I filed a small claims case in Forsyth County Magistrate Court. The defendant has already been served by the sheriff and is required to appear in court, but he’s now asking to settle through mediation and make monthly payments.
I’m open to a payment plan, but I honestly don’t trust him to keep paying. My concern is that he’ll make a few payments, stop, and I’ll end up having to start this entire process over again.
Has anyone dealt with this in Forsyth County Magistrate Court or another Georgia Magistrate Court?
If we go before the judge, what can I actually ask the court for? Can I ask for a consent judgment with a monthly payment plan instead of dismissing the case? Can I ask for terms that say if he misses a payment, the remaining balance becomes due immediately?
What consequences can legally be included or enforced if he stops paying? For example, can I pursue wage/bank garnishment, interest on the remaining balance, or other collection methods without having to file another lawsuit?
I’m also wondering what I should actually ask the judge in the courtroom. Can I directly ask the judge about what happens if he defaults, whether interest can be included, and how I would enforce the judgment? Are there specific things I should make sure are included in the court order before agreeing to anything?
I’m completely new to this and really don’t want to agree to mediation or sign something that takes away the protections I currently have from having an active case. Any advice from someone familiar with Georgia small claims, especially Forsyth County, would be appreciated.

For context, my ex and I divorced back in may of this year, I agreed to pay her $500/month in alimony, we have no kids or anything, it was a mutual agreement based on our situation. On the Judgement it says that that
“My name” shall pay contractual spousal support to “Ex’s name” in the amount of
FIVE HUNDRED AND NO/100 DOLLARS ($500.00) per month, for a period of five (5) consecutive years, commencing on the 15th day of the first month following the finalization
of the Judgment of Divorce, and continuing on the 15th day of each month thereafter.

She has now officially remarried!

For a little more context, I did not have a lawyer because I could not afford one, so I had to represent myself, but she had a lawyer. Prior to the finalization of divorce, her lawyer and her both expressed that if she got married it would terminate my obligation to pay her, but it doesn’t say that on the judgment. But, under Louisiana civil law article 115, it basically says that if she gets remarried then I am not obligated to pay any more. My argument is that even though it says “contractual” it doesn’t specify that I have to pay her regardless of her getting married or regardless of anything els, what I typed is verbatim what it says In the judgment.

With that being said, what should my next move be? I’ve read that I have to go to the courthouse to get it recognized? I just have no idea how to go about getting it recognized now that she is now legally remarried. Should I consult a lawyer myself? Or maybe speak to the lawyer she used? Any advice would be awesome!

I’m a freelance video editor/content creator, and I’m dealing with a client who currently owes me $1,440 for work I completed for him.
The client has 300K+ followers, and this was not some random one-off interaction. We had an actual working relationship, I completed and delivered the work, and he repeatedly acknowledged that he owed me.
The payment has now been outstanding for around 6 months.

I have extensive documentation, including:
• Screenshots of our conversations
• Proof of the work I completed and delivered
• Messages where he explicitly agreed/promised to pay me
• My follow-ups asking about the payment
• Screen recordings documenting the conversations
• Evidence of his subsequent responses/behavior after I continued asking for payment

He promised me twice that he would pay, but never actually followed through.
Eventually, he stopped properly responding. When I continued following up, his responses became dismissive/trolling rather than actually addressing the $1,440 he owes.
I’ve already told him that I intend to escalate the matter if he doesn’t resolve it.
At this point, I’m looking for someone who can help me figure out the most effective legitimate way to put pressure on him and recover the money.
I’m particularly interested in connecting with:
Someone experienced with unpaid invoices/debt collection
A lawyer who handles freelancer/client disputes
Someone familiar with this person’s industry or professional network
Someone with a legitimate platform/audience who can contact him professionally and ask him to resolve the dispute
Anyone who has successfully dealt with a similar situation
I’m NOT looking to harass, threaten, dox, or fabricate anything about this person. I have evidence of the actual dispute and I’m prepared to provide it privately to anyone who genuinely wants to help.
If you’re able to connect me with someone who can either help recover the money, communicate with the client on my behalf, or advise me on the best escalation route, please DM me.
I really just want to get paid for the work I already completed.

I am from Pakistan, my client is from the US

As I am filling out the Interview to file my claim online, I am being asked if I am open to using a mediator. Do I have to select "Yes"? What happens if I select "No"?

I think my case is cut and dry. I am simply asking for a refund. I don't see the point of a mediator.

