Is it reasonable for someone to sue you for $13,000.

Question

$10,000 for trespassing the house then 3,000 for touching a car or being in it.My brother got arrested for this and the parents of the child are sueing us for this.I think its unfair hopefully,this makes sense to you.My brother did no such things but all his ex-friends are blaming it on him.Could be the fact he is the oldest of of the group,18 years old.

Answer 1

i hate to say so, but id do the exact same thing.  just dont hang out with those kinds of people and you wont have to worry about that happening..13000 seems a bit high though...and the 3000 for the car depends..if someone went in my car, id charge more

Answer 2

No i dont think it would because the legal fees of a lawyer would cost more than the ammount sued for, or awarded if your brothers found guilty. That is unless they have found a rat bag lawyer who will try it on for a percentage of the amount won.

You must live in America, It seems people sue each other there for anything they can dream up.

Answer 3

Yep, 18 is legal, old enough to sue in court.

Polygraphs (lie detectors) are not admissible in court as evidence.

You fail to mention if any damage was done to anything. If there was no damage, then I suspect the judge will not award 13,000 dollars.  

Answer 4

Any one can sue for anything.  But, you can't sue for trespassing or touching a car unless you caused damage to it.  If he was trespassing, were there signs posted that there was no trespassing?  If he was in someone's house, someone must have invited him in or he went in with everyone else. If a kid lived there and knew he went it, there is no fault there.  Touching a car, there are no laws on touching a car, as long as you don't do any damage.  Was he sitting in it?  Was someone driving it?  Did someone who lived in the house who invited him in also let him touch and sit in the car?  It doesn't matter what his age is, only if he's going to jail.  He'd be an adult, probably compared to some minors.  Unless there was damage, they have nothing to sue him for.  

Answer 5

that seems a little over the top for me.

Answer 6

there is a max that you can sue for in civil court..i believe its $5000.  also if there was no damage to the car or the house then they will not get anywhere near that amount. if your brother didn't do it he needs to volunteer for a lie detector test when going to court. good luck with it and tell your brother to pick his friends better!

Answer 7

No!

Answer 8

A civil suit cannot go above $5000.

A criminal case can award that much in damages however, bu there would have to be an arrest and indictment.

Answer 9

nope, it is unfair, do a lie detector test to get evidence on the case though

Answer 10

well that seems reasonable to me. i would charge the same if someone trespassed my house. but, hope he has a good lawyer to bail him out if he didnt do it!

=D

Answer 11

What they ask for in the complaint and what they get in the judgment are two different things.   They should get the damages from the trespass and the car.   However, I suppose it is possible that they are also seeking punitive damages.