Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Advice needed

REDVAN · 09-18-2023, 12:04 PM

I was successful, last year, in getting a judgement against a flooring "contractor" who took deposit, and never supplied any material or labour to me. Your process might be easier if it is against a business and not an individual- assuming they are still in business.

I can possibly answer simple questions, if they come up. I am not a lawyer.

My advice, as I was told by a lawyer from this forum... is it worth it? If you have to hire someone to represent you, it is likely not worth it. My lawyer advised me that a strongly worded legal demand letter might be enough to solve this issue, so try that first. Look that up on Google.

Then if that doesn't work, doing the court process yourself will take considerable time and mental effort. I wouldn't do this for less than a couple thousand bucks TBH. The court websites do not offer much help, and even their online document stores are disorganized and misleading (bad links, incorrect documents at links, old versions etc). The good news is that the clerks in civil court are very helpful, understanding, and patient with first-timer do-it-yourself plaintiffs. The main thing I can say here is to maintain a positive, professional and polite attitude to them. I witnessed this first-hand as the more flustered and impatient the person at the clerk's window was, the ruder and less helpful became the clerk- quite quickly. I never had any issues, and in-fact they really helped me when I had a wrong form or something incorrectly filled out.

Anyway, in my case, the defendant was a drug-addled loser with no prospects in life. He didn't ever respond to any of my claims or evidence against him and I was awarded a judgement. I now have literally zero hope of ever collecting due to his lifestyle and all-around-loserness. Keep that in mind too. Once you have a judgement, you are responsible to collect, and you'd have to hire for that if the debtor refuses to make arrangement with you.

09-18-2023, 12:04 PM	#2
REDVAN Franchise Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Calgary Exp:	I was successful, last year, in getting a judgement against a flooring "contractor" who took deposit, and never supplied any material or labour to me. Your process might be easier if it is against a business and not an individual- assuming they are still in business. I can possibly answer simple questions, if they come up. I am not a lawyer. My advice, as I was told by a lawyer from this forum... is it worth it? If you have to hire someone to represent you, it is likely not worth it. My lawyer advised me that a strongly worded legal demand letter might be enough to solve this issue, so try that first. Look that up on Google. Then if that doesn't work, doing the court process yourself will take considerable time and mental effort. I wouldn't do this for less than a couple thousand bucks TBH. The court websites do not offer much help, and even their online document stores are disorganized and misleading (bad links, incorrect documents at links, old versions etc). The good news is that the clerks in civil court are very helpful, understanding, and patient with first-timer do-it-yourself plaintiffs. The main thing I can say here is to maintain a positive, professional and polite attitude to them. I witnessed this first-hand as the more flustered and impatient the person at the clerk's window was, the ruder and less helpful became the clerk- quite quickly. I never had any issues, and in-fact they really helped me when I had a wrong form or something incorrectly filled out. Anyway, in my case, the defendant was a drug-addled loser with no prospects in life. He didn't ever respond to any of my claims or evidence against him and I was awarded a judgement. I now have literally zero hope of ever collecting due to his lifestyle and all-around-loserness. Keep that in mind too. Once you have a judgement, you are responsible to collect, and you'd have to hire for that if the debtor refuses to make arrangement with you. __________________ REDVAN!