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Whats my first step to my final step?

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robbysmith76

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Tennesse

I lived with my ex-girlfriend in Georgia when we decided to split up... we had a verbal contract that I would pay a certain amount of the rent, even though I was transitioning back to Tennessee and would not be living there. Two weeks after agreement she got upset and put my things out of the house but retained my $2200 computer system although I paid my part of the rent. I called the police to get my computer and she informed them she sold my computer, although it was a lie. She got all locks changed, etc.... the police informed me it's nothing they could do because my name was only listed as an occupant. She recently moved back to Tennessee, so my question is do I take her to court in Georgia in the county where the offense took place or must I travel to the city in Tennessee where she lives now to file a case? What will be the best way to sue her for my computer, lost earnings because I work from my computer and all my files exist on it and expenses for traveling back and fourth only to come up short with my possessions....Thank you.
 


dcatz

Senior Member
It appears that you now live in TN as well, but I’m not certain, because your post makes it sound as if it would be less convenient to “travel to the city in Tennessee” than to sue her in GA. Whichever it is, you sue her in TN. The injuries you’ll allege don’t really arise out her use of real property in GA, and there would be the additional hoops of out-of-state service and domesticating the GA judgment in TN for you to jump through if you tried.

You’ll sue her for conversion of your property and seek its monetary value. Don’t expect a SC court to compel the return of the computer, if she says she sold it. Either go to a higher court, if you can prove she still has it, or settle for the money. SC makes monetary awards.

The monetary value may be higher than the off-the-shelf price of the computer depreciated by age (the normal standard for calculation), if it was a tool of your trade and contained irreplaceable data, but you’ll have to figure out how you assign a dollar value and support it with proof. The same is true for lost earnings. We don’t know what you do, but anything showing past earnings would be a starting point.

You can claim necessary travel expenses, but I doubt that you’ll get those too.
 

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