Small Claims

So I'm sitting here at the Orange County Courthouse, waiting for a mediator to sue John Edalati of Home Park Contractors for unpaid inspections and testing we did in good faith at the 92nd St. Apts he owns. If I see a mediator and it is settled to my satisfaction, we all go home asap. If either party is unsatisfied, we go back in the court room and let the judge decide, and my case gets to be next in line, so its a win/win. I've been begging this bastard for over 18 months to pay what he owes us. Once he bounced a check. Once he said he'd be in the office the next day to pay and never showed or called. We did this work in good faith, we performed inspections while he built apartments that he now is renting out to the good people of East L.A. He's a slum lord. I can't believe I'm going to have to talk to him today and it's my birthday, don't forget. Now we were all standing in the courthouse hallway and he came up to me to say hello and shakes my hand. Please. I'm trying very hard not to fall asleep while I wait, even with all this stress. I got home at 7:30 a.m. this morning on the red eye from Hawaii. OK, now an update: Mediation is a terrible thing. I should have just let the judge decide. Whatever. I agreed to mediation and they sat us all down at a table. They let me tell my side first. Then they had the other guys tell their side and LIED LIED LIED. UNDER OATH. Anyway. It was awful. I cried. But I got my money back plus interest. If they pay....