Post by noelI loan a friend money and had him sign a iou promissory note.
I know i
would win if I take him to court.
No, you do not know this because you cannot know this
unless you sue and, if you do sue, until after the court rules.
Post by noelHow does one go about suing a person?
If you and your debtor reside in the same town or he
resides reasonably close to you, go to the clerk's office of the
relevant small claims court or find and read the information at that
court's web site if there is on to learn whether the amount he owes is
not larger than that court's dollar jurisdictional cap, then decide
whether to use that court's almost certainly inexpensive, simple, and
semi-informal process to sue. Or sue in a court of more general and
therefore greater dollar jurisdiction. Or don't.
This is very far from a, One has to be a theoretical
nuclear physicist !! kind of thing.
Post by noelBTW, if I win, do I get ALL
of the money owed to me or less?
You get up to the amount of the court judgment plus
any later accrued interest, but only to the extent if at all that you
are able actually to enforce that judgment.
If you are awarded a money judgment if you sue -
eventualities which, again, you do not now know will occur - this may
be comparatively easy to do if you know where the judgment debtor has
a not exempt from enforcement bank account with sufficient funds in it
or know where other non-exempt property he owns is located.
But probably not so easy if he is a studied deadbeat.
So it will depend.
But unless the defendant pays the judgment voluntarily
if you are awarded one, the judgment itself is basically no more than
something akin to a hunting license to help you look for and obtain
seizable assets. Potentially helpful in this connection, but not
self-executing. As will be explained further at the court's web site
or, if there is not one, by information probably obtainable at the
court clerk's office.
In general, there is lots of easy to find information
on line about small claims courts in different states and
municipalities. And if you search and read comparatively thoroughly,
you will find enough similarities to your area's court even if you
cannot find information directly about that court itself so that you
will have a better understanding about these matters than you do now.
So Google or Bing or Duckduckgo or Yahoo can be your
friends, at least for this purpose.
Post by noelPlus, if the other party doesn't
have the money...who pays me then?
Depends whether he really doesn't have the money and,
if he doesn't, why not.
If you are awarded a judgment by a court that has
jurisdiction over the defendant, and if you then follow the easy to
learn and probably very easy to implement what to do next instructions
the court clerk may be willing to provide if it is not already
published for you to read on the court's web site, the judgment will
remain valid for a considerable number of years. So if not
immediately enforceable, it may become so and you can try again in the
furture.
Your fantasy about going on TV is silly.