Should I file a Small Claims suit or go with a Class Action suit?

[NoSpamPlease]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I hope I have posted this in the right category.

A jewelry store that buys and sells gold, in Davie, Florida, offered me a sum of money ($13,645.00) that he would pay me within 90 days, for my Rolex watch along with a lot of my gold & silver jewelry. The owner gave me 3 Invoices for the 3 times I went there. Afterward, he decided to pay me in small increments and a year later still owes me $4,609.00 but he claims he will only pay me $800.00. I learned he has ripped off lots of other people (I met with 2 ladies recently), including an attorney who got into a physical altercation with him in April 2019 and has retained his own attorney. I believe the jewelry store owner owes one lady somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000.00 and the other approximately $20,000.00. One of those ladies just contacted me to say she got in touch with the attorney for that other attorney and she said he is interested in taking her case also, and filing a Class Action Lawsuit. I am not familiar with Class Action lawsuits and need to know if you think it is better if I file a Small Claims Lawsuit against the jewelry store and the owner or go with the Class Action Lawsuit. Time is of the essence for me as my health is not good. I posted a question on Free Legal Answers about a month ago and an attorney replied and gave me great info regarding filing a Small Claims Suit against the owner, and I was just about to go file that when I was contacted by one of the ladies about the Class Action lawsuit and I'm not sure which way to go. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Why don't you just sue in small claims court? The case would be handled much quicker without the overhead of multiple lawyers.

I don't see how a class action suit would be appropriate. I'm not saying your lawyer is wrong. I think it is much more possible that you are misinterpreting what the lawyer said.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Sorry about the "employer" I meant "lawyers." Someone asked me a question in the office while I was typing.

Sorry I misread what the online lawyer told you. He was correct this should be a small claims case.

It is not appropriate for a class action and if there were a class action there would be a huge overhead for the lawyers involved.

 

[NoSpamPlease]

Why don't you just sue in small claims court? The case would be handled much quicker without the overhead of multiple lawyers.

I don't see how a class action suit would be appropriate. I'm not saying your lawyer is wrong. I think it is much more possible that you are misinterpreting what the lawyer said.

Thanks for your reply but I don't understand. I do not have an attorney. What employers?

You think I am misinterpreting which lawyer? The lawyer who responded to me a month ago on Free Legal Answers and suggested I file a Small Claims suit against the owner and his business, that I was just going to do when ....

one of the ladies who was ripped off by the jewelry store (with whom I recently met) emailed me and said the attorney representing the other attorney (who was ripped off and accosted by the jewelry store owner on 4/2019) is interested in taking on her case as well (as the other attorneys) and filing a Class Action Lawsuit? And she asked me if I would like to join the Class Action suit with her?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

That is weird, my reply to your first message is posted after your reply to my message.

 

[NoSpamPlease]

Sorry about the "employer" I meant "lawyers." Someone asked me a question in the office while I was typing.

Sorry I misread what the online lawyer told you. He was correct this should be a small claims case.

It is not appropriate for a class action and if there were a class action there would be a huge overhead for the lawyers involved.

No problem.

Since I was concerned about the cost of a Class Action suit, I did look it up and wasn't sure if it was worth it. I was also concerned about rushing to get this done (because of my fast deteriorating health) and not doing something properly, which is why having an attorney represent me (or a group) was something I was considering.

However, I am going to decline to join in the Class Action suit for sure because I just read that means I would give up my right to sue the jewelry store and owner myself, should the class action take too long or if I am not happy with something.

Your advice was very helpful, and just added to my decision.

Thanks again

 

[NoSpamPlease]

That is weird, my reply to your first message is posted after your reply to my message.

That might be because after I posted my initial reply, I realized I did not quote you properly, and requested a deletion of my post and then went back and quoted your reply, copied and pasted mine. Sorry for the mix-up!

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Small Claims court is about as easy as it can be. Follow this link and read up. There is no need to delay.

https://www.flcourts.org/Resources-Services/Court-Improvement/Family-Courts/Family-Law-Self-Help-Information/Small-Claims

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I hope I have posted this in the right category.

A jewelry store that buys and sells gold, in Davie, Florida, offered me a sum of money ($13,645.00) that he would pay me within 90 days, for my Rolex watch along with a lot of my gold & silver jewelry. The owner gave me 3 Invoices for the 3 times I went there. Afterward, he decided to pay me in small increments and a year later still owes me $4,609.00 but he claims he will only pay me $800.00. I learned he has ripped off lots of other people (I met with 2 ladies recently), including an attorney who got into a physical altercation with him in April 2019 and has retained his own attorney. I believe the jewelry store owner owes one lady somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000.00 and the other approximately $20,000.00. One of those ladies just contacted me to say she got in touch with the attorney for that other attorney and she said he is interested in taking her case also, and filing a Class Action Lawsuit. I am not familiar with Class Action lawsuits and need to know if you think it is better if I file a Small Claims Lawsuit against the jewelry store and the owner or go with the Class Action Lawsuit. Time is of the essence for me as my health is not good. I posted a question on Free Legal Answers about a month ago and an attorney replied and gave me great info regarding filing a Small Claims Suit against the owner, and I was just about to go file that when I was contacted by one of the ladies about the Class Action lawsuit and I'm not sure which way to go. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

The downside to participating in a class action suit is the cost of the attorney. The upside is that you are almost guaranteed to actually collect your judgment if you win.

The downside to filing in small claims court is that you get no assistance in collecting your judgment. It can be difficult for an individual to collect. The upside is that you don't have to pay an attorney.

