Being Sued In Wrong State

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quuen

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Howdy all....its been a while....okay here goes...

Many, many, many years ago, about 8, I had a cell phone with AT&T. They did me wrong and sent me a bill for $600 dollars. I argued and argued and they didnt listen. What they had done was use my daytime minutes up before using my FREE nighttime minutes. Even when I made calls at night which should have been free, they wore out my daytime minutes. Anyhow, years later there was a class action lawsuit against them for this exact reason.

And of course, it goes without saying, a collection agency bought the debt from them. They have tried pursuing me with bills and threats for years. I ignored them.

They recently sent a summons to my old address in New York. I happen to come visit for a little while so I thought I would go in and answer the summons, hoping to once and for all get this taken care of. Needless to say I just got the postcard in the mail telling me to come in Dec. 29th, 2005.

I am supposed to be leaving on Dec. 18th, 2005 back to Florida, of which I have been a resident since 2004.

The clerk at the court said there is nothing he can do to change the date and that I need to hire a lawyer to represent me if I will not be able to make it in.

I of course do not want to end up with a judgment against me.

At the time of the service with AT&T I was a resident of New York. Being that I am a resident of the state of Florida now and the company suing me is located in New Jersey. Can they legally sue me in the city of New York? Does the court have any jurisdiction over me? Also, the since the debt is over 8 years old, isnt there some kind of statute of limitations?

Thanks for everything.....Erica

p.s. if i missed anything, please let me know!!!
 
quuen said:
Howdy all....its been a while....okay here goes...

Many, many, many years ago, about 8, I had a cell phone with AT&T. They did me wrong and sent me a bill for $600 dollars. I argued and argued and they didnt listen. What they had done was use my daytime minutes up before using my FREE nighttime minutes. Even when I made calls at night which should have been free, they wore out my daytime minutes. Anyhow, years later there was a class action lawsuit against them for this exact reason.

And of course, it goes without saying, a collection agency bought the debt from them. They have tried pursuing me with bills and threats for years. I ignored them.

They recently sent a summons to my old address in New York. I happen to come visit for a little while so I thought I would go in and answer the summons, hoping to once and for all get this taken care of. Needless to say I just got the postcard in the mail telling me to come in Dec. 29th, 2005.

I am supposed to be leaving on Dec. 18th, 2005 back to Florida, of which I have been a resident since 2004.

The clerk at the court said there is nothing he can do to change the date and that I need to hire a lawyer to represent me if I will not be able to make it in.

I of course do not want to end up with a judgment against me.

At the time of the service with AT&T I was a resident of New York. Being that I am a resident of the state of Florida now and the company suing me is located in New Jersey. Can they legally sue me in the city of New York? Does the court have any jurisdiction over me? Also, the since the debt is over 8 years old, isnt there some kind of statute of limitations?

Thanks for everything.....Erica

p.s. if i missed anything, please let me know!!!
Erica --

Sorry to hear about the problem you're having. I'm wondering whether your cell phone agreement states that they have a right to sue you in New York. In essence, this is called a "choice of forum" clause which many companies have -- take a look at all Microsoft agreements, where you agree to sue and be sued only in the state of Washington.

In other instances, suing in the wrong state results in an invalid judgment. In order for a court to hear a case the court needs to have jurisdiction over (1) the subject matter of the case, e.g. can't sue for defamation in probate court, (2) the person, e.g. a state court in NY has no jurisdiction to a person not within the confines of NY or who didn't otherwise make themselves subject to jurisdiction by conceding to it or through other means I won't discuss here for the moment.

What court is this in? Technically you should be able to make a "reply" but there are pros and cons to doing so, although one deals with a claim that you are not subject to the jurisdiction of the court that must be made with prudence. Again, explained later.

Did you ever send the collections agency a letter stating that the bill is not valid?
 
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