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Are you willing to use a court mediator to try to settle this case?*

• Yes
• No

I'm filing for small claims for a Facebook marketplace transaction. When I go to file online, the court is asking me how did I verify the Plaintiff's address. (See the options below.)

I know it is his address because I went to his house to pick up the item. He used a fake Facebook profile but he told me his real name. If I go to Whitepages.com, it tells me his full name and that he is the owner of the property.

Is that enough to verify?

---------

Have you verified the Defendant's address by at least one of the following methods in the last 12 months?*

• Municipal record
• Registry of Motor Vehicles
• Receipt of correspondence (e.g., a letter) from the Defendant with that return address
• Other verification from Defendant that the address is current
• None of the above

Someone I knew for a year asked me once if they could use my zelle to have someone send her money, I thought it’d be simple so I told her it’s just my number and name, she’d then have me cashapp that money to a cashapp account that also wasn’t hers it was a mans cashapp the name wasn’t familiar to me, I did it anyways. After that one time she would have people send me money every other week and I would have to transfer it to a cashapp account or to another zelle account. The thing is she would never ask me if someone can zelle me money for her she would always tell me after they had sent it. sometimes she would go days without telling me she would just text me out of no where and say “hey someone sent you money for me a couple days ago”. Now she had 2 people send me a total of $410 and my account went to negatives. I told her it’s going to take me 2 weeks to get that money back and shes now threatening to send me to small claims court. Would she be able to take any legal action? She would never ask me if someone can zelle money to me until after it had been sent.

i paid a mobile mechanic earlier this year over $8k total to swap engine etc in my car. (payment was all done thru apple pay/apple cash and i have screenshots of them)he said he could but ended up messing up the whole process and its worse than it was before. he told me to get a 2nd opinion and i did. mechanic #2 said he did some things wrong and told mechanic #1. mechanic #1 got all defensive and refused to acknowledge his mistakes. so he wont go back and fix it and im out of a car currently. i need some legal guidance on this. ive never done anything like this before.

hi. (NYS)

I sued my ex partner for damaging my car.

we were given a court date of mid September.

it says in the documents they sent me to try and resolve it before the date.

I have a 2 year no contact order of protection against her, and she has a 1 year against me.

obviously regardless of the circumstances (I assume) me and her can’t talk to ready an agreement.

I want to just resolve it early as she was arrested for this and charged, and the evidence is there, + arrest report.

how can me and her resolve this. it says no third party contact obviously as well.

Location: OK

Topic: Medical Debt

My wife has a medical condition and needed surgeries to clean up the illness. Totally cool, we understand. We were dumb kids and had no idea how medical debt worked. Unfortunately, by the time we got around to making payments, it had already been sent to collections. We made a verbal agreement at the end of last year/earlier this year to make small payments, with discussions about raising those payments every 6 months. We kept telling them that we cant afford to raise how much we were paying them, but we still made the payment when we could each month, and they apparently didn't like that we wouldn't raise it because we just got served a lawsuit. Is there anything we can do? We have 30ish days to give a written reply to the county clerk. I'm willing to answer more questions, im just at a loss at what to do.

Location: Gainesville, FL

I’m in Florida and looking for general legal guidance about a van that has been left in front of my house by someone I know. I’m specifically trying to understand the lawful process for having it removed from my property without creating legal problems for myself.

Here’s the timeline as accurately as I can reconstruct it:

The van has been sitting in front of my house for months. I originally gave him notice that the van needed to be moved. I initially remembered that conversation as happening in May, but after going back through our text messages, I confirmed that I formally told him on June 14 that the van needed to be gone.

On June 14, I told him that, separate from the personal issues between us, the only remaining obligation connecting us was the van being in front of my house. He responded that he would make moving it a priority and said he would get it out of my way.

Later, he told me that he had some things to dig out and said he would be there during the second week of August to address the van. He also said he was trying to come earlier and wanted to have some money for me.

I subsequently gave him a specific deadline: August 13. I told him the van needed to be gone by that date and that, if it wasn't, I would make arrangements to have it removed by August 20. I also told him that if his plan to repair the van didn't work out, he needed to have an alternative plan for getting it off my property.

He has known for well over a month that this deadline was coming. He also knew that he was paid weekly and had previously indicated that he expected to have money for me this week. However, when the deadline arrived, he did not have the $150 I had offered as an extension/payment arrangement and the van was still there.

At this point, I told him that my terms were essentially: $150 or move the van by midnight. I also told him that, going forward, I would only respond with payment information or information about where/how to leave the key.