I would probably go with the class action if I were in your shoes, but that is just me.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

What makes you even think there is a certifiable class involved, LdiJ?

A business that buys and sells gold, silver and Rolex watches is going to likely have an inventory that can be attached.

 

[LdiJ]

What makes you even think there is a certifiable class involved, LdiJ?

Because apparently an attorney has suggested it. I certainly did not make the suggestion.

A business that buys and sells gold, silver and Rolex watches is going to likely have an inventory that can be attached.

Maybe, maybe not. A business that cheats its customers in the manner that this business is cheating its customers is either doing really poorly or the owner is syphoning money away from the business. I suspect the later. If I am correct, the owner is likely selling the precious metals as fast as he is getting them.

 

[NoSpamPlease]

The downside to participating in a class action suit is the cost of the attorney. The upside is that you are almost guaranteed to actually collect your judgment if you win.

The downside to filing in small claims court is that you get no assistance in collecting your judgment. It can be difficult for an individual to collect. The upside is that you don't have to pay an attorney.

I would probably go with the class action if I were in your shoes, but that is just me.

Thanks for your reply. The downside to all of this is ... I have a terminal lung condition and needed to sell my jewelry to take care of lots of things so I sold my jewelry to a guy who promised to pay me within 90 days and then went back on his word.

One day when I was there (well after I had already given him all my jewelry) the lady was there trying to collect some of her $30 or $40 thousand dollars from him. After he refused to give her anything, she called him a liar and a thief and left, and he turned to me and actually had the audacity to laugh and said his cousins are very well known Florida attorneys so its not likely anyone will be able to collect anything from him.

I had a sick feeling in my stomach right then that I had made a huge mistake but I tried to keep my composure and actually went back a total of roughly 45 times throughout the year collecting a couple hundred here and a couple hundred there. Then, apparently, in May he decided he had enough of me and didn't want to pay the balance of what he owed me. I realize now, he has done that on many occasions with others.

I realize if I file a small claims suit and do all the work myself, and win my judgment, I may have difficulty collecting but I thought since this guy is in business, and his family owns another very big jewelry store not far from his, I may be able to attach something of his.

This is the info I received from an attorney who helped me on Free Legal Answers. I've decided not to hide who is his any longer in this thread in the event someone reading here is looking to sell their valuables to him.

"As far as who to sue, businesses ownership in Florida is public record, available at [website name removed]. I looked up this business, and it shows this:

[name and address removed] owned by S, was administratively dissolved as a company on 9/22/2017.

In its place, [name and address removed] owned by S began operations and is still currently active.

There is also [name and address removed], also owned by S. That company was just formed on 4/19/2019.

If you file a claim, I would suggest filing it against all three, as well as Mr. S personally. I say to file it against all three, because with him opening and closing businesses, there is no telling where the assets of your transaction might be at this point. In addition, since Mr. S was personally involved in what appears to be a fraudulent transaction, he may be personally responsible even if he was acting on behalf of whatever business he was with at the time."

I was so grateful to him that when I filed my complaint with the Police Department, I thought for sure they would help me. But they won't. They said take him to small claims.

I saw on facebook The Police Department is more interested in putting out BOLOs for young kids who recently went into Target and stole a Nintendo gadget. They are not interested in a business owner who has ripped off lots of unsuspecting customers of tens of thousands of dollars.

The lady who wants me to join her Class Action suit sent me dozens of information from [name removed] ... where she paid to find out what other judgments have been levied against him and how much he has paid back. The list is a mile long.

So, a little while ago I contacted that lady, the one lady he owes $30 or $40 thousand dollars to, and told her I will not be joining her in the Class Action Lawsuit.

I'm quite upset about this whole thing and just want my money that he promised to pay me. He has ripped off a lot of people and the Police Department is aware of him.

I'm at my wits end.

Thanks for reading.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I was so grateful to him that when I filed my complaint with the Davie Police Department, I thought for sure they would help me. But they won't. They said take him to small claims.

I saw on facebook The Davie Police Department is more interested in putting out BOLOs for young kids who recently went into Target and stole a Nintendo gadget. They are not interested in a business owner who has ripped off lots of unsuspecting customers of tens of thousands of dollars.

The police didn't get involved and said to go to civil court because it is a civil issue.

 

[NoSpamPlease]

The police didn't get involved and said to go to civil court because it is a civil issue.

Yes, that is what they said but I don't quite understand that part of the law. This business jewelry store is stealing tens of thousands of dollars from residents of the community, myself included, causing a tremendous amount of stress and strain on people's health and the police say this is "civil". Another business, Target, had a $50 or less Nintendo gadget stolen from them and the police spend lots of time and effort putting out BOLOs and having police and other agencies look for the kid, and say this is a prosecutable crime.

I guess if I were to go into the jewelry store and take something off the counter, I would be arrested and charged as a criminal? But the jewelry store owner is allowed to steal from me? And the law will not do anything about it?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Yes, that is what they said but I don't quite understand that part of the law. This business jewelry store is stealing tens of thousands of dollars from residents of the community, myself included, causing a tremendous amount of stress and strain on people's health and the police say this is "civil". Another business, Target, had a $50 or less Nintendo gadget stolen from them and the police spend lots of time and effort putting out BOLOs and having police and other agencies look for the kid, and say this is a prosecutable crime.

I guess if I were to go into the jewelry store and take something off the counter, I would be arrested and charged as a criminal? But the jewelry store owner is allowed to steal from me? And the law will not do anything about it?

The business owner is in breach of a written or verbal contract. That is what makes it a civil issue and not criminal (AT THIS POINT).