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car buyer taking me to small claims

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G

gands

Guest
What is the name of your state?Wisconsin

I sold a car on Ebay in June. Transaction went through fine and the buyer paid in a timely manner. Buyer lives in Ohio and arranged for and paid for a transport company to pick up the vehicle. There was no contact with the buyer before the purchase, although the auction clearly stated the vehicle was available for inspection.

Did not hear anything until July when the buyer sent an email stating
"I've left two messages for you.
I've contacted an attorney. It appears that the small claims court is
in our future. The process, as well as the remedy (attaching a lien on
your house) are fairly simple to do. I'm glad I made a copy of the
EBAYad as well as a signed statement from my mechanic.
Sorry.
My attorney will be in touch with you."
I never had a message from the man who had both my email address and my home phone number.
Now it's September and I receive papers from small claims court in Ohio stating " No mention of obvious wreck or body damage. with a claim for $1400
There were multiple photos of all angles of the car in the auction and it was available for inspection before the sale...and I would have refunded his money had he come for the car and changed his mind. The car may have had a door ding but it certainly didn't have any type of major damage.
My question is, since the transport company was paid by him and picked the car up here was this a transaction in the state of Wisconsin? He claims on his court papers that the transaction occured in Ohio, I don't think that is legally true is it?
And if the transaction did in fact take place in Wisconsin, how do I notify the court short of having to drive to Ohio and appear in court?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated
 


O

OC3902

Guest
gands said:
My question is, since the transport company was paid by him and picked the car up here was this a transaction in the state of Wisconsin? He claims on his court papers that the transaction occured in Ohio, I don't think that is legally true is it?
And if the transaction did in fact take place in Wisconsin, how do I notify the court short of having to drive to Ohio and appear in court?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated
There haven't been that many court rulings regarding jurisdiction (personal jurisdiction) in cases arising out of transactions made on the internet between citizens of different states, as of last year anyway... some courts would find they have jurisdiction over you since you knowingly entered into a transaction with someone from another state. It's a relatively new area of law...cyberlaw-jurisdiction, at least as of last year, but it's possible the Judge will find that the Ohio court has jurisdiction over you and allow a judgment. Btw how much is it worth to you to go to Ohio for this claim? He won't have to file a lien if you can actually pay the judgment in a timely manner, if he wins. As for the merits of his case, have a printout of your eBay ad ready to show the Judge to show there was no false advertising, including the photos that you mentioned, printouts of any e-mails you sent him ... not conclusive evidence but since it's small claims court, if you show yourself as sincere and credible maybe the Judge will reduce the claim.

gands said:
I never had a message from the man who had both my email address and my home phone number.
He didn't have to contact you before filing an action, at least in my state. You can try e-mailing him before the hearing and remind him that, as you said, the auction clearly stated the vehicle was available for inspection, that you still have the photos, and attach them as documents or links to your e-mail, and see if you two reach some middle ground. I kind of doubt he'd agree but you can give it a shot in the hopes it will save you a trip.
 

JETX

Senior Member
And now..... an ACCURATE answer:

gands said:
since the transport company was paid by him and picked the car up here was this a transaction in the state of Wisconsin?
Of course, that will be your argument when you answer the lawsuit and challenge their venue (as not having jurisdiction in the matter).

He claims on his court papers that the transaction occured in Ohio, I don't think that is legally true is it?
For civil cases, venue is usually the district or county which is the residence of a principal defendant or where they regularly conduct business, where a contract was executed or is to be performed, or where an accident took place.
I feel that a good argument could be made that the contract was executed in your home state as that is where the vehicle was located at the time of the sale. And since his agent (the transporter) took possession in your state, I feel that would further support your argument that the proper venue (with jurisdiction) would by where the transaction took place and the vehicle was picked up.

And if the transaction did in fact take place in Wisconsin, how do I notify the court short of having to drive to Ohio and appear in court?
Simply do so by filing a Motion for Dismissal due to the court lacking jurisdiction. Since this is small claims, it should be fairly informal and not require a formal Motion. I suggest you contact the court and ask them if they have any requirement for filing. Support your Motion with a copy of the 'pickup order' for the vehicle.
 
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O

OC3902

Guest
Venue is not the same thing as jurisdiction. The parties here live in different states and you can certainly try challenging personal jurisdiction, but if you challenge venue, you are basically saying that jurisdiction in the state (Ohio) is proper. If the small claims court allows you to file a motion to dismiss (check on this) based on the ground that a Ohio court does not have personal jurisdiction in this case over you, a citizen of Wisconsin, your motion should be based on laws regarding personal jurisdiction, not venue rules.

Edit: I haven't researched any case law today, but if you can file a motion to dismiss in that small claims court, search for Ohio's long-arm statute, and for case law by searching for 'personal jurisdiction, internet' at Google. (The judge could find personal jurisdiction over you in this case based on U.S. case law regarding personal jurisdiction in general, but since this transaction was over the internet, you might get lucky.) You can also get a background of our laws in the U.S. regarding personal jurisdiction by looking at the International Shoe case regarding 'minimum contacts'.
 
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JETX

Senior Member
OC3902 said:
Venue is not the same thing as jurisdiction.
Correct.... and I never said that they were. However, you're not correct when you imply that they are not related.

A court may not have jurisdiction due to venue. And that is what I was saying.

For your education, here is the legal definition of jurisdiction:
jurisdiction
n. the authority given by law to a court to try cases and rule on legal matters within a particular geographic area and/or over certain types of legal cases. It is vital to determine before a lawsuit is filed which court has jurisdiction. State courts have jurisdiction over matters within that state, and different levels of courts have jurisdiction over lawsuits involving different amounts of money. Jurisdiction in the courts of a particular state may be determined by the location of real property in a state (in rem jurisdiction), or whether the parties are located within the state (in personam jurisdiction).
 
O

OC3902

Guest
JETX said:
Correct.... and I never said that they were. However, you're not correct when you imply that they are not related.

A court may not have jurisdiction due to venue. And that is what I was saying.

For your education, here is the legal definition of jurisdiction:
jurisdiction
n. the authority given by law to a court to try cases and rule on legal matters within a particular geographic area and/or over certain types of legal cases. It is vital to determine before a lawsuit is filed which court has jurisdiction. State courts have jurisdiction over matters within that state, and different levels of courts have jurisdiction over lawsuits involving different amounts of money. Jurisdiction in the courts of a particular state may be determined by the location of real property in a state (in rem jurisdiction), or whether the parties are located within the state (in personam jurisdiction).
I wasn't trying to imply that they're not similar in concept, but you cannot successfully challenge the State of Ohio's jurisdiction over a citizen in Wisconsin based on venue rules. You can challenge the propriety of venue of a particular court in Ohio based on venue rules, but that might result in a transfer to another court in Ohio. And as alluded to, if you challenge venue, you are basically saying that jurisdiction in the state (Ohio) is proper.

(I had read the definition of jurisdiction a long time ago. There are rules regarding subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction. The more precise issue in this case is personal jurisdiction.)
 

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