I went to small claims court yesterday to file against a company completely unrelated to credit. They are in NY and I am in CA. The court refused my filing because the company is out of state. They said I would have to go to NY. An attorney said the same. Will this happen with Collection Agencies that are out of state as well, or are they governed by a different set of laws? If so, what specific law speaks about this? Summer
I may have the same problem. My local small claims has the same rule, although I haven't talked to anyone about it yet. What about going to district court? Do they have the same rules?
Summer, Do you have any friends or relatives in New york? If so, they are able to file for you, but if it goes to court, you would have to show up there!
Is there an agent for the company in your state? That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard (not you the court). I always thought you can file ANY small claims suit against ANYONE in either the state the "problem" OCCURED OR where the business IS. Unless the person being served is in the military.
You can look up the registered agent. The CA must have some representation or else they can't do business in your state othrewise..
Hey Summer check out http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/smallclaims/# great info on filing small claims in California Kev
If the company does business in your state, you can sue in Federal Court. Don't think there is a Federal Small Claims Court, though.
The company (unrelated to credit) I'm trying to sue has no registered agent in my state. They only do business via the internet. I do not have anyone in NY to file for me, and I definitely don't have the time or money to go there myself. Hopefully the collection agencies will have a registered agent here. I've got a few CA's with numerous documented violations. Summer
This is the dumbest thing . Let the out of towners rip you off but don't let any local yokel try it. You basicaly don't have a small claims court.
The law about venue and jurisdiction,filing where the debt was incurred or where the debtor now lives,or actions against a CRA or CA are in the Fair Credit Laws. If a lawsuit UNRELATED to debt collection or credit reporting is filed it has to be in the jurisdiction and venue of the defendent.
If 60 to 75 % of defendants are out of state this looks like the court is trying to drastically reduce their case load!
The most common small claims cases are for damages,not on contracts or debt.If YOU were being sued for say-defamation of character on the internet,would you want to have the expense of travelling to the litigants jurisdiction in Alaska from your home in Florida?
