Help, being sued in out of state small claims

[brychance]

My girlfriend has recently been filed against in a small claims court in Oregon. She lives in Dallas, Tx and I would like some advice after I lay out the facts:

In her divorce, she was awarded a boat and trailer. Her husband fled the state and in order to recover her property, hired a collection agency to help recover the boat. The collection agency, with the assistance of a local Oregon attorney, gained possession of the boat and it was agreed that it would be sold in Oregon and the proceeds split between the Attorney, collection agency and my girlfriend. Before the boat was put up for sale, the attorney suggested they have the boat serviced and inspected in good faith and this was done on 2/7/2004 which resulted in some minor repairs and cleanup. The boat was sold on 5/10/2004 with a signed bill of sale with the following wording:

"To buyer (buyers name), as-is, with no express, implied or other warranties of any kind whatsoever. Said boat and trailer are used and sold in as-is for the sum of…"

At which time the buyer took possession of the boat. On 5/21/2004, a letter from buyer was sent to the attorney wanting full refund of the purchase because of the following reason:

"Due to the misrepresentation of the mechanical condition of the vessel"

Apparently the buyer took the boat out and run it for a while, then claims it stopped running. On 8/26/2004 a certified letter was sent to my girlfriend demanding the amount for repairs on the boat. No contact was made with the buyer and on 10/11/2004, the buyer filed in small claims court, a suit against my girlfriend, her ex husband, the attorney and the boat inspection company. Yes, four groups at the same time. Mediation was done today, 12/13/04 and no agreement was reached.

Now my questions. Sorry for the long preamble, but I thought it best all the facts should be laid out first. Does she have to go to Oregon and appear in court? Can she send in an "answer" to the suit and say they have no jurisdiction to enter a valid judgment against her? Since this would also seem to be an open and shut case with the signed bill of sale, can she ask the court for a motion to dismiss or something? I'm just looking for the best course of action since she does not have the money or the ability to take time off work to fight this in court. Thanks so much for any help you can provide.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Typically this issue would be more complex to answer when you deal with a state court. I would highly doubt that an Oregon small claims court has jurisdiction over an out of state defendant. In local small claims courts in NY, the state is filled in as NY so you cannot even write an out of state address.

Typically in a higher state court, if you conducted a transaction in the state of Oregon and you were there and signed the transfer, you might be subject to "long arm jurisdiction" where the mailing process might work. Answering might not be the tactic to take and frequently when there is an open and shut case of lack of jurisdiction, there is a tendency not to answer and open a can of worms, especially if it may subject you to the jurisdiciton of the court by doing so.

Here is a page from the Oregon State Bar that might have direct answers on jurisdiction.

http://www.osbar.org/public/legalinfo/1061.htm

This page seems to state that, at least in Union County, Oregon, a small claims suit must be filed in the defendant's county in Oregon.

http://www.ojd.state.or.us/UNI/home.nsf/overview.htm?OpenPage&charset=windows-1252

Who Can Sue and Be Sued? Any individual, business, partnership, or corporation (with a couple of exceptions) may bring a small claims suit for recovery of money only for an amount up to $5,000. A small claims case must be filed in the County of the defendant's residence, or in the case of a traffic accident, the county where the accident occurred. The State of Oregon may not be sued in Small Claims Court. The filing fee for Small Claims is $42 if claim is $1,500 or less and $81 is claim is over $1,500.

This seems to be a list of the code for Oregon's Small Claims Courts.

http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/046.html

My girlfriend has recently been filed against in a small claims court in Oregon. She lives in Dallas, Tx and I would like some advice after I lay out the facts:

In her divorce, she was awarded a boat and trailer. Her husband fled the state and in order to recover her property, hired a collection agency to help recover the boat. The collection agency, with the assistance of a local Oregon attorney, gained possession of the boat and it was agreed that it would be sold in Oregon and the proceeds split between the Attorney, collection agency and my girlfriend. Before the boat was put up for sale, the attorney suggested they have the boat serviced and inspected in good faith and this was done on 2/7/2004 which resulted in some minor repairs and cleanup. The boat was sold on 5/10/2004 with a signed bill of sale with the following wording:

"To buyer (buyers name), as-is, with no express, implied or other warranties of any kind whatsoever. Said boat and trailer are used and sold in as-is for the sum of…"

At which time the buyer took possession of the boat. On 5/21/2004, a letter from buyer was sent to the attorney wanting full refund of the purchase because of the following reason:

"Due to the misrepresentation of the mechanical condition of the vessel"

Apparently the buyer took the boat out and run it for a while, then claims it stopped running. On 8/26/2004 a certified letter was sent to my girlfriend demanding the amount for repairs on the boat. No contact was made with the buyer and on 10/11/2004, the buyer filed in small claims court, a suit against my girlfriend, her ex husband, the attorney and the boat inspection company. Yes, four groups at the same time. Mediation was done today, 12/13/04 and no agreement was reached.

Now my questions. Sorry for the long preamble, but I thought it best all the facts should be laid out first. Does she have to go to Oregon and appear in court? Can she send in an "answer" to the suit and say they have no jurisdiction to enter a valid judgment against her? Since this would also seem to be an open and shut case with the signed bill of sale, can she ask the court for a motion to dismiss or something? I'm just looking for the best course of action since she does not have the money or the ability to take time off work to fight this in court. Thanks so much for any help you can provide.