Tips About Jurisdiction and Venue for Creditors Filing Suit Against Debtors

Are you a creditor suing one of your debtors who isn’t paying their bills?  Your letters and phone calls have gone unanswered and your only option is to file suit.  But where should you begin? Where do you file the paperwork.   We have some tips about jurisdiction and venue for creditors filing suit against debtors.

Jurisdiction

Quite simply, jurisdiction gives a court the power to hear and decide a particular case. You should know that there are limits to the legal authority of each court to hear and decide cases.

For most debtor/creditor cases, jurisdiction also relates to the amount of money at issue. For example, in the state of Maryland, the Maryland Circuit Court has jurisdiction for contract or tort claims exceeding $30,000.00, excluding interest and attorney’s fees. The Maryland District Court has jurisdiction over contract or tort claims not exceeding $30,000.00. You need to determine which court to file your paperwork in your state.

Venue

While jurisdiction tells you what court to file your lawsuit, venue tells you the county where you should file. Most times, venue is in the county where the person you are suing lives, does business or is employed. In the state of Maryland, if there are multiple defendants, you may file in the county where any of them could be sued. Again, you will need to determine the rules related to venue in your state.

We recommend to our clients that they include a jurisdictional and venue provision in their company’s credit application. If your company’s credit application includes a jurisdictional and venue provision, you may file suit in the county where you conduct your business, even though your customer may be located in a different city, county, or state.

Before you file papers, you need to be familiar with our tips about jurisdiction and venue for creditors filing suit against debtors. It may be beneficial to contact a law firm specializing in debt collection to help you file suit. Kind and Dashoff, LLC is a law firm and a licensed and bonded collection agency. In addition, they are experts at debt collection techniques and legal remedies in Maryland and Washington, DC. They work hard to collect the money that is owed to you.