Mistaken Identity Lawsuit

What is the name of your state? Michigan

Hi there. Damsel in semi-distress here. Apologies if I'm posting in an inappropriate area.

I am being sued (small claims) by a man who's very existence was completely unknown to me until last night when a court officer served me papers. The court papers say the dispute involves his purchase of a mobile home and lists the defendant's previous address as being in Lansing, MI.

My name is the same as the woman who sold the plaintiff the mobile home, that much is true. But I have never owned a mobile home, I have never lived in Lansing, and I have never met or dealt with this Mr. Injured Party in any way. I am simply not the woman he's looking for.

When I phoned the court this morning and asked what I had to do to prove that I have no knowledge of the situation or the people involved, I was told I would have to wait until a court date was set and show up then to provide necessary documents.

Naturally, I wish to avoid that.

But I'm woefully ignorant of the legal system and haven't a clue what to do (and, perhaps more importantly, what not to do).

The man's name and address is on the lawsuit and I am seriously considering writing him a letter or calling him directly to explain who I am (or, rather, who I am not), but that has some potentially unpleasant variables that I might not want to expose myself to (i.e. he could be a total nutjob). But I'm willing to risk it. Could contacting him directly come back to bite me in some way?

If it's not advisable, is there any other way I can halt this before it ends up before a judge? There wasn't a name or contact information for an attorney, so I'm presuming he doesn't have one.

And, to top it all off, my mind has now begun wandering into dark, scary, Lifetime-Movie-of-the-Week places and I'm starting to worry about the possibility that I could become one of those poor schmucks you sometimes hear about who is totally innocent but somehow gets caught up in some gigantic injustice and has their life completely wrecked because of some crazy, twisty turn of events.

I'd really rather not become one of those people (despite how cool it would be to have Jaclyn Smith or Mare Winningham play me in a TV movie).

Any words of wisdom would be most gratefully received.

Thanks for your time.

MickeyMouth said:

When I phoned the court this morning and asked what I had to do to prove that I have no knowledge of the situation or the people involved, I was told I would have to wait until a court date was set and show up then to provide necessary documents.

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Okay, your choices are to pursue the pre-trial discovery process to try to get them to PROVE that they have the correct person... or do as the court suggested and show up to defend yourself against their claim.

Just from a safety point of view, you may want to consider opening a post office mail box and use that as your address of correspondence. Make any calls either using a calling card or a cell phone.

You may want to gather information showing the addresses where you lived during the time you might haved lived, when this other person was living in this mobile home. You also have the right to request from him proof of discovery and to WHY he thinks it's you.

Because it is small claims court, he will NOT have an attorney.

JETX said:

Okay, your choices are to pursue the pre-trial discovery process to try to get them to PROVE that they have the correct person... or do as the court suggested and show up to defend yourself against their claim.

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Thank you for the quick reply. As for the two choices I have, which is the easiest and requires the least amount of energy and expense? I'm guessing it's the latter.

And a follow-up question: how, exactly, does one prove that one has never lived in particular city? Or has never owned a mobile home? Can the court run my license and SS#/credit report to verify my claim?

Ginny J said:

Just from a safety point of view, you may want to consider opening a post office mail box and use that as your address of correspondence. Make any calls either using a calling card or a cell phone.

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Thank you for responding. That is a very good idea - but it appears the plaintiff already has my home address and phone number. It's on the court papers that, I presume, were filled out by him. From the paperwork, it looks like he attempted to serve her (the other woman who shares my name) a few months ago, but she had moved.

There are two documents that I was served, and in the second one, there is a question box asking for reasons why he wishes to try and serve again. To that question he answered: "I have attained a new address."

Which is, of course, mine.

Where he found it, I have no idea.

You also have the right to request from him proof of discovery and to WHY he thinks it's you.

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How can I do that? By calling the court and requesting it?

I'm a little embarrassed by my ignorance and I apologize for it, but I have never had a legal kerfuffle in my entire life, and I haven't the first clue about any of this.