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I am planiing to file in small claims court against Panasonic for
failing to meet it's warranty obligations on a consumer electronics
item. I live in Colorado. The registered agent for Panasonic in the
State is in a separate county than me. I have been told by both my
local and the Denver county clerk that I should file someplace else.
Beyond that they could not provide any rationale.
I need to decide if I have to file in
a) the county where I purchased the DVD player. (Garfield)
b) the county where I live. (Pitkin)
c) the county where the registered agent for Panasonic is located
(Denver)
Here are the relevant procedures from the handbook the court provides
(http://www.courts.state.co.us/exec/pubed/brochures/smallclaimsweb.pdf)
If you decide to go to court, the procedures for small claims are
simple, but they have to be followed.
Complaint
If you are bringing a claim, you will need a form called a
?Notice, Claim and Summons to Appear for Trial? (called a complaint).
The first section asks for information about the person bringing
the complaint, called the ?plaintiff.? Make sure to complete all of
the information that is asked for in the form, including your
telephone numbers.
The second section asks for information about the person(s) or
organization(s) you are suing, called the ?defendant.? Make sure that
you sue
the right person or organization. Also, make sure all of the names are
spelled correctly. For example, if you want to sue a corporation, you
write ?Jones Corporation? in the defendant section. If you want to sue
the corporation and one of its employees, you write ?Jones Corporation
and John Jones, individually.? If you don?t correctly name the right
party and you win, you may not be able to collect your judgment.
The third section requires you to name the ?registered agent? if
you are suing a corporation. If a corporation wants to do business in
Colorado, it must have a registered agent to receive legal papers,
such as the complaint. You can
find out who this person is by calling the Secretary of State. There
is no charge for the call or the information. You have to serve the
registered agent, or your case could be dismissed.
The third section also asks for further basic information about
the defendant, which is designed to make sure that the small claims
court has the authority to hear your case. If the defendant does not
live in, work in, or go to school at a college or other institution of
higher education in the county, you need to go to the small claims
court in the county where he or she does (the exceptions being
landlord/tenant and restrictive covenant claims).
Further from the Colorado Rules of Procedure for Small Claims Court
http://www.courts.state.co.us/exec/pubed/brochures/smallclaimsweb.pdf
Rule 503. Place of Action
(a) Where Brought, Generally. All actions in the small claims court
shall be brought in the county in which at the time of filing of the
claim any of the defendants resides, or is regularly employed, or has
an office for the transaction of business, or is a student at an
institution of higher education. In an action to enforce restrictive
covenants or arising from a landlord/tenant relationship, the action
may be brought in the county in which the subject real property is
located
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I am planiing to file in small claims court against Panasonic for
failing to meet it's warranty obligations on a consumer electronics
item. I live in Colorado. The registered agent for Panasonic in the
State is in a separate county than me. I have been told by both my
local and the Denver county clerk that I should file someplace else.
Beyond that they could not provide any rationale.
I need to decide if I have to file in
a) the county where I purchased the DVD player. (Garfield)
b) the county where I live. (Pitkin)
c) the county where the registered agent for Panasonic is located
(Denver)
I have never heard the term "registered agent" before! Is this some
sort of quirky Colorado thing? I always thought a company only needed
a headquarters in one state to operate in all 50 states. (I believe
Panasonic's US HQ is in Secaucus, NJ, by the way, which is in Hudson
County.)
The first thing to do is examine the fine print on your warranty
paperwork. It might contain language stating what should happen in
the case of a dispute like this. The second thing to do is talk to the
retailer. The third thing to do is talk to the county clerk in the
county where you bought the item. He or she might tell you the same
thing the clerks in Pitkin and Denver told you, however, i.e. go away
and file somewhere else ...)
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[snip]
I have never heard the term "registered agent" before! Is this some
sort of quirky Colorado thing? I always thought a company only needed
a headquarters in one state to operate in all 50 states. (I believe
Panasonic's US HQ is in Secaucus, NJ, by the way, which is in Hudson
County.)
A "registered agent" is a very common requirement. When a "foreign
corporation" (one domiciled in another state) does business in a
state, it is required to do several things, one of which is to engage
a "registered agent for service of process". Papers in legal
proceedings involving the company in that state may then be served --
within the state, and without the complications of interstate service
-- on the registered agent.
Without registered agents, it would be an excessive burden on, say, a
California plaintiff to sue, say, a Delaware or Cayman Islands
corporation that operates in California.
--
Not a lawyer,
Chris Green
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