You might think Small Claims Court is only for trashy folks on Judge Judy, but when you’re a college student with little power, it can be easy for someone to blindside you by taking advantage of you (and your finances) when you least suspect it. That actually happened to me, when I was subletting from a psychopath who decided to change the locks on me one day and keep my entire rent check (it was the first week of the month when I was forced out) and my security deposit.

If I thought I was shocked when I was suddenly barred from my own home, I was even more surprised when I learned the ropes of actually going to small claims court. Why does this lesson fit into Money Matters? Because you actually have to spend quite a bit of money if you want to get what is owed to you in the long run.

In order to file your claim, you will need any articles of evidence pertaining to your case. Any contracts, agreements, or legal statements should be compiled and photocopied. Then you will have to pay a fee just to have your case processed. For me, I had to pay to get several of my documents photocopied, and then cut a check for $100 to the court just to proceed. $100 when I was already out over a grand. Still, at that point, it had become a pride issue, and I wasn’t going to let this snake take advantage of one more poor, naive girl.

Depending on the rules of your particular state, you may also have to pay for an officer to personally deliver the small claims summons to the other party. The problem with that is that the officer can only try the house so many times before all of your paperwork is returned to you, with a stamp that reads “Undeliverable.” So I had to try again. After the second set of docs was returned, I found my villain’s work address (ironically, he was a bank teller) and the po-po brought his small claims summons to the bank where he worked. Read More »

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In light of Heather Locklear’s recent arrest while driving under the influence of something (read: drugs), we started thinking about the obscene number of stars heading to court/jail lately. Their visits are so frequent, in fact, that it seems we see celebs more often donning orange jumpsuits than strutting the red carpet.

We thought it was only appropriate, then, to honor these fallen celebrities. For without them we would never know the repercussions of driving drunk, grabbing the breast of an underage girl, or buying and selling drugs from the back of a limo. These celebrities have taken the fall so we don’t have to. It’s as if they are channeling Jesus and sacrificing themselves for our sins.

Ok, maybe not. But their mugshot pictures are pretty badass.

There is really nothing better than seeing an ultra glamorous superstar looking like a hot mess at the police station. Especially when that superstar is strung out on some really strong sh*t. So, we took it upon ourselves to pull our Top 10 Celebrity Mugshots together for your amusement. Scroll through, enjoy, and practice your voting skills for this year’s election by choosing your favorite to win the 2008 CollegeCandy Mugshot of the Year award. (There is really no prize, award ceremony, or thank-you speech, but we still want to know which hot tranny mess is your favorite.)

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Read More »

A recent article in the Gainesville Times discussed a woman who sued her fiancé for dumping her after she’d left her high paying human resources job and moved to a different city to be with him. And she won! The ex-fiancé received $150,000 for financial and emotional suffering.

At first, I was like, “WTF!, How ridiculous to bring your wounded heart and unsuccessful marriage into legal matters!” But, then I realized that maybe she had a point. I mean, an engagement is sort of a contract, or at least a promise of a long term commitment. And why shouldn’t this woman be repaid for her lost wages and emotional distress.

In fact, why can’t everyone receive that luxury? So, I got to thinking; what would I sue my ex for if I could? And this is what I came up with:

Dear Ex-boyfriend (who, shall remain nameless),

In seeing how you dumped me and shattered my heart into a million little pieces, I am taking you to court and suing you for the following: Read More »

I remember that one exam I bombed.

Sauntering into the huge lecture room with confidence, I grabbed myself a blue book and 15-page questionnaire and found a seat. I had only spent a few hours studying the night before, but it was fine, because I was taking the class Pass/Fail, and had already secured enough good grades to keep me in the Pass range, no matter how I did on the final. Plus, it was Ancient Greek. Who does well on the final exam (which reviewed the entire year) in Ancient Greek? The coolness factor of learning a dead language wore off after the first couple of weeks, and by this exam, I was happy if I never say another Gamma or Delta in my life.

I proceeded to fail the final for three hours, and when finally satisfied with my poor memory and congregation skills, I passed the test in and walked out of the door. Who cares? I thought, practically skipping back to my dorm. No more Greek for the rest of my life!

The numbers came back, and I did indeed fail. Miserably. But as soon as I looked at my final grade, my nonchalance immediately disappeared. The Registrar didn’t have me down as P/F in Ancient Greek, they had me with a letter grade! A very horrible letter grade.

I was pissed, I was embarrassed, and most importantly, my workaholic status had been blemished. But what could I do? I had been an idiot. Twice. Once for never checking if the Registrar had my records in order, and twice for sitting in the back of the library and laughing with a friend instead of reviewing “Kronos and His Family”.

Little did I know, I could have sued. Read More »

If you haven’t heard about the man with the missing pants yet, you must have been living under a rock; it’s been all over the television for days.

But for all those rock-dwellers, otherwise known as people with actual lives (psshhh whatever), here’s the quick overview.

Man, Judge Roy L. Pearson to be exact, (doesn’t it sound like a soap opera name?) gives pair of pants to his local dry cleaners, owned by the kind Chung family. (Can you tell I’ve already picked my side?) Anyway, Pearson doesn’t get his pants back, sues family for $54 million. That about sums it up.

Now, I don’t even know where to begin trying to pick apart this mess. For one, the man is a judge, you think he of all people would be against manipulating the American legal system, right? Well, not so much.

Pearson claims that because he no longer wants to use his neighborhood dry cleaner he’s going to need $15,000 every weekend for 10 years to rent a car and go to a further cleaner. He also threw in $2.5 million to cover the emotional stress he had to endure over those poor, poor pants.

This one time, in sixth grade my mom accidentally shrunk my favorite pair of stone-washed Limited Too jeans in the dryer and I cried for a week, so I totally know where he’s coming from. (WHAT?) Read More »