Advice needed - small claims court

[hixxes]

I intend to take legal proceedings against a trailer manufacturer who took a deposit from me over two years ago for a new trailer build but has never delivered. It has become apparent that the contractor has no intention of delivering on the agreement and I feel my only path forward is to go to small claims court to get my deposit back.

Does anyone have experience with the process? Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[REDVAN]

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.

[Firebot]

You are already behind by waiting so long. You should read the link here, hopefully you have something recent.

https://albertacourts.ca/cj/areas-of...before-you-sue

For debt claims, such as breach of contract, unpaid loans, damage deposits and rent owing, the time limit is generally two years from the time the debt began. An exception to this rule exists: if the defendant has acknowledged in writing that the debt is still owing, or if a partial payment has been made, the two-year limit starts when the debt was last acknowledged or partially paid.

As for actual suing, is it worth your time, i.e. how much is the money you are going to receive back if you get a full judgement? That depends entirely on you. What may be a slam dunk breach of contract case may not necessarily be so. Even if you have a judgment, can you collect? Individual vs corporation makes a difference.

In your case it may be worthwhile. Frankly I find a lot of BS like what you experienced occurs because people are too scared or unwilling to take the legal step, allowing businesses and individuals to act this way. Do expect a fight however if the contractor has no intentions to pay.

[Jacks]

As Redvan mentioned, getting a judgement is only the beginning of it. I got a judgement for $2K ish about 10 years ago and have never been able to collect from the deadbeat. Even had a Bailiff go to the guys house, he was renting with no assets in his name. The one bank account I knew about was closed and the credit card I had was cancelled. Just a colossal waste of time.


If the guy has an actual company with tools, vehicles and other assets or if he owns a house you might have a chance of collecting.

[FlamesAddiction]

I went through this process a while ago. I hired a paralegal to do most of the work. I eventually ended up settling outside of court because the process took way too long. It was during Covid so everything was remoted. I had 3 hearings, and the person I was suing did not show up for any of them. All 3 times however, the judge said that they didn't have time to review the case and didn't want to give a default judgment without having reviewed anything. It was extremely frustrating.

Eventually, I just had my paralegal work out an agreement and settled for less than I was owed because I lost faith in the whole system.

[GioforPM]

When was it supposed to be delivered? If over 2 years ago you might be in trouble, unless the guy acknowledged the obligation in writing in the meantime.

Anyway, just fill out the forms, file them and serve them the way the website and pamphlets they have show you.

[Titan2]

I would suggest not doing anything until you have determined if the limitation period has expired. As this is a breach of contract, and you indicated it was over two years, that may be the case and you would be wasting your time.

To Gio's first point, has the company acknowledged the debt in writing at any point?

You need to be clear with yourself, is this worth it? If it is less than $5000 the answer for me is damn no. Less than $10,000? Maybe but probably still no. The process is a real pain in the ass unless you are a lawyer/agent who is familiar with this.

Here is a link to the Alberta forms: https://albertacourts.ca/kb/areas-of-law/civil/forms

Also, you can only open them with Adobe. Just another pain in the ass.

[troutman]

You may have missed your limitation date. If the manufacturer is a corporation, the corporation may have no assets.

Filing a Consumer Complaint

https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/bb5c...nt-2023-08.pdf

[Locke]

Do you know if the guy/Business is Bonded or not?

Getting the Insurance Bond is usually your best bet, if he's not bonded it might be an impossible ask.

How much is this for? It doesnt sound like its going to be worth it and you might be outta luck.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Titan2

I would suggest not doing anything until you have determined if the limitation period has expired. As this is a breach of contract, and you indicated it was over two years, that may be the case and you would be wasting your time.

To Gio's first point, has the company acknowledged the debt in writing at any point?

You need to be clear with yourself, is this worth it? If it is less than $5000 the answer for me is damn no. Less than $10,000? Maybe but probably still no. The process is a real pain in the ass unless you are a lawyer/agent who is familiar with this.

Here is a link to the Alberta forms: https://albertacourts.ca/kb/areas-of-law/civil/forms

Also, you can only open them with Adobe. Just another pain in the ass.

TBF, the poster only said he paid the deposit over 2 years ago. The limitation period would start when the delivery was supposed to happen - that’s the breach of contract.