Legislature decides
to address court’s backlog

(March 20, 2008) What’s the point of taking a matter to Small Claims Court if it won’t be resolved quickly?

Small Claims Court was designed as an alternative to the traditional judicial system. It was created for individuals and businesses to benefit from the judicial process without having to spend an excessive amount of money on attorney’s fees and without having to dedicate endless amounts of time to their case.

Unfortunately, Small Claims Court has become an inefficient venue for matters to be resolved in a cost effective and timely manner. The judicial system recognizes the problem but does not have enough staff or resources to alleviate it on its own.

Apparently, the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee agrees. The committee raised HB-5920 to address the issue. The proposal removes all housing matters from the Small Claims Court and places them in the Housing Court.

This will alleviate some of the backlog currently experienced in Small Claims Court by reducing the caseload, and it will place all housing matters in the Court with the appropriate expertise to adjudicate them – the Housing Court.

HB-5920 is good public policy that will improve the court system. Hopefully the bill will receive legislative priority in this short session of the General Assembly.

For more information about this or other Business Law and Liability matters, please contact Kevin Hennessy (860) 244-1979 or Kevin.Hennessy@cbia.com. n