offered to have him sign an updated payment agreement starting February 1, 2019. He agreed and said he would sign and send the agreement back. He has not done that and we still have not received any funds to this day (January 24, 2019). He is not responding to my texts about the agreement so I sent one last email this morning telling him he had until January 25, 2019 at 6pm to send me the updated payment agreement and his February 1st payment or we would take further legal action.

He knows we were awarded the Capias Warrant and is still ignoring me so I'm wondering what my next steps should be. What does the Capias Civil Warrant actually do? Can I request that the court grant me a subpoena to get his financial information (bank statements, tax returns, paystubs) to prove he can pay? I also read somewhere about a Writ of Execution which would basically force him to sell an asset to pay me back but how would I find out if he has any assets to sell and is this something I can actually do? I am full invested in getting my money back and just need to know what I am able to do to ensure that I do.
Quincy, Massachusetts? If not...What state?
 

quincy

Senior Member
The Quincy District Court Clerk Magistrate found in my favor 100% of my small claims case back in October 2018. The defendant contacted me and asked to set up a payment plan. I drafted one up and he signed and returned the agreement to me. The first due date was January 1, 2019 and the defendant contacted me that day saying he couldn't make his payment but would get it to me by that Friday. I went back to court and scheduled a payment review just in case. That Friday came and went and we never received payment. The defendant did not show up for our payment hearing on January 17, 2019 and I was awarded a Capias Civil Arrest Warrant. While I was waiting for that to come in the mail, I reached out to the defendant and offered to have him sign an updated payment agreement starting February 1, 2019. He agreed and said he would sign and send the agreement back. He has not done that and we still have not received any funds to this day (January 24, 2019). He is not responding to my texts about the agreement so I sent one last email this morning telling him he had until January 25, 2019 at 6pm to send me the updated payment agreement and his February 1st payment or we would take further legal action.

He knows we were awarded the Capias Warrant and is still ignoring me so I'm wondering what my next steps should be. What does the Capias Civil Warrant actually do? Can I request that the court grant me a subpoena to get his financial information (bank statements, tax returns, paystubs) to prove he can pay? I also read somewhere about a Writ of Execution which would basically force him to sell an asset to pay me back but how would I find out if he has any assets to sell and is this something I can actually do? I am full invested in getting my money back and just need to know what I am able to do to ensure that I do.
You will need to pay a fee to a sheriff to arrest, on the Capias warrant, the judgment debtor and bring the debtor to the court. This fee you pay is added to the amount you are owed by the debtor.

Once the debtor is brought before the Magistrate, the debtor will need to provide a financial statement which will include his assets.

You can then get a Writ of Execution issued to seize and sell (nonexempt) property owned by the debtor to help satisfy the judgment.

Or, depending on the amount owed, you might want to turn the judgment over to a debt collector.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top