| That's a really good question... Say the landscaping contractor screws up your yard, and you want a refund of the $2500 you paid. They refuse so you take them to Small Claims. Let's say you win... what happens next? Usually nothing. You have a judgement you can rightfully enforce, but every path of enforcement is going to cost you more time and more money (wage garnishment, etc). For such a relatively small amount of money, it can quickly become not worth while to collect. For your county, you can look up what your local Sheriff Office charges to provide these services. Fees vary by location. Fees tend to stack as you have to file paperwork with multiple entities, etc. This all takes a lot of time as well, and you are not going to recover any of the enforcement expenses either. The math is different in each situation - but you can see where it can often become not worth enforcement. |