The residents of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York State will be pleased to find the location and telephone number of every Small Claims Court in each county (geographic area) of their state in Appendix H. This information alone facilitates entry into the process because they can write to a particular court and request the Initial Claim form and specific instructions for their area.
The book is generally specific for the states of New York (pop. 18,136,000), New Jersey (pop. 7,945,000) and Connecticut (pop. 3,295,669) because these states have unified state-wide codes for their courts. Connecticut, for example, seems to be the most unified in that each of its twenty-two geographical areas’ Superior Courts (small claims division) uses the same forms (shown in this book), starting with the Initial Claim form [FORM 40]. The same is true for the Small Claims Courts of the five Boroughs of New York City (pop. 7,322,564) because they share forms in common such as [FORM 1]. Forms are shown from New York’s Westchester (pop. 890,918), Nassau (pop. 1,305,000) and Suffolk (pop. 1,321,000) Counties, but each major district within these counties may have minor local variations in their forms. The forms for New Jersey’s Bergen (pop. 845,000) and Hudson (pop. 550,000) Counties are specific to those counties.
My observations on-site were mostly gleaned from experiences in the Brooklyn Small Claims Court which serves a population of 2,300,664. Indeed Brooklyn is considered to be the fourth largest "city" in the world. (Court statistics indicate that the SCC in Queens (NYC) heard the most cases of all the boroughs -- an astounding 17,374 cases out of more than 60,000 claims filed throughout the five boroughs in 1996).
It is said that "to be forewarned is to be forearmed." This guide is an attempt to help you provide yourself with that forewarning to be well armed.
As I am not a lawyer, this guide is not meant to provide legal advice. Rather, it is a compendium of my experiences, designed to illuminate the reader’s understanding of the Small Claims Court process. It is possible you may come across problems that I have not experienced -- problems such that, if they had emerged for me, I would have sought the advice of an attorney. If any such problem should loom on the horizon I would consult a lawyer. Indeed you can have a thirty minute consultation for $25 with an attorney by calling the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bar Association (see Appendix A for the addresses and telephone numbers of the Bar Associations of these boroughs and those of the other major geographic areas covered in this guide).
Finally, I recommend a reading of chapter 7-21 through 7-32, covering sections 1801-1815 of The New York City Civil Court Act. These eleven pages cover the rules in detail which govern Small Claims (see Bibliography).
"Win and Collect" is divided into two parts: winning your judgment, which outlines the steps you would follow prior to the courtroom hearing, and what you may encounter at the hearing. The scenarios will illuminate the unexpected twists and turns that can create anxiety for the uninitiated do-it-yourselfer. The second part, collecting on your judgment, demonstrates specifically how to use the powers of the judgment. These powers include the right to: subpoena information about the debtor, garnishee the debtor’s salary, place a levy on his bank account, seize his property and mar his credit. This section gives special attention to enlightening the reader in the event of a counterclaim, and shows him the specifics of appealing a case to a higher court. Sometimes you will be referred to a specific appendix when you want the details of the "how to" on a particular objective. Most often the reader is guided to a specific legal form, since these are really the tools that drive the process forward. For instance, a few pages hence, you will see: "Without another moment’s delay turn to [FORM 1] -- the Initial Claim form in this guide." The forms do not bear page numbers because they are actual forms and some of them may be copied and filed as they are. There are 52 forms labeled sequentially 1-52. Most of them have a back side which complement or supplement the front side.
The author recommends that the reader begin with Section V: Twelve Scenarios After You File an Initial Claim Form. In this section the various unexpected twists and turns are laid bare.
Chart I, on page 74 will provide the reader with a schematic overview of the entire set of decisions and actions that will be encountered when a provider of goods or services is confronted with an unpaid bill and chooses to use the Small Claims Court as the collection tool. Chart II, on page, 75 summarizes what you can effectively do to get the fee or debt you are owed once you have obtained a judgment in your favor.
Finally, the author has labored to index the guide in detail to allow the reader ease in finding information.