If you sue someone that doesn't have any money, what happens?
Question Details:
I am suing my roommate for $900 that she never payed to our landlord like she was suppose to. It has been about a month sense the incident. If she has a job but does not have the 900 dollars and probably does not have 900 to her name would the judge not make her pay the judgement? Would it just be a waste of time to sue her?
If sue someone who can't pay and win, you get a judgement. That judgement could be enforced at some later date, when she does have money (not forever; you have several years to enforce it). You could also try to garnish her wages, or get a percentage of her income. (Though if she's making little more than minimum, you can't.) So it's not a waste, in that there are ways to, eventually, recover from someone who has no money at present. That said, it's rarely worth suing someone for only $900 to begin with, unless you sue in small claims court w/out an attorney.
