A few questions about court?

Question

Okay so I left my rollerblades at my friends (person A) house for less than a day, and in that time one of my friends friends (person B) came over and used the rollerblades. He roller bladed to his house with a few friends, they slept there and the next day they were gone. No one has any idea where they went. Sooo its been 4 months and i still haven't been compensated for the missing rollerblades so what can I do? I told person B i would take them to court and he says "good do it i dont care they disappeared from my house so how is it my fault, i used them for an hour".

So how do I take person B to court? Should I take them to court?

I need some legal advice so what can I do?

Also, I dont have alot of money, those rollerblades are 200$ and they were brand new so how much will it cost me to go to small claims court? Will I win?

Answer 1

It'll cost you more for court filing fees, attorney, etc.etc.

Drop the issue and chalk it up to an expensive learning experience. Hopefully, the kid who you feel is responsible won't "lose" anything of value that belongs to him..... I can imagine his upset if he found his bike or his ipod at the bottom of a lake, or whatever.

Answer 2

it is your fault. you left them there. you don't go to your friends house and expect them to baby sit your blades. they can not be responsible for them. and go ahead and take them to court. it will cost you more if you lose. and you probably will. hope you learn a lesson.

Answer 3

Well it would probably cost more than it's worth in legal fees. But then again you could include the legal fees in the amount you're suing for. Since he admitted to taking them it probably wouldn't be hard to get what you want in court. You probably should be asking an attorney instead of people on yahoo.

Answer 4

Yes you would win as long as he admits he took them.  He took responsibility when he did that, and in fact he stole them.  I don't believe small claims court costs much at all, but for 200 I'm not sure it's worth the time.  

Answer 5

If I might muse on my approach.....  How much do you value your friendship with person A?  If the friendship is worth less then $200 then take them to small claims courts, your cause of action is for conversion, and attempt to get a reliable 3rd party (not you as the plaintiff, not person A or B,) to overhear person A acknowledging that they disappeared from person A's house while he was in custody and possession of them.

Legal aspects you will need to prove:

Custody is when you are entrusted with the physical possession of an item.

Possession is when you physically have the individual item.

Conversion--- is basically a trespass to chattel (which in layman's terms means when someone damages your personal property... conversion is when that touching is so significant that it loses all value) ((in this case that is accomplished by the property being gone)).

Admission--- his statement that "they disappeared from my house so how is it my fault."  if overheard by a 3rd party is an out of court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted.  Generally, such statements are hearsay.  In this case because it would be an out of court statement made by a party opponent that would be admissable not as hearsay to which an exception applies but rather as non hearsay.

google small claims court in the county that you live in to determine the cost for your area (it varies by area).  

Finally, yes you should prevail....  but prevailing means getting money to replace rollerblades at the cost of losing a friendship.

In any instance good luck.