Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
small claims hostage
my question concerns a small claims action against me for an outstanding medical bill. i was presented with a summons to appear in small claims court.yesterday i recieve a phone call at work from a gentleman claiming to be from the law office i am being sued by. he proceeded to goad me into paying the debt or he would proceed with the action. it apparently has not been filed yet although i was given a summons. my problem is that he is charging me all the fees and judgements as though i was in default on this small claims action and a judgement had been exacted by the courts. the original amount of the bill is $529.11 with a $150 attorney fee and a 10% per year interest charge. he has asked for a total payment of $879.00 from me which he says includes the cost of filing the action. i find this amount to be a little high and was wondering if he can force me to pay this amount even though here has been no judgement..now maybe i ought not look a gift horse in the mouth but i am a little skeptical about this.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: small claims hostage
he cant do anything without a judgment. it doesnt sound like a good deal to me. i would offer to settle for just the amount of the bill.
Re: small claims hostage
The amount he is trying to goad you into paying is the most he could get from a judge. Basically he is trying to get you to pay the most he would win in court without chancing it with a judge. If he is offering the same amount as he would be if he won in court I would recommend you take your chances in Court. The worst case scenario is you pay him later. Let him prove his case to a judge. If you want to get things over with offer him 50 cents on the dollar. All he can do is say no, and you never know if he will take it and you turn a $800+ debt into a $200 settlement. If you do go to Court explain to the judge why you couldn't pay the debt you never know if he will nock some money off. Good luck. If you have any more questions or concerns please email me I will try to help.
John Hayes, Esq.
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