Small Claims

It has two meanings. First it is that system of law which derives from European codifications of the Law, particularly Justinian's and Napoleon Bonaparte's, as opposed to common law which is that system of law which derives from the decisions of judges, originally in England, and after throughout the English-speaking world.

Second, it is that area of law which treats litigation between individuals, rather than litigation commenced by the state (this is usualy in the realm of criminal law).

In Arkansas, small claims court is a division of district court. Crawford County District Court is located at 1003 Broadway, Van Buren, AR 72956 and may be reached by phone at 479-474-1671. For additional information and Arkansas court resources, see the related link.

If the defendant does not show up in small claims court, the judge may enter a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff. This means that the plaintiff wins the case by default since the defendant did not appear to defend themselves. The plaintiff may then be awarded the relief requested in their claim.

Yes it happens all the time but you need to be sure you have all the facts and proof that it was there mistake and dig up history on the company to see how many times complaints have been filed on them before.

The judicial system was established by the Constitution. It consists of the Supreme Court, 12 circuit courts, or courts of appeal, 91 district courts, and includes special courts such as the Claims Court, the Tax Court, and the Court of Veterans Appeals (renamed the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in 1999). The federal courts are involved in performing a two-fold task. They perform statutory construction which means they interpret the meaning of laws and administrative rules and regulations. For example, when a person uses certain offensive language on the radio waves, is he exercising his right of free speech or is he violating local obscenity laws? The courts make decisions on cases such as this every week

yes , you can

Yes. And you may face consequences for doing so, unfortunately.

to meet

A judgment can be executed in several ways, the preferred method for a judgment creditor to recover monies is through wage garnisment. Bank account levy, liens against real property owned by the judgment debtor. In some U.S. states the seizure and sale of unexempt personal property held by the debtor (CD's, jewelry, electronics, items of value) is also allowed, but the action is rarely implemented by the judgment holder.

This is an iffy one. While the judge is not allowed to give legal advise to anyone (thereby keeping his duty to be neutral), he is also free to control his courtroom in any way he wishes. Since state laws can vary widely on this issue, I would contact your state's Commission on Judicial Conduct for more insight.

Simply doing yard maintenance on someone else's property does not give them notice that your actions are "hostile" and therefore they have no reason to sue you and therefore the statute of limitations has never started for evicting you as a trespasser and therefore you have no claim to it.

Even if you plant shrubs, how do they know it isn't a "gift"?

Only by "possessing" the property without permission might you have a claim (if you can prove it meets all of the criteria), and possession is typically indicated by erection of a fence or signs, incessant trespassing, or other means to exclude the rightful owners from the use of their property, any of which would get you sued. If they know (or should know) of your adverse possession and do nothing about it, you could acquire rights to it, under limited circumstances.

You have 30 days to respond to a default judgment by going to the courthouse and filing an appeal. A new trial will be set where the judge will either give you another opportunity to hear your side or vacate the judgment if you can show that you were not properly served.

No, it is up to the judge to grant judgment. It is not granted by default.

The only way to dispute a writ of garnishment is to go to court. You will need to hire an attorney to dispute the garnishment.