Out of state small claims jurisdiction

[jtc12]

What is the name of your state? New York

I am being charge in a small claims court in new jersey, by a new jersey corporation.

It is over a supposed over billing on services performed in the county I reside in, in New York State - eight months after the transaction took place - for an amount smaller than it would cost me in gas to drive there for court.

No part of the transaction occured in New Jersey.

Can this be tried in New Jersey? Small claims are supposed to take place in the county where the defendant resides or the transaction took place.

Help.

 

[AlanShore]

Yes it can be tried in NJ. It does not matter in your case really. You still have to abide by the NJ court. Full faith and credit clause of the constitution.

 

[jtc12]

If the court does rule against me, which I assume it will because there's no way I can make the court date - I've been given 9 days notice on a charge I'd never heard of before today, what can they do to enforce the ruling?

I hold no assets in New Jersey, and do no business there. I haven't received a summons or even a notice of complaint form the court - only a postcard informing me of the court date.

Especially since the charge is bogus - he's basing everything upon local service rates from shops I am led to believe he's in cahoots with. The rate he was charged was three dollars / hour above the national average. He's claiming he has received quotes from local shops at 20 dollars below the national rate. Guys this way would laugh if someone demanded that.

But it's in another state, 300 miles from my shop. How can I contest this? I believe he's planning on suing for legal fees as well.

 

[ForFun]

I am being charge in a small claims court in new jersey, by a new jersey corporation.

It is over a supposed over billing on services performed in the county I reside in, in New York State - eight months after the transaction took place - for an amount smaller than it would cost me in gas to drive there for court.

No part of the transaction occured in New Jersey.

Can this be tried in New Jersey? Small claims are supposed to take place in the county where the defendant resides or the transaction took place.

Help.

In order for a NJ court to have jurisdiction over a non-resident, minimum contacts with the state must exist. If the contract was made in NJ, if you own property in NJ, if you work in NJ, etc., then those are all reasons that a NJ court could have jurisdiction over you. If there is a written contract, look for a clause that states something like: All disputes arising under this contract will be subject to the laws of NJ.

If you have no contacts with NJ, then the court will have no jurisdiction over you. If you Google this stuff, you'll run across eBay cases where a buyer tries to sue a seller in the buyer's home state. Usually, the case will be tossed for lack of jurisdiction.

 

[dcatz]

Originally Posted by AlanShore
Yes it can be tried in NJ. It does not matter in your case really. You still have to abide by the NJ court. Full faith and credit clause of the constitution.

Why? If the OP challenges venue, everything in his post suggests that venue is improper. Even if the speculative issues in ForFun's post have merit (which seems doubtful on the facts posted), and even if there is an arguement for jurisdiction, venue is wrong. Services were performed in NY. The defendant resides in NY. Presumably, all relevant evidence, with the exception of the billing which originated in NY, is in NY. The only thing in NJ is the claimant/benficiary of the services.

Unless I'm missing something, I wouldn't question AlanShore's conclusion - the case can be tried in NJ - but it need not be, in my opinion. A venue challange lies. A problem is that the defendant does not seem inclined to make it. If no challenge is made (and it can normally be made by a simple letter in Small Claims), the case will presumably be heard and determined by the NJ court based on NJ law.

If that happens and the OP does not appear, it is likely that he will suffer a default judgment. If there is a successful venue challenge, the NJ court doesn't hear it, even if jurisdiction exists. Full faith and credit only becomes relevant, if the claimant domesticates a NJ judgment in NY and commences enforcement.

I think that the OP is correct in raising the questions that he does but, if it's not worth his time and gas money to follow-up, then he will suffer the consequences, regardless of the reasoning advanced here.

OP - if you do challenge venue, you would be better served to appear than to write a letter. Then, if the Court denies the challenge, it will probably want to hear the case at the same time. However, if you are weighing gas money against the consequences, recognize that, if there is a NJ judgment in your absence and that judgment is domesicated in NY, the costs of doing that are added to the judgment. You could end up looking at a figure sufficient to drive cross-country, much less 300 miles.

 

[tranquility]

I think venue is not the correct term. I'd use jurisdiction. In a case like this, you may have personal jurisdiction issues. Since the NJ court may not have jurisdiction over the OP (May not. We don't have enough facts to determine the issue.), the NJ courts judgment would not affect anything but the OP's property in NJ. (In Rem jurisdiction.) There are issues as to how to answer when personal jurisdiction is the issue in full courts, I'm not sure the response in small claim courts.

 

[dcatz]

Actually, I'd agree with you on the jurisdictional issue as well. However, jurisdiction seemed to have already been conceded, and the OP's original question was "venue-related".

Small claims are supposed to take place in the county where the defendant resides or the transaction took place.

I didn't check NJ statutes as they pertain to acquiring jurisdiction over the defendant by a mailing out-of-state. In my state, you could not, except for a claim involving real property, when the out-of-state defendant has no designated agent within the state. Likewise, my state prohibits a foreign forum agreement, such as referenced by ForFun, to confer jurisdiction, when it would otherwise not exist.
I'd also agree that we know too little to draw definitive conclusions. I suspect that there is a basis to challenge both. However, if jurisdiction does exist (for reasons not yet clear), venue still remains an issue.
The OP's best bet is to appear and challenge both. (If he writes a letter, he's not there to address the claimant's rebuttal.) In Small Claims, this can be done orally in advance of the hearing. The Court could/should recognize when it lacks jurisdiction and dismiss, but SC pleadings can be so summary and abbreviated that it is unwise to rely on that. And, assuming that in NJ service can be made by an out-of-state mailing, the defendant's non-appearance will be treated as a waiver of the venue issue. And he doesn't seem sufficiently motivated to attack on either ground.
As to affecting only property in NJ, if the claimant domesticates a NJ judgment in NY, it can be enforced there like any other civil judgment. The defendant would have the right to oppose domestication by using any defense that he would have had at the time of the original hearing. That takes us right back to jurisdiction and venue, and maybe he would prefer to do that in his own state, at the appropriate time. But, at the very least, he risks having a NJ judgment appear on his credit report, and that too can be costly, even if they never try to domesticate.