Contract

The only thing a contract might do is put some measure of fear into the seller that you would be a person who would pursue legal action and he better not try to screw you. You could easily receive a judgement in court in your favor, but getting your money back is a different matter. If you feel a contract would help you, be sure and word the contract to say . . . "Any litigation or judicial enforcement of this contract will be held in "YOUR TOWN, USA". By our signatures, we agree to these conditions and acknowledge having received a copy of this contract." And you both need to sign it. Now lets say that the seller has put the screws to you. You have to file small claims and set a court date. There is almost a 100% chance that the seller will not show up for court (unless you both live in the same town), but if the seller lives hours away, he will probably not show up. This is why you word the contract as stated above, so you are not the one who has to travel to court. If the defendant does not show up, you will automatically receive whats called a DEFAULT JUDGEMENT which entitles you to recover the amount of the claim, plus court costs, filing fees. What most people don't understand is that the judge isn't going to go get the guy who sold you the dog, nor will there be any warrant of any kind issued, etc. No court is going to force him to pay you just because you won the case. It is YOUR JOB to now go about recovering your money. You would then have to take your judgement and file for garnishment or writ of execution. You can garnish someone wages in Arkansas, but not Texas. I don't know about LA, OK, etc. If you can't get a garnishment, you would have to file for a writ of execution, which is a court order for the sheriff dept. to go seize the defendant's property where it can be sold to pay for your claim. However, it is your job to determine what property the defendant has that is free and clear of liens, etc., and the property you want to have seized has to be specifically named in the writ of execution, which means you would have to determine exactly what the defendant had, serial #'s, vin #'s, etc. in order to do a lien research. You also have to pay for filing the writ, which may cost up to $175.

The bottom line is that contracts can be enforced, but recovering your money is another story. The time and effort it would take to recover your money wouldn't be worth it, unless we're talking about thousands, not hundreds. So for all those our there who was wandering if a written contract would protect you from getting screwed on a dog . . . The answer is YES and NO. Just how much $$$ are we talking about and how much is it worth your time.