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Lawsuits over unpaid debts and other financial disputes are up 33 and 45 percent, respectively, in Pima County Justice and Superior courts over the past year, in yet another indicator of the economic downturn.

Court officials say they've seen an upswing in lawsuits filed over bad checks, repossessed vehicles, loan defaults, credit cards and other contract disputes, although they can't provide exact numbers for each specific type of case.

In addition, more landlords are seeking to evict their tenants.

Justice Court handles cases involving amounts less than $10,000; Superior Court handles cases above that.

The cases have increased so much that Justice Court employees are working some Saturdays; justices of the peace are working through lunch; and Lisa Royal, Justice Court administrator, has applied for a grant so she can hire two more clerks.

"I think this is just the leading edge," said Presiding Judge Jan Kearney of Pima County Superior Court. "We'll have a clearer picture in six months of the impact."

Kearney said judges have noticed more people coming into court to fight evictions, whereas before they would simply move.

"We are seeing more requests for hearings, and a lot of them are saying, 'I need more time. I just don't have anyplace else to go,' " Kearney said.

Roger Hartley, associate professor of public administration and policy at the University of Arizona, said he is not surprised.

"When there is more of an economic strain, there is going to be more conflict in society, and that's going to result in more cases being filed," Hartley said.

Lawsuits related to credit cards are probably one of the early indicators of a poor economy, Hartley said.

"If people let their credit cards go, what's the worst that's going to happen to them? They might have a lawsuit filed against them, or they might have their checks garnished, but they'll still have their cars and homes," Hartley said.

Unfortunately, as everyone already knows, home foreclosures are up, too, Hartley said.

Two weeks ago, 462 new civil cases were filed in Justice Court within two days, said Micci Tilton, judicial services manager.

"That many filed in just a two-day period, that's huge," Tilton said.

Every month, about 800 people being sued in Justice Court fail to respond to the lawsuits filed against them, requiring a judge to decide if a default judgment should be entered against them, Royal said.

Because there are so many cases and so few workers, Royal said, there has been a delay in processing those cases.

Enough are being processed, though, to keep the judges busy.

Maria Felix, presiding administrative judge for Justice Court, said she is seeing many cases involving people whose cars were repossessed who must pay their lender the difference between what the car sold for at auction and the value of the vehicle.

More people are also trying to collect unpaid loans, Felix said.

"People want their $300 back. People want their $1,500 back — that's a lot of money," Felix said.

Justice of the Peace José Luis Castillo, who said he's never before experienced such an increase in filings, said he is also seeing a lot of cases in which people have defaulted on their payday loans.

Castillo really started noticing the increase in July.

On July 2, he alone signed default judgments totaling more than $200,000. If the other seven judges signed a similar number of judgments that day, that's a lot of money, the judge said.

"I don't think any of us lose track of the fact that these files represent a point in someone's life, so we look them over as carefully as we can," Castillo said.

Sadly, many of those who do respond to lawsuits have unrealistic expectations of the judges, Castillo said.

"They think we'll be able to negotiate for them, but we are not advocates," Castillo said. "We just don't have that ability."

Although it's pure speculation, Hartley, the UA professor, said he expects there might be broad legislative changes in the coming years that will help consumers.

During quiet economic times, businesses tend to be behind changes in the law, Hartley said. For example, businesses were behind the push to make it harder for people to file for bankruptcy.

Now that so many people have been adversely affected by the economic downturn, Hartley said, he expects to see changes in laws pertaining to such things as debt collection and mortgages.

"I think we're going to see the pendulum swing back the other way," Hartley said.