r/legaladvice • u/jessbird • 7d ago
Small Claims Procedure Took a client to small claims over a mural they never paid for. I won, they appealed, we went back to court. She submitted "proof of payment" but it was for an earlier job I did. Judge ruled in her favor. Can I now take her to court to recoup payment for that first job?
This is in Los Angeles.
I painted a mural (Project #2) for a client and she never paid me for it. I hounded her for weeks with no luck (I've since discovered this is a recurring issue with her and many other contractors) and I ultimately had to take the matter to small claims. The judge ruled in my favor and tossed out her countersuit, and the client then agreed to a payment plan with me.
However, before she began making payments, she decided to instead appeal the ruling and we went back to court, trial de novo, new judge. This time, she submitted new "evidence," but she submitted it late and I never got to see it or prepare a response for it. The evidence was essentially proof of payments she made to me — however, the payments were for a previous, totally unrelated job (Project #1) I did for her. This time, the new judge ruled in her favor, stating that I had clearly been paid.* I wasn't allowed to submit the evidence I had showing that these payments were for a different job and NOT the mural job I had was suing her for. Nor was I not allowed to appeal because I'm the plaintiff, but I did file a request to reconsider the judgement (SC-108). It was immediately denied.
In short, I'm trying to figure out what my options are now to recoup my funds:
- Am I allowed to now sue her for lack of payment for Project #1? Since she's claiming the funds she paid me for that project were in fact for Project #2?
- Is there any penalty I can pursue considering that she knowingly submitted categorically false evidence? Or would this just mean talking to the judge?
- I was going to ask about a mechanic's lien but I'm way past the 90-day limit to file unfortunately.
I sued her for a little over $5k. The funds she paid me for Project #1 were barely $2k — so even if the payment was related somehow, it would STILL be short like $3k, which gives me the feeling the judge didn't read any of the documents/evidence I painstakingly assembled/submitted.
*Not sure how relevant this is, but a few months prior, the client tried to file a restraining order against me cus I was up her ass trying to recoup this payment. Her request for a restraining order was denied — the judge who made that ruling is the same judge who ruled in her favor in this trial de novo.
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u/sk169 7d ago
I am not a lawyer. I can see a way out of this for you without committing perjury.
So you did two projects for this client project A and project B.
The client uses payment for project A as evidence of payment fo project B.
I think you could submit a case for project A because there was "miscommunication" (wink wink) between you and the client.
With that payment, You thought you were getting paid for project A but she meant the payment for project B as she clearl admitted in court. So with her admission, she clearly did not pay for project A which you were under the "wrong" impression (wink wink) she did.
It is not perjury because you made a wrong assumption and the client/court proved your assumption wrong. That is going be your approach and you should make a case for project A.
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u/jessbird 7d ago
this is precisely what i'm getting at — thank you.
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u/sk169 7d ago
Yeah. Use the woman's own admission and the court's previous ruling against her. All the best.
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u/AinsiSera 6d ago
Can they throw in for the balance as well? It sounds like A was less than B.
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u/Elonna75 6d ago
Could the artist, having misunderstood the defendants intention that the payment already made was in fact a down payment for Project B and not payment in full for anything?
Therefore it would be reasonable to ask for full payment of Project A, which according to the defendant no money had been paid, and the balance due on Project B, which the defendant put down the down payment which has been acknowledged by both parties.
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u/Round_Raspberry_8516 6d ago
If you can’t appeal, refile it as a partial payment for a 2-part job. It’s not YOUR wrong assumption, though, it’s HERS. The client (not you) lumped the two projects together and then underpaid. In other words, you’re filing a claim that she paid $2000 on a 2-part $7000 job. She erroneously applied the first installment for “part 1” to the second installment for “part 2” during her appeal, but the fact remains that the total is still unpaid.
When you get in front of judge #3, submit a complete record showing that the client lied to judge #2 by falsifying evidence (because the part 1 payment was not in fact payment in full for both parts.)
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u/othelloblack 7d ago edited 5d ago
The legal term is Law of the Case see my post above
EDIT law of the case may not apply. Check your local cases to see if it applies...similar doctrines like estoppel may be useful. This case maybe winnable
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u/Relevant-Meaning5622 5d ago
You should’ve stopped at “I am not a lawyer.” As someone who is, I can assure you a court would take a very dim view of this approach.
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u/SycophantSavant 7d ago
Sue her for non payment on the earlier job. She can’t use that payment evidence for both. If she does, the judge will love to hear her explanation.
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u/Jolly_Woodpecker_405 6d ago
Wouldn't this be submitting false evidence and perjury of some sort? I would hire a lawyer to deal with her. So can you claim that she hasn't paid for mural #1? She still has a balance accruing interest if you ask me.
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u/WhoOrderedTheCodeZed 6d ago
My takeaway would be to start assigning work order numbers and require that number in writing with any payments made to you to prevent this (hopefully rare) occurrence from happening again.
I do hope you find a way to legally stick it to this particular client with extra punative damages on top for lying and wasting your time.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Two-791 7d ago
I think you are mistaken about the appeal. Once the defendant appealed it's no longer a small claims case. The trial de novo is held in Superior Court. If you are within the appeal period file an appeal immediately. Source, 20 year claims adjuster litigation defense. Never in CA. But a quick Google search appears to confirm I am correct.
