Being sued from out of state

[racer72]

I live in Michigan and have never lived in Cali.
Another question, if he flys here uses Michigan court and wins. Would I have to pay for his plane ticket? He says I owe him 600. But that's less then what it would even cost to fly here... He clearly isn't in this for the money, this is vindictive. Also he said he sent the papers, but whats to stop him from not actually sending the papers. And then saying I didn't respond, and they auto decide he wins.

Any travel expenses would have to be paid by the guy suing you.

 

[quincy]

I live in Michigan and have never lived in Cali.
Another question, if he flys here uses Michigan court and wins. Would I have to pay for his plane ticket? He says I owe him 600. But that's less then what it would even cost to fly here... He clearly isn't in this for the money, this is vindictive. Also he said he sent the papers, but whats to stop him from not actually sending the papers. And then saying I didn't respond, and they auto decide he wins.

I recommend you wait for whatever the friend says he sent to you to arrive. You will have plenty of time then to decide what your best course of action will be.

It could very well be that he is saying he plans to sue when he has no intention of doing so, to perhaps encourage you to pay what he feels you owe. The $600 (plus court costs) that he could potentially be awarded in a small claims action filed in Michigan would not warrant the costs he would have to incur to pursue a suit. He cannot recover the cost of his flight to Michigan.

Here is a link to a Michigan small claims help site: http://courts.mi.gov/self-help/center/casetype/pages/smallclaims.aspx

It sounds like your backpacking trip did not turn out as well as you planned. That is too bad.

 

[Aldertron]

If I can't be forced to pay for his travel expenses then I am all for letting him pay more money to come here to sue me, then he would gain by winning. What a jerk.

 

[quincy]

If I can't be forced to pay for his travel expenses then I am all for letting him pay more money to come here to sue me, then he would gain by winning. What a jerk.

There are jerks in this world but I am sorry that your friendship had to end, especially over such an insignificant sum of money.

 

[Aldertron]

There are jerks in this world but I am sorry that your friendship had to end, especially over such an insignificant sum of money.

Thanks, I'll just wait for the papers and go from there.

 

[quincy]

Sounds like a good plan.

 

[justalayman]

This is assuming that Aldertron is not a permanent resident of California and is not a minor (which could be safe assumptions to make, but assumptions nonetheless).

Aldertron can live in Michigan as a student at a Michigan college, be a minor, and still have as his permanent residence his parents' California home.

If this is the case, the California parents (or guardian) of Aldertron could accept service of the papers for Aldertron at the California residence and there can be substituted service with a mailing of a copy of the papers by first class mail to Aldertron at this home address where the papers were served on his parents or guardian.

Might as well cover this (perhaps far-fetched) possibility, since FlyingRon covered the car accident and property ownership exceptions.

ron is correct and I made the assumptions the exceptions would not apply since the OP has not said anything that would suggest they might:

(e) Service shall be made within this state, except as provided in
subdivisions (f) and (g).

(f) The owner of record of real property in California who resides
in another state and who has no lawfully designated agent in
California for service of process may be served by any of the methods
described in this section if the claim relates to that property.

(g) A nonresident owner or operator of a motor vehicle involved in
an accident within this state may be served pursuant to the
provisions on constructive service in Sections 17450 to 17461,
inclusive, of the Vehicle Code without regard to whether the
defendant was a nonresident at the time of the accident or when the
claim was filed. Service shall be made by serving both the Director
of the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the defendant, and
may be made by any of the methods authorized by this chapter or by
registered mail as authorized by Section 17454 or 17455 of the
Vehicle Code.

this obviously does not involve real estate located in California so f is not applicable and it does not involve a motor vehicle accident so g does not apply. That means unless OP shows up in California service cannot be perfected. No substitute service would do.


and to restate the application of f; even if he was a resident of California, unless the suit actually involved the property owned in California, the exception would not apply.

he must be served within the state of California for this suit if filed in California for service to be perfected.

 

[quincy]

ron is correct and I made the assumptions the exceptions would not apply since the OP has not said anything that would suggest they might:




this obviously does not involve real estate located in California so f is not applicable and it does not involve a motor vehicle accident so g does not apply. That means unless OP shows up in California service cannot be perfected. No substitute service would do.


and to restate the application of f; even if he was a resident of California, unless the suit actually involved the property owned in California, the exception would not apply.

he must be served within the state of California for this suit if filed in California for service to be perfected.

I was only trying to cover all bases with my response, justalayman, even though what I presented did not appear to apply any more than FlyingRon's exceptions seemed to apply. The assumptions previously made were not only reasonable ones, they turned out to be correct ones, which is always nice.

Here are links to the substituted service that is possible with the example I gave (student away at college). The first link is to the California Code of Civil Procedure, attention paid to Section 415.20(b), and the second link is to a "Resources for Attorneys" article, "Service by Substitution in California," written by David G. Hallstrom.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=415.10-415.95

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/4860/legal_matters/service_by_substitution_in_california.html

 

[justalayman]

I was only trying to cover all bases with my response, justalayman, even though what I presented did not appear to apply any more than FlyingRon's exceptions seemed to apply. The assumptions previously made were not only reasonable ones, they turned out to be correct ones, which is always nice.

Here are links to the substituted service that is possible with the example I gave (student away at college). The first link is to the California Code of Civil Procedure, attention paid to Section 415.20(b), and the second link is to a "Resources for Attorneys" article, "Service by Substitution in California," written by David G. Hallstrom.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-010000&file=415.10-415.95

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/4860/legal_matters/service_by_substitution_in_california.html

I see where you are coming from, sort of. I think you inserted a situation that there was no reason to believe was the case.

OP stated this:

. He lives in California and I live in Michigan

and for some reason you went to thinking of the OP as a possible student attending school in Michigan and possibly a resident of California. That is a big leap based on what was provided, at least to me. The only thing I can see is you had a flashback to your days in college where you backpacked through Europe with friends and applied the possibility to the OP.


ya gotta know I have the utmost respect for ya though. You should already know you're my go to guy around here.

 

[quincy]

Yes. I was doing a lot of leaping and a little flashbacking.