I paid a mechanic September 2009 to fix a car that had broken down, now its may and I still haven't gotten either the car or the money back. I had to buy a new car and was out of transportation for a month. This was an individual mechanic working out of a garage he had leased so I know I can't sue the company. I have called multiple times and he always has excuses and promises to get me my money soon. I have written a formal letter of final notice in which I state that after 14 days I will file a small claims suite, although I have not sent it yet.
My concern is that he says that he is always broke and it seems that he is. What happens if I sue him only to find out that he really doesn't have any money? Will the court fees fall on me? Also should I file a police report? Also can I request a writ of execution immediately if this goes to court since he has proven that he will not willingly pay me back?

(additional info- I have a receipt for the payment of $1000, plan on trying to get a copy of the check written, and a copy of my phone records to show my persistence in calling and his, more often than not, ignoring the calls. In my letter I state that I will accept $1400 outside of court but if I sue him I will include fees plus cost of time and inconvenience:$1400(from imobility and having to buy a new car), and either return of the car to me or include the appraised cost of the car and appraisal cost, in addition to the $1000 originally) I believe this to be a fair negotiation, but if there are any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

First off you can take the car back at anytime. Another thing is that no one forced you to buy a brand new car. That was your independent decision. So forget extra money for that. You could include towing expenses for removing the car. And court fees. Also any out of pocket money that went towards the repair.

I was deffinately not a brand new car it was a 1500 dollar car, but I will rethink adding that in, and replacing it with removal and fees.

Any suggestions on if he can not pay if it goes to court? Is there a way for the court to make him at least pay back bare minimum the 1000 dollars?

Winning is court is easy, getting paid is another, you can find his bank accounts and try to garnish them ( if your state allows that) or see if you can attach some of his tools and equipment

Attach his tools and equipement?

I saw online somewhere that with a writ or execution the sheriff can seize his assets and sell them to pay off the debt, but I don't know what state that was in. I live in Washington state if that helps at all.

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Originally Posted by Laurakr1

I saw online somewhere that with a writ or execution the sheriff can seize his assets and sell them to pay off the debt, but i don't know what state that was in. I live in Washington state if that helps at all.

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All states, as far as I know.

When you sue, and the court finds for you, this is called a judgment.

When you have a judgment you can get a writ of execution.

With a writ of execution you can have a sheriff (or other officer of the court- they don't have sheriffs in my state) seize non-exempt assets belonging to the debtor.

There are separate categories and amounts of exemptions in every state. Here are the Washington exemption statutes:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=6.13
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=6.15

These non-exempt assets can be sold to pay the judgment.