I went to try to file today. The clerk told me that I could not file unless the defendant resided in my county. Ummm - am I missing something? Doesnt that defeat the purpose of being able to file in small claims... why would i file in the county where the defendant is... I was wronged here... *shrug* Any suggestions? Thanks in advance! Parul
This has happened before. It might help if you show them the part of the FCRA which says you can bring suit in any court of competent jurisdiction. We've had this discussion before if you do a search for "competent jurisdiction" you might run across it. I think the last creditnetter this happened to was finally able to file in small claims if I remember correctly. L Actually...it was caseybjone (how could I forget...lol) Here's the url, although I don't know if it will hyperlink. http://consumers.creditnet.com/stra...highlight="competent+jurisdiction"#post177144
I ran into this once and it was cleared up with a phone call by my attorney. She called the clerkand let her know in no uncertian terms that under civil procedures for my state I can and will be filing a suit against an out of state CA and if she tried to stop or infringe on my right to due process my attorney and I would file suit against the clerk and the county. My attorney said that if the clerk was aware that a my claim couldn't be filed and she was adamant on not allowing my claim to go through, then the clerk should have reasonable knowledge of the laws and the procedures governing her job. It is not the clerk's discretion to dismiss or fail to file a suit for jurisdictional reasons, it is up to the judge who has full power and knowledge of the job to make that claim of dismissal or approval of your suit. My attorney told her if that is her contention that she has full authority to deny a claim then she has full responsibility for violating the laws she is supposed to abide by. I filed my suit the next day with no problem, and it was accepted by the judge. Do not go on the words of those clerks!! They are not lawyers and half don't even know the laws. It is not our job to educate them, insist on filing anyway despite what they say! Persistance will prevail! Tac
Thank you very much for the vote of confidence... As soon as she started argueing with me, I asked if I could see the documentation that said that I could only file in my county. She said she didnt have that and that 'she just knew'. I then stated Thank you for you help and that I would still like the forms. She argued with me on giving me those as well. Saying if I cant file, why did I need forms. I told her straight up that it really wasnt her concern as she was not authorized to deny my filing - only the judge could say no on jurisdictional reasoning. "Dont accept no from someone that does not have the authority to say yes." I love this board. Just glad someone else has gone through this so I can ask questions. Parul
