Q: A couple wants to take us to Small claims court over a cat we sold to them.
A couple wants to take us to Small claims court over a cat we sold to them. We gave them paperwork we received from the past owner and all her things. They say the cat was not spayed and all the paperwork we gave them was fake. We did not know the paperwork was fake when we sold it to them and also did not know she was spraying as we only had her for 2 weeks. I have proof we bought her and got all the paper work from another person. They want me to pay them $1000 for damage from the cat spraying and to pay for her to be spayed or else they will take me to court and report me to the local police department for fraud if applicable.
A:
First, IMO it is unlikely that the police will get involved in this based on the facts you presented. You had no reason to doubt the papers you received from the first owner. Is the couple also going to sue the CAT? Lots of people do that these days. If they really want to go to Small Claims over this, they have every right to file a case, but that does not mean automatically that they win. They will have the burden of proof (by a preponderance of the evidence) that YOU misrepresented the cat's condition when it was sold, "misrepresented" means INTENTIONALLY told them something untrue. They also have to prove that they relied on what you told them and would not have purchased the cat if they had known the true facts. At a trial they will probably not put on any evidence or testimony that they would not have bought the cat if they had known. You have a right to cross examine them, so you should be asking questions like: "What was it about the cat that you liked that made you want to buy it in the first place?" Go into how the cat was very attractive, or very loving. Get them to focus on all these things being the most important factors about buying the cat. Ask if the cat is doing well at the home, being a loving pet, do they love it? Don't ask if the papers were important, you will show your hand. Then at the time you get to close, point out to the Judge that they never said that the papers, or being spayed were the items that they considered when they bought the cat, therefore they did not rely on the papers in making the decision to buy the cat.
Next time, sell a snake or a tortoise, no one expects them to be spayed.
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