Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Massachusetts

Re: How do I file a claim which exceeds the small claims limit

The statute of limitations is unclear. Contract

statute of limitations is 6 years in Massachusetts (20 years under seal), torts generally are 3 years. However, you lose by waiting even one year for two reasons: witnesses, their recollections, documents and data become slowly less available over time, people move away, and judges wonder why you waited. So don't wait. (Don't be a jerk; you don't need to sue today, tomorrow or even next week just to avoid the appearance of sitting on your rights too long. I guess the answer is that ideally you should file suit within 2 or 3 months of when it became apparent that you would need to.

If you can document $10,000, my experience tells me to add in what you can't document but you can recall as well. (Others will say, "stick to what you can prove" but not in a collection case.)

To answer your subject line question, you would file a suit for under $25,000 in a District Court. You MUST hire a constable to serve a Summons along with your complaint. There are formats that it is preferable to use which attorneys are familiar with. If you can think of any assets (car valued at over $700, any real estate, business equipment, his steady wage stream, bank accounts), you should try to attach those JUST AS SECURITY before you notify him that you're suing or else those things will likely vanish, especially where he's admitting he owes you the money; he's obviously just not motivated to pay you in any particular timeframe so of course he'll duck any collection efforts. There are sometimes a few steps to be taken before you file suit which would get him to acknowledge that he owes you a certain sum of money which you can then use as evidence if you need to.

My neighbor is a big expert in collections work. He handles GMAC in Massachusetts. If you want an attorney (and I recommend it), he may take the case.

I'm sorry the relationship went sour and sorrier that what's left of it is going the same way.