Where should I file a small claims lawsuit?? If the company does not reside in my state (Georgia)? Ive looked over GA courts links and keep coming up with if the company is not in your state, you have to file it in their respective states??? Those of you with lawsuit experience suing out of state companies please help. Thanks
I can tell you that in New York you can not file a small claims suit against a company in another state unless they have a registered agent in the State of New York. Check your State Attorney General's website under corporate filings to see if the company you are interested in suing has a registered agent in your state. If they do, you can file suit in your state and notify them through their registered agent.
Thats what Georgia's rules are when it comes to small claims. Thats why Im askin those with experience how thay proceeded with filing suit with out of state CA's & OC's & CRA's......
I caught this reply from another board: You can sue someone from out of state, IF you can show that the court has at least SOME venue jurisdiction. And you need to realize that the defendant has the right to challenge your filing location. So, assuming you can convince the court that IT has some jurisdiction..... you only have to worry about the defendant filing a motion to dismiss. I read this at http://forum.freeadvice.com/
BUMP Cmon Butch, LKH, Lizard.... jump in on this one. If your small claims court won't take the case can't you go to your district court and sue. The FDCPA/FCRA said competent jurisdiction. They broke a federal law so you are suing in a federal court. Am I wrong ? That would suck otherwise. This portion of the law is what really made it consumer friendly so I thought. If you can't sue in your home state, you're supposed to fly out to their state for court ?! Most consumers don't have money like that.
What company is it??? If the company is doing business with a georgia resident but isn't located in georgia, then they're supposed to have a registered agent in your state for the exact purpose of being served by georgia residents. look up the company at: http://www.sos.state.ga.us/corporations/corpsearch.htm then you can serve the company's registered agent in your state. Also, for small claims filing you would file in the county of their registered agent, even if that's not your county... so if the registered agent is in Gwinnett County, you file in Gwinnett County.... depending on what type of issue it is, you can also request an investigation with the Georgia Office of Consumer Affairs... they'll investigate certain types of issues free of charge.
Venue and jurisdiction are different. See one of the previous post where me and patentatty talked about the difference. I would think the federal district in which you reside would be a proper jurisdiction and venue unless this company has absolutely no ties to georiga. I need to know more before I can give a definite answer.
Marie,Rocket, All The company is Firestone/CreditFirst National Association(they do the credit/financing for Firestone). & I have multiple FCRA violations on them.
Marie,Rocket, All The company is Firestone/CreditFirst National Association(they do the credit/financing for Firestone). & I have multiple FCRA violations on them.
Every state has its' own rules on this. In AZ, I can file against any business, here or elsewhere. I would do as suggested above. Check your states Secretary of State to see if the company in question has an authorized (statutory) agent in your state. If so, file away. There is also the subject of jurisdiction. The way I understand it is, if a ca attempts to collect in your state, (they sent you demand letters) then your state has proper jurisdiction, and again, file away.
If I may be permitted to borrow this thread for a moment, I'm hoping to file tomorrow in small claims, and I have a resident agency question. I'm in Los Angeles County, California. The defendant, Diversified Adjustment Service, Inc. is in Coon Rapids, MN. I went to the California Secretary of State's Office website, and found a registered agent for a "DIVERSIFIED ADJUSTMENT SERVICE, INC.", but the record lists the corporation as "Merged Out." http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowAllList?QueryCorpNumber=C1059399 LA's rules allow for venue based on where the damages were incurred. That is the basis for my filing here, and I'm not worried about where to file, but rather who to file against, and where to send the summons. TIA, HDAlex
on this same line of where do I sue... I lived in FL when the infraction occured (say for argument's sake it was a no PP pull). I now live in GA and the puller is based in IL and does not have a registered agent in GA... where do I sue? To complicate the question even further, I didn't find out about the infraction until I lived in GA. ...remember, these are for example only, and relation to actual incidents or persons is purely coincidental and not intentional...
