Suing someone in TX (im in cali) for fraud..?

[trudat]

Hi,

I recently made an agreement with someone for a set of golf clubs through a golf forum. The set was for $600. After numerous emails, i agreed to send the guy a Money order to Midlothian TX, which is a suburb of Dallas. I am in Southern California.

I sent the money order via express mail the next day. He received it and said that he will send the clubs out right away.

I never received the clubs. After emailing back and forth numerous times, he agreed to make a claim on the clubs (he said he got insurance on them)..

a week later, i asked him about the status of the claim. he answered that he would just refund my money via money order and he would settle the claim on his end. i said thanks, and expected the money order.

i have not received the money order at all. I have tried contacting him, but he refuses to answer my phone calls, and doesnt answer his emails. I sent letters, which were not answered as well.

I had a money order inquiry sent, and received the response with a photocopy of both sides of the money order, including his endorsement. I also received a copy of the signiture for the express envelop i sent him with the original money order. I have since submitted a mail fraud compliant form, which i have yet to hear the results of.
i have detailed copies of all correspondence between us, including personal messages on the golf forum, and all emails. Also have copies of the money order, receipts, etc.

how can i sue this guy? what are the steps involved? If i have to travel to his state to sue him, can i sue him for the expenses as well (plane/hotel)? how about costs of pursuing the matter (like costs of money order/money order inquiry/time/etc)....i have a sister in dallas, tx.. can she sue him on my behalf? or can i transfer my authority to some in dallas or something?

Thanks in advance!

 

[trudat]

Anyone????

 

[NYClex]

Yes, you would most probably have to sue him in Texas, you have to sue where a court has jurisdiction over a person, and with private citizens that is in most cases only where they live.

You cannot have someone else file a claim for you unless that someone is an attorney. Normally, if there would be a trial, then you would have to show up even if you have retained an attorney. You would make a claim for your expenses except that attorney costs in most states cannot be claimed.
You could assign your rights to someone living in Texas and then that person could file a claim, but I would say this is something you should not attempt without legal consultation.

The easiest way usually is to sue in small claims court. Depending on the value of it all, have a look if Texas has a "small claims court" and what its rules are in the place where the defendant lives. If you cannot sue in small claims court you would have to bring a regular action, and for this you probably should retain an attorney.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Hi,

I recently made an agreement with someone for a set of golf clubs through a golf forum. The set was for $600. After numerous emails, i agreed to send the guy a Money order to Midlothian TX, which is a suburb of Dallas. I am in Southern California.

I sent the money order via express mail the next day. He received it and said that he will send the clubs out right away.

I never received the clubs. After emailing back and forth numerous times, he agreed to make a claim on the clubs (he said he got insurance on them)..

a week later, i asked him about the status of the claim. he answered that he would just refund my money via money order and he would settle the claim on his end. i said thanks, and expected the money order.

i have not received the money order at all. I have tried contacting him, but he refuses to answer my phone calls, and doesnt answer his emails. I sent letters, which were not answered as well.

I had a money order inquiry sent, and received the response with a photocopy of both sides of the money order, including his endorsement. I also received a copy of the signiture for the express envelop i sent him with the original money order. I have since submitted a mail fraud compliant form, which i have yet to hear the results of.
i have detailed copies of all correspondence between us, including personal messages on the golf forum, and all emails. Also have copies of the money order, receipts, etc.

how can i sue this guy? what are the steps involved? If i have to travel to his state to sue him, can i sue him for the expenses as well (plane/hotel)? how about costs of pursuing the matter (like costs of money order/money order inquiry/time/etc)....i have a sister in dallas, tx.. can she sue him on my behalf? or can i transfer my authority to some in dallas or something?

Thanks in advance!

In virtually every instance I have seen, small claims courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. This means they are set up for a very specific and limited purpose and usually cannot have much power outside the area within which the altercation took place or where the defendant lives, almost always the latter. If you look at a lot of small claims court forms, the state is always filled in.

There are numerous reasons for this and part of it makes sense. If you have a dispute with someone across the country for a $30 item, would it be right to require them to travel 3,000 miles to go to court? Unfortunately this sometimes has the effect of "insulating" small time defendants from liability but that is the price you pay if you choose to engage into transactions with people at long distance.

Check with your local small claims court to confirm the accuracy of what I'm telling you but I doubt it would be much different. I won't get into details such as "long arm jurisdiction" since it likely won't come into issue in this relatively small case. I wish you the best of luck.