Centralizing Connecticut Small Claims has created a big headache for creditors and small businesses throughout the state.
The purpose of small claims court is to provide a quick and inexpensive means to resolve a dispute. Connecticut small businesses heavily rely on the small claims process to collect debts.
It’s common for a party to obtain judgment in small claims court and then seek to execute on the judgment.
Obtaining an execution in Superior Court usually takes between 1 and 3 weeks from the time the execution is filed until the time the execution is returned from the court. In small claims court, it is not uncommon to experience delays of over 4 months for the return of an execution.
I don’t doubt that the small claims clerks are doing the best job they can. When I speak with them, they inform me that they are understaffed.
Someone needs to do something about this problem so that businesses can collect judgments in a reasonable time.
what's really maddening about this is, before they centralized small claims, it was MUCH more efficient. Back then, you could get a case through small claims and get the execution within three months. Now, you're lucky if you get a hearing date in four.
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