DocketXDocketX / When someone wronged you
Someone wronged you. Here is what you can actually do
Most people who feel wronged by a lawyer, a landlord, an employer, a contractor, or a company never learn what their real options are, so they either do nothing or hire a lawyer for something a free regulator complaint or a small claims filing could have handled. Every page here lays out the same honest order: the free complaint first, then a demand letter, then small claims, then a lawsuit, and says plainly when each one actually fits.
Professionals who owed you a duty of care
Suing a contractor for bad or unfinished work
What to do when a contractor does bad work, disappears, or blows the budget: licensing boa
Open →Suing a mechanic or auto repair shop
What to do when a repair shop fixes it wrong, charges for work not done, or damages your c
Open →Suing a property manager
When a property management company mishandles your deposit, ignores repairs, or breaches y
Open →Suing your accountant for a costly mistake
What accounting malpractice actually requires, how to file a free state board of accountan
Open →Suing your doctor: med-mal basics and board complaints
What medical malpractice actually requires, how to file a free state medical board complai
Open →Suing your lawyer for malpractice
What legal malpractice actually requires, how to file a free state bar complaint, and ever
Open →Suing your real estate agent or realtor
What real-estate malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty actually require, how to file a
Open →Suing your veterinarian
What veterinary malpractice actually requires, how to file a free state veterinary board c
Open →Housing
Disputing an HOA fine
How to fight an HOA fine you think is wrong or unfairly applied: the internal appeal proce
Open →Suing a roommate
What to do when a roommate skips out on rent, damages shared property, or breaks a roommat
Open →Suing a tenant (for landlords)
What a landlord can do when a tenant damages the property, breaks a lease, or leaves owing
Open →Suing your HOA
What to do when a homeowners association overreaches, ignores its own rules, or mismanages
Open →Suing your landlord
What to do when a landlord won't fix habitability problems, enters illegally, or won't ret
Open →Your landlord kept your security deposit
What to do when a landlord won't return your deposit or itemize the deductions: demand let
Open →Money and work
A client won't pay my invoice
What to do when a client or customer refuses to pay for completed work: demand letters, me
Open →Disputing medical bills
How to dispute a wrong or unexpectedly large medical bill: free help lines, demand letters
Open →I'm a victim of identity theft
The actual recovery steps after identity theft: the free federal recovery plan, credit fre
Open →My data was in a breach, now what
What to actually do after a company tells you your data was breached: free credit monitori
Open →My employer won't pay me
What to do about unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, or a bounced final paycheck: the free fede
Open →My insurance claim was denied
What to do when an insurer denies or lowballs a claim: the free state insurance department
Open →Suing a debt collector
What debt collectors are and aren't allowed to do, the free federal complaint path, and wh
Open →Suing your bank
What to do about wrongful fees, a frozen account, or a bank that won't fix an error: the f
Open →Suing your employer
What to do when an employer discriminates, harasses, retaliates, or breaks its own promise
Open →There's an error on my credit report
How to dispute a credit report error the right way: direct disputes with the bureaus, the
Open →Was I wrongfully terminated?
What wrongful termination actually means (most firings are legal), the free agency complai
Open →Consumer and everyday business
A warranty claim was refused
What to do when a manufacturer or seller refuses a valid warranty claim: consumer-protecti
Open →A wedding vendor didn't deliver
What to do when a photographer, venue, or other wedding vendor no-shows, delivers far belo
Open →Can't cancel a gym membership
What to do when a gym won't let you cancel or keeps billing you: state consumer-protection
Open →How to get out of a timeshare
The honest path out of a timeshare contract, and the warning about exit companies that are
Open →I got scammed, can I sue
What actually happens after a scam: reporting it, the realistic odds of recovering money,
Open →I hired an unlicensed contractor
What to do when you find out the person you hired wasn't licensed: reporting them, what it
Open →Injured by a defective product
What product liability actually requires when a product injures you, the free federal safe
Open →Lemon law basics
How lemon laws generally work for a vehicle with a persistent defect: what usually has to
Open →My car was towed, was it legal
What to do about a tow you believe was illegal or overpriced: consumer-protection complain
Open →Suing a car dealer
What to do about a dealer who misrepresented a car, hid damage, or violated financing rule
Open →Suing a moving company
What to do when a mover loses, damages, or holds your belongings hostage: the free federal
Open →Suing an airline
What to do about a cancelled flight, lost luggage, or an airline that won't refund you: th
Open →Neighbors, reputation and process
Defamation basics: can I sue for what someone said
What defamation actually requires, a false statement of fact, not just an insult or opinio
Open →How to write a demand letter
What a demand letter actually needs to do its job, without a fake template promising resul
Open →Suing a neighbor
What to do about a boundary dispute, property damage, or an ongoing neighbor conflict: med
Open →You don't need a lawyer to start
You are allowed to do this yourself
A regulator complaint, a demand letter, and small claims court are all built for people without lawyers. Read our pro se guide for how self-representation actually works, our small claims guide for that specific process, and if a lawyer's cost is the blocker at any stage, our can't-afford-a-lawyer triage covers every free and low-cost path, including legal aid.
Not legal advice and not a law firm. We don't predict outcomes, and deadlines and dollar thresholds vary by state and by claim, check your state's page before you rely on any number. If you can get a lawyer or free legal aid, do: start at lsc.gov.