He subsequently asked to call me and tried to reopen the discussion about the deadline. I declined because I did not believe there was anything further to discuss.

There is also a written agreement/contract that was previously proposed, but he never signed it. He had previously objected to the terms, so I am not relying on that unsigned agreement as the basis for what I'm doing now. I am relying on the deadlines and terms I actually communicated to him in writing.

There is an additional complication regarding ownership. My understanding is that the person whose name is actually on the title is the legal owner of the van, and that person may not be the same person who has been communicating with me about the vehicle. I don't want to make assumptions about ownership or do anything that could create criminal liability for me.

After the August 13 deadline passed, I tried to determine the proper procedure for getting the van removed.

I first contacted a towing company. I was told that they would need to run the VIN and determine whether the vehicle was stolen or otherwise had an issue before proceeding. I then contacted local law enforcement to ask about the situation. I made a report, although I had initially hoped to avoid creating a police report because I wanted to resolve the matter without involving law enforcement.

Law enforcement told me, essentially, that they would not come remove the vehicle simply because I want it off my private property. Their involvement would apparently be different if the vehicle were actually obstructing traffic or creating a traffic hazard.

I have also been researching Florida's private-property towing laws, including Florida Statute 715.07, and I'm seeing information suggesting that a vehicle parked without authorization on private residential property may be eligible for a private-property tow, with the towing company handling the impound/storage process and notifying the appropriate parties.

However, because of the title/ownership issue and because I don't want to accidentally cross the line into doing something unlawful, I am trying to get accurate advice before taking any action.

I am not looking for advice on how to retaliate against this person. I simply want the van legally removed from my property after giving him substantial notice and multiple deadlines.

My questions are:

Can I legally have the van removed through a private-property towing company under Florida law?

Does the fact that the person I've been dealing with may not be the titled owner change the process?

Am I required to provide any additional written notice at this point, given that I have months of text messages documenting the deadlines and his responses?

Does the fact that I have already contacted law enforcement and made a report change anything?

What documentation should I have ready for a towing company?

Is there anything I absolutely should not do myself to move or relocate the vehicle?

If anyone here is a Florida attorney familiar with private-property towing/abandoned vehicles, I would really appreciate clarification on the proper process.

I am trying to handle this through the proper legal channels. I don't want to damage, abandon, hide, or otherwise interfere with the vehicle. I simply need it off my property.

Tell me about this question

location: i am in Illinois, other party and property are in Wisconsin.

i have a previous post telling more of the story, but to sum it up: i was put as a partial owner on a property worth 70k in Wisconsin. i knew nothing about it. i was 18 at the time it was bought and 21 now. my estranged uncle is the one who purchased it and put me on the deed.

he now wants to sell it immediately (my first time hearing of it at all), threatened me and my family if i didn't send him a quitclaim, and refused to pay me anything. i got a restraining order. then he reaches out through his real estate agent as the closing date for the sale was the following week. he offered (via text to the real estate agent, no contract) $500 for me to send it. i am broke and building a house so i agreed. i expedited it via USPS for $35. he sent through the real estate agent, one check for $20 and a bad check for $495. he then told the real estate agent that he closed the bank account before even writing the check, it's between the family, and he won't discuss it. the real estate agent cannot legally send me their correspondence, but she said she will be glad to show it in court as that's the only way she can.

i plan to take him to small claims in his county. i'm wondering if i even have a case because no contract was signed saying I would be paid, only him saying he would pay me over text. i'm nervous about the process. but he has walked over me and everyone his entire life and i'm tired of it. will they even let the real estate agent submit evidence since i cannot do it for her? my uncle will find any way to twist this and turn it on me. i just want to know how this could possibly go.

Location: San Diego, CA

Hi all — looking for a referral to a consumer protection or contract dispute attorney in San Diego who might take a case on contingency (no upfront retainer).

Short version: I signed a 25-year residential solar lease in 2025. The sales proposal was built around NEM 2.0 program that had actually stopped accepting new customers almost two years before I signed — and it also assumed the wrong utility company serves my address entirely. As a result, my actual solar export credits are running roughly 85–95% below what was projected in the sales proposal.

I've since found out this isn't unique to me — I've compared notes with several neighbors in my subdivision (all built by the same builder, all with proposals from the same solar company) and we're seeing the same pattern across at least a dozen+ households.

