Has anyone ever went to file a small claims against a CA and been told that since that CA does not reside in your state or have a RA in your state that you could file the case and run the risk that it will thrown out when the judges gets it or you have to file in the state that the CA resides in?
Your issue is really one of jurisdiction. Does the court you are filing in have jurisdiction over the matter? Courts will usually be required to allow anyone to file a suit in the court--they may advise you that you will have problems. Deciding jurisdiction is the job of the judge. The judge may ask you why you filed in this jurisdiction and why the court has the ability to hear the case. I would consult your state's statutes on this issue. The statutes will tell you what actions the court can and cannot hear. You probably can make a case that your state can hear the case. Your second issue is that of service. Does your state have a mechanism to serve defendants out of state? Some courts can only take jurisdiction on parties that are in the state. Finally is the issue of satisfying a judgment that you have. Getting the judgment is usually the easy part of the matter. If the defendant is not in the state and has no assets in the state, you will probably have to register the judgment as a foreign judgment in the state in which the defendant is located anyway. Sometimes this requires a whole new case to be brought.
All states have a "Long Arm" statute similar to this excerpt from Arizona Revised Statutes: 12-401. Venue No person shall be sued out of the county in which such person resides, except: 1. When a defendant or all of several defendants reside without the state or their residence is unknown, the action may be brought in the county in which the plaintiff resides. Look in your State's Judiciary or Court Laws unver "Venue" for a similar statute. If the judge says there is insufficient jurisdiction, just produce a copy of your State's Long Arm Statute and argue that the Court does have jurisdiction.
