Quote:
Originally Posted by finch1750
A demand letter is usually all it takes. Not saying OP would win but SC court costs are low. If he feels the dealership really was out of line this would be the legal way to get proof.
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Absolutely agree 1000%...that's why you wait the 30 days for a response.
when you send that original demand letter.
You have to act really nice and request documents from them showing how they came to the decision they did.
Judges love to have their time wasted because the defendant didn't cooperate and give you the proper documents.
In cali, you can do cool things to swing things in your favor. Like you may have a 1 or 2 years statute of limitation to file a suit, but if you combine "unfair competition" into the suit, now magically it's 4 years. You sit on this for 3 years and 10 months, send demand letter. File court papers 30 days later, making sure you keep your copies of all the information you will need. The defendant things got settled 3 years ago and throw away their evidence and are blind sided by a sudden lawsuit 3 years and 11 months later. They are unprepared, can't find records, are basically up against the wall.
The beauty of this is, paper trail is golden. That mechanic may not even work there anymore. Even if he does, "how many cars have you worked on since this one", you can start attacking recollection, bad documentation, etc. You hint at all this, 30 minutes before your court time when the judge asks you if you would like to discuss a settlement in the attorney chambers with the defendant. At that point, they are ready to settle which is pretty good idea to do. You don't want them to appeal a judgment to superior court and if you lose there, you may have to pay for their attorney's fees and yours. Their promise to settle is on the court record and now comes the fun on collecting.
Courtroom apocalypse now. "God I love the smell of napalm in the morning"
Cali is only f'ed up for dumb defendants.