Statute of Limitations for California Pawn Shop Nightmare

Hi, approximately 2-3 years ago my husband was admitted to the hospital and was in the ICU for 45 days and he almost died.  This ordeal lasted for about six months due to the complications and having to go through physical therapy to learn how to walk again.

At the time I was the only one employed in our household and money was very tight.  As a result I went to the local pawn shop and pawned my wedding ring for 120.00 to pay an electrical bill.  About 3 months later I went back to get my ring and they couldn't find it.  Evidently it was discovered at this time that they had hired a new employee who worked for one day and had complete access to the safe and he cleaned them out and left the state. 

I was in contact constantly with the pawn shop and I was told to bear with them that they were working with law enforcement and that they were hoping that some of the items would turn up at other pawn shops.  I patiently waited for several months and then i realized that i wasn't going to get my ring back.  I stayed in contact with the pawn shop after I moved and finally I started to send him letters asking for an update and demanding that my ring be replaced.  I threatened to go to small claims court and the owner had his attorney send me a letter with a check for 180.00 for my time and that was it.  The attorney basically stated that I had no recourse and that the owner wasn't obligated any further and that I should just take the 180.00 and move on.

Well the ring that I had they quit making it was a band with 20 square diamonds inlayed into a band.  Now I beleive that it is too late for me to file a claim in small claims court because I waited too long.  Can anyone out there tell me what kind of case this would be considered or if it would even fall into small claims court.  I have never been in court before and I am now afraid that I wasted too much time and also the file that I had was misplaced while I moved.  I know that I have it somewhere but I have yet to locate it.  Does this pawn shop owe me a new ring or what can I do to gain satisfaction concerning this matter.

You may need to dig deeper --but in some states the pawn shops liability is capped by the value you declared or pawned it for---so if you pawned a $5000 ring  for $120 and it went missing the pawn shop might be limited to a mere $120 liability.

You gotta dig as to pawn shop liability in CA..

Your pawn ticket was a written contract between you and the pawn shop.

The CA statute of limitations on breach of a written contract is 4 years.

If you were to sue for breach of contract, you would still be within the 4 years and if the ring was worth less than 7500 you could certainly sue in small claims court..

However, that pawn ticket likely had a limit of liability printed on it, or a waiver of liability that you agreed to by accepting the money and the pawn ticket (contract) so that, even if you sued within the time limit, you would more than likely lose the lawsuit.

And since you lost your file and, presumably, lost the letter and the pawn ticket along with it, you are probably dead in the water with no evidence to back up your claim.