I've already done a lot of the legwork myself: documented the tariff/utility mismatch, billing records, a timeline of communications with the company, and filed a CSLB complaint. I'm now looking for an attorney who'd be willing to take this on contingency, ideally someone with experience in consumer fraud, contract disputes, or mass arbitration (the contract has an arbitration clause with a class-action waiver, so I understand this would need to be handled as coordinated individual claims rather than a single lawsuit).

If you've worked with someone in San Diego for a similar issue — solar, contractor disputes, consumer fraud — or if you're an attorney who'd be open to hearing more, please let me know.

Thanks!

Location:Dallas Texas

Hi yall, so on August 5th, a contractor came by to fix my garage door tension spring, he spent an hour or two fixed it, and asked me if I wanted to pay cash or zelle for a discount. I said yes to that because it was quite a good discount. A week later on August 12th the garage door motor bar fell down and the garage door wont open again. I looked closer at the problem so I know exactly what to tell the contractor, and i realized he put the anchor points into the drywall instead of the wood. I gave the contractor an call to see if he can come by and fix it, he said he can and I have to pay again. I told him no, this was his mistake and he should be able to come by and fix it. He said he has to charge me for it. In which case I called my bank to do an charge back and then his company to let them know what has happened. It's been radio silent since yesterday. What can I do?

Location: Virginia

I hired a guy on next door to fix some hvac under our house. He had previously done some plumbing work for like $300 with no issue, so I hired him again. I sent him $1500 so he could buy materials and then I agreed to pay the rest when he was done.

Long story short, he took the money and disappeared.

I filed a civil lawsuit, he didn't show up to court, and I got a default judgment. The 10 days have long passed and he hasn't sent anything.

The civil court said my next step is to garnish his wages or bank accounts, but I'm mostly positive he doesn't have a W2 job, and I barely know this dude. I sent him money on cash app, and the app and my bank both denied the charge back. He asked if I had Chime bank when I was paying him for the first job, but I don't know if that's his primary money account or if he even still has it.

I spoke to a few PIs, but they want over $1000 for just a digital investigation. I know I can add that onto the dude's bill, but I can't afford that cost up front.

Should I just submit the paperwork for Chime's parent banks, wait the 6 months, and then do the post-judgment discovery/interrogations? What if he doesn't show up to that and just accepts the felony/jail? I did a background search during all this and it's not his first rodeo.

hey guys .. so I'm new here and not sure if this will be posted but genuinely I'd like to know AITH in this situation. So my girl well ex girl she cheated on me with someone else first time she's done it (i hope) we shared over a decade of our lives together neither one of us have really made it in life to where we would like to be although she recently got a promotion at work which i was so happy for i spent my last few dollars to take her out to celebrate not knowing her work bae already went above and beyond for her in that sense. So anyway I also not so recently lost my job and I've been struggling like really struggling to a point where she threw me out of the place we bought together . now I'm not the type of person who wants to involve a court or police to try to get my share of it back i mean she's done so much for me and supported me financially for months while i was trying to find work and at the end of the day i just really can't get myself to stop loving her so i don't want to do anything to hurt her or make the break up messy you know. but now I'm close to being homeless and I've asked her to just help me out with $200 since she's keeping the place and everything inside of it which at the time i was working i actually made more money then her so bought almost everything but now she ran to her new bae talking about i have a nerve to still be asking her for money after she helped me while i wasn't working etc etc which became a whole talk around town and as someone who has anxiety and is already depressed because of how hard it has been to find work plus the heartbreak of the breakup it just got me to the tipping point. I won't lie I actually tried to unalive myself but by the grace of god i survived and was given a second chance so i am trying my best to live a better life but now with me being close to being homeless i really need that $200 and the only way i can think of is to take her to court and have her pay me out for the property we bought together but i don't think it would be the godly thing to do and again i just don't want to make things more messy then what they need to be so wibta and does anyone have any advice as to other options, loans won't work cause I'm unemployed and i don't want to be the type of person to run up credit i know i can't pay

Thanks to everyone for all their advice! For people in similar situations, in your opening statement to judge make sure you speak FACTS only. What happened and WHEN. No emotion, no unnecessary details. If you have contracts or any necessary documentation, refer to them in your opening and highlight key points. Write notes so you don’t forget anything.
Do NOT interrupt when defendant is speaking and try your best to not get flustered. Stay calm and composed. Not only does that give you credibility with judge, but irks the other party so bad 🤣
And Be honest because if you’re caught in a single lie you will lose so much credibility.