Two Questions on small claims lawsuits

In My Humble Opinion
1

I know, YANML, YMMV etc.

  1. When suing a school district, does the Superintendent get served with the papers or would it be the President of the Board? Some unknown staff attorney?

  2. We are suing my ex-landlord for not giving back our deposit. I do not believe in my state (Colorado) it is required to be held in escrow but I will investigate it. Either way, isn’t it best practices for a landlord to put the deposit in escrow? If he did not have it in an escrow account, can I (should I) use that in court to imply that he is not giving it to us because he doesn’t have it or that he was a bad landlord viz. did not meet basic landlord obligations (which is a part of our lawsuit including an illegal eviction)?

2

  1. Public entities sometimes have formal pre-suit requirements (notice of claim form , for example)that can be a trap. Not sure about Colorado.

  2. Landlord either owes you the money if he doesn’t. The escrow requirement, if it exists, wouldn’t sway me as the judge. If there is such a requirement, does the law impose a penalty for a violation?

3

#1: Do yourself a favor and consult with an attorney as there are rules and procedures you need to go through before even thinking of going to the courthouse. The state or discrict may have an employee grievance process, for example, if you have an issue with a specific person, and there’s an entirely differnet set of channels to go through if your claim has anything to do with breakfast/lunch programs, and there will also be differences if you’re suing a private school rather than a public school. If it’s a public school, you’re suing the government, and they have offices full of attorneys just waiting to spoil your day.

#2: The rules for how a landlord should handle a security deposit will vary from county to county, and sometimes even city to city. Consulting with a local tenant rights agency will be invaluable here.

Having been on both sides of the courtoom, I need to ask a question - how much effort is it worth to you, and what are your chances of actually collecting if you prevail? Don’t expect your landlord to just say “Oh, you won. Here’s your money.”