He won $20K in small claims court after suing a shady contractor — 7 years later he’s still trying to collect

Peter Dobson hoped accumulating on his win in small claims court docket can be a slam dunk.

In any case, he had it in black and white — a judgment saying the contractor he’d employed to construct a second-storey addition on his Nova Scotia house owed him nearly $20,000 for failing to complete the job.

Seven years later, Dobson continues to be attempting to get his cash.

Authorized specialists warn that small claims court docket wins don’t imply the plaintiffs will get any cash, particularly when the defendants refuse to pay. 

“I don’t have any religion by any means that we’ll have the ability to acquire cash,” Dobson informed Go Public. “Whenever you’re coping with a person like this … small claims court docket is completely ineffective.”

In late 2014 Dobson employed Nelson Grosse and his firm, which on the time was known as Grosse Contracting, to construct a second-storey addition to his Lake Echo, N.S., house — a $117,500 job in accordance with the assertion of declare Dobson filed with the court docket.

Dobson says after a few months, the work got here to an abrupt cease and the contractor didn’t reply his calls. That’s when Dobson employed different corporations to complete the work. 

He says in November 2015 he determined to sue his former contractor to drive him to pay what he owed.

And that’s what the court docket did in Might 2016, ordering Grosse (who additionally goes by Larry Nelson Grosse) to pay Dobson nearly $21,000 for the unfinished work, together with court docket charges.

All these years later, Dobson says he hasn’t seen a dime. “We by no means heard something from him,” he stated.

Extra plaintiffs can’t acquire 

Courtroom paperwork and provincial registry information present at the very least eight different individuals and firms have efficiently sued the identical contractor. Go Public reached 5 of these plaintiffs who say they haven’t been paid. 

Three went to small claims court docket and are owed a complete of virtually $32,000 in judgments. 

The opposite two are owed a complete of greater than $140,000 after taking their circumstances to provincial court docket the place plaintiffs can sue for bigger quantities. 

Small claims courts hear circumstances the place plaintiffs sue for underneath a sure amount of cash and, in concept, circumstances will be heard and determined rapidly and cheaply, with out authorized illustration.

The newest numbers by Statistics Canada present 565,000 small claims court docket circumstances had been filed in Canada between 2018-2022. These numbers don’t embrace Newfoundland, Quebec or Manitoba which haven’t reported to the survey but. 

Like climbing a mountain

B.C. lawyer James Legh, who makes a speciality of civil legislation, compares profitable a small claims case to climbing a mountain.

“Whenever you get your judgment, you’re solely midway there,” he stated. 

“The issue is there are individuals on the market that don’t wish to pay … and you actually should resolve, is it definitely worth the effort and the cash and the time to pursue individuals?” 

Successful a small claims lawsuit, in accordance with Legh, is “simply an acknowledgment by the court docket that somebody owes you cash.” 

He says in contrast to household court docket, which has an enforcement division that helps acquire on spousal and youngster help, those that win in small claims court docket are on their very own to attempt to acquire their cash.

That may be robust to do, he explains, as a result of it requires digging up info on the particular person or firm’s monetary state of affairs — how a lot cash they make, what property they personal, even what money owed and bills they’re dealing with. 

That is info wanted by the plaintiff to place a lien on the defendant’s property or garnish their wages and financial institution accounts. 

Go Public reached Grosse by telephone, asking why he has but to pay the a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} he owes his former shoppers. 

“I’ve no remark about any of that proper now,” he stated in response. 

Authorized recreation of cat and mouse

Dobson says attempting to trace down his former contractor’s property to gather what he was awarded in court docket is sort of a authorized recreation of cat and mouse.

When Grosse did not pay, Dobson took the subsequent step really useful by the province and filed the judgment with the provincial Private Property Registry System (PPRS), which supplies details about a enterprise’s property (like gear and autos) to see if he may acquire that method. 

However no property had been discovered. 

Grosse has operated underneath a number of totally different firm names during the last 21 years, in accordance with a Nova Scotia registry of corporations. 

Dobson says he additionally discovered a residential property in East Preston, N.S., with Grosse’s identify on the land title, however when he tried registering a lien in opposition to it, he found his former contractor’s identify had been eliminated.

He thought he’d lastly caught a break in late 2017, when somebody tipped him off that Grosse had an insurance coverage settlement coming his method after a storage fireplace. 

Dobson says he employed a lawyer, paying greater than $600 out of pocket so as to get a subpoena forcing Grosse to reply questions, in particular person, about any cash he had coming to him. 

“He simply completely ignored the subpoena,” Dobson informed Go Public. 

Dobson may have tried to get yet one more court docket order for contempt of court docket. That’s the place courts can drive defendants to go to jail, face a high quality or have property quickly seized till they pay. However Dobson says he determined in opposition to this plan of action after studying it could price him hundreds extra in authorized charges.

Legh, the civil legislation lawyer, says even a contempt of court docket order isn’t any assure of fee.

“It’s doubtless these individuals, even for those who convey them into court docket, are going to say, ‘I’ve nothing,’ ” he stated. “So it’s the apparent downside of why are you going to spend good cash after unhealthy?” 

Nova Scotia’s Division of Justice tells Go Public it posts info for small court docket claimants on-line, however has no plans for an enforcement department, nor does it have plans to make any modifications to how claimants can acquire on judgments.

‘Domino impact’

The case reveals the “domino impact” that may occur when individuals and firms refuse to pay after dropping a lawsuit, says civil litigation lawyer Tanya Walker from her Toronto workplace. 

She says small courts have many circumstances and are a bit overwhelmed.

“So it could be nice to see sooner or later a separate court docket created to assist litigants with assortment,” stated Walker.

However she warns that individuals who win circumstances should find yourself ready a very long time to see their cash — or may find yourself with nothing in any respect. Judgments are good for as much as 10 years from the date of subject relying on the place a plaintiff lives. 

“Even when there’s a court docket created to assist a set, it nonetheless doesn’t remedy the issue of somebody who has 5 circumstances forward of you or doesn’t have any property.”

Like Legh, Walker suggests assessing the probability and talent of the defendants to pay earlier than suing, together with discovering out in the event that they personal property or have every other property {that a} profitable plaintiff can entry.

Small claims courts are run by provincial and territorial governments, so the foundations can differ throughout the nation.

Courtroom orders ‘ineffective’ 

Final month, B.C. made modifications to the small claims court docket course of by passing the Cash Judgment Enforcement Act, which goals to make it simpler for self-represented plaintiffs to gather judgments. 

In line with the B.C. authorities web site, the brand new legislation expands what will be seized and eliminates the necessity for plaintiffs to use for a number of court docket orders. 

“Most of the powers that the Household Upkeep Enforcement Program has to gather upkeep/help funds have been granted to civil enforcement officers,” a spokesperson from the B.C. Lawyer Basic’s workplace tells Go Public.

Dobson says he’s just about given up on getting his cash from Grosse, however not on getting justice. 

“If there may very well be extra tooth in a court docket order … that undoubtedly can be useful,” he stated, noting that in lots of circumstances court docket orders are ignored and subsequently ineffective. 

Now, he and one other former Grosse buyer are posting warnings in regards to the contractor on Kijiji and the Trusted Execs web site, which posts opinions on tradespeople and firms. 

They’re compiling complaints in opposition to Grosse, hoping the knowledge they’ve gathered will ultimately result in fraud fees.