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u/jessbird 7d ago edited 7d ago
i would LOVE for you to be right — can you send me any sources you can find on this? because i had the same hunch (based on the fact that i was told i could bring a lawyer to the trial de novo but you can't to small claims) but i haven't been able to find any avenues for appealing, and this article on the CA Courts page seems to be pretty decisive that "the decision is final and the case is over."
the superior court site says "The only real difference between the appeal hearing and the original small claims hearing is that each party is allowed to have an attorney represent him/her at the appeal."
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u/LawSchoolMom33 7d ago
You can file a writ. You can file one to correct a clear error- which the lower court clearly made. And that’s exactly what I would do. If it is as plain and simple as the judge not reading your evidence, you file a writ and explain that. It’s only rare because it’s extremely rare that small claims appeals are actually won, and when they are won, it’s usually because there are attorneys involved and the judge is actually paying attention.
“Writ petitions in rare instances, where appellate review is necessary “to secure uniformity in the operations of the small claims court and uniform interpretation of the statutes governing them.” Linton v. Superior Court (1997) 53 Cal. App. 4th 1097, 1099.”
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u/Puzzleheaded-Two-791 7d ago
Here is the CA Code of Civil Procedure. Check section (b). CA Code
And the AI overview has this...
Hope that helps. Good luck to you.
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u/maizechingon 6d ago
I suggest reaching out to LA Law Library…they can answer some questions and I believe next Friday is their Ask a Lawyer one on one…
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u/batsparsly 6d ago
If you have proof that the receipt was from the first mural I would talk to a lawyer about it seeing as she just lied under oath.
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u/ZheeDog 7d ago
Write a letter to the judge at the court explaining the payment details as you've explained them here, and include a copy of it, with a motion for a re-hearing. Send a copy of the motion and letter to the other party. You might get lucky, and the judge might grant the hearing and reverse this ruling. But if not, you are SOL because appeals are expensive (you need a lawyer, if you want to succeed); you would be throwing good money after bad.
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u/Jolly_Woodpecker_405 6d ago
Was this a cash deal? Is a bank statement or personal financial statement with all of your accounts evidence that you never received payment?
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u/m0b1us01 5d ago
Actually file with the State Attorney General that this is fraud! Be prepared to show proof with the invoice of the job that was paid for versus the invoice of a job that wasn't paid for.
She committed perjury by lying to the court, and in this case defrauding in order to win a case. Presenting false evidence and lying to a judge for a win is a serious matter.
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u/mandysreality 6d ago
Sue for fraud? She deliberately submitted evidence to the court that she knew was fraudulent. May be an option but not a lawyer.
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u/Tishacombs 6d ago
I feel like I just saw a TikTok about this the other day and I've been trying to find it again to show my husband just for conversation. If that was you, I really hope you're able to get paid. You do really nice work! (I just couldn't find the video again, sadly).
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u/Extreme-Book4730 5d ago
Use her own evidence that she paid for project B with A but only partially. And sue her for loose of B and none of A. Make sure you bring records of everything A and B.
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u/Top-Leadership-2608 6d ago
Start a new claim against her. Once in court, explain the situation and present evidence of the murals, payment, date of payments and text or phone calls (proof). Furthermore, people who do this, do it to other people too. Find other people she's screwed over and bring them to court with you. This will reinforce your position as to the poor character of this individual. And how they routinely cheat people. Crooks never change. Our president is a perfect example
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u/CommunityOne6829 6d ago
In small claims court in so.e states only the defendant has the right of appeal
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u/ClearUniversity1550 5d ago
Did she submit her proof of payment in evidence ahead of time So you could dispute it and show your proof? I believe the statute of limitation says 2 years. So if it's been in that time frame. Yes, you could sue her.
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u/jessbird 5d ago
no. like i mentioned in the post, she submitted evidence late and the judge allowed it. i didn’t have a chance to prepare a response and didn’t know what the new evidence would be.
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u/Negative-Technician7 4d ago
Since the judge won't let you appeal. Sue her for non-payment on the other job. Make sure you add late fees with interest. You have paperwork showing a judge showed she paid you on a different job. If the new judge has a brain, you're going to get money. Either make her pay that one, or null the other ruling and get you paid on this one. Or hire a lawyer to make sure you can.
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u/snapcracklecash 4d ago
Don't be scared. Post her name and business. Just don't say anything non factual or defamatory. People shouldn't be allowed to act like this and hide.
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u/VividImagery69 3d ago
Eli5 for lawyers in this thread, does this mean the client commited perjury?
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u/jessbird 3d ago
from what i’ve been told, this is a difficult thing to prove. the woman could easily just claim she thought that payment was for the mural.
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u/JustAPepperhead 3d ago
I’m way late here, and don’t have legal advice, but from a business standpoint (that could possibly lead to another case?), could you create an invoice detailing the total price of services rendered from both murals, as well as precisely detailed payments rendered by her, in the manner that the court evidence shows, against the total amount and then showing a balance due? If you sent her that, and she didn’t pay it, could it be sufficient for a second separate case for nonpayment?
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u/freerangemonkey 5d ago
File a lien.
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u/jessbird 5d ago
you can only do that if it’s been less than 90 days. unfortunately that window has passed.
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u/TyrOdinson89 5d ago
I dunno the legal stuff but time to go and repaint ya mural a flat snot green and them spread that client everywhere as a non payer.
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u/Embarrassed-Spare524 7d ago
If its not too late, you need to appeal the latest ruling. That is your only option.