You can sue someone that owes you money by taking the person to small claims court.
Although you have to determine if it's worth it depending on the amount of money that is owed to you and the likelihood of getting the money from the person you sue.
To sue someone in small claims court you'll have to pay a service fee of around $50.00 and a filing fee of around $65.00 which you can sometimes recover if you win the lawsuit against the person who owes you money.
You can sue a poor person but if the poor person has no assets, income etc that can be garnished or taken for payment then you may come out with nothing.
If the person is really poor and cannot truly pay after a lawsuit then it would probably be best to not bother suing them as it costs you money yourself to sue them which you may not get back if the person is too poor.
In a lawsuit the person filing the lawsuit pays the court costs although if you win the case against the defendant you can sometimes recover the cost of the lawsuit from the defendant.
In small claims court the person filling the lawsuit also known as the plaintiff is who pays court costs in small claims court.
This includes the filing fees, service fees and other associated costs.
However if the plaintiff wins the case they can sometimes recover the costs from the defendant as part of the judgement.
You can claim legal costs in a small claims court.
As the prevailing party in a small claims court case you can request reimbursement for any reasonable legal costs.
These legal fees that you can claim in small claims court include costs of serving the complaint and filing fees.
Although the request for reimbursement for the legal fees in small claims court has to be made in the complaint.
Small claims court is an informal and also inexpensive way to settle minor disputes.
The prevailing party in small claims court can request reimbursement for any reasonable legal fees and costs.
As the prevailing party you can also request reimbursement for any costs that are associated with collecting the judgement.
And in small claims court the losing party only pays for attorney fees if the winning party in small claims court is specifically given the right to recover the legal fees in a contract or through state or federal law.
Things you should bring to small claims court include any exhibits, which could be any papers, legal documents, photographs, or other physical evidence supporting a claim.
Witness testimony as evidence.
Witnesses in small claims court must have first-hand knowledge of the events, or the exhibit, to which they testify.
Keep in mind that you, the Plaintiff or Defendant, may be a witness.