How to collect an out-of-state debt?
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How to collect an out-of-state debt?
Our NC company sold $8,000 in goods to a business in SC and have not been paid for over 1 year. Our inter-company collection efforts have not been successful. How can we go about suing for the debt? Is is possible to do this on-line in SC? Do we need to hire a lawyer to handle this who is from SC?
Asked on March 7, 2011 under Bankruptcy Law, North Carolina
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
A lawsuit can be filed where the plaintiff resides (NC) or where the defendant resides (SC) or where the claim arose.
You could file your lawsuit in NC and have a process server in SC serve the SC business. For convenience such as court filings and court appearances, it would be preferable to file your lawsuit in NC. Your lawsuit would be for breach of contract. Specifically, your lawsuit would be based on an open book account (the amount owed). Your company's damages (the amount of compensation you are seeking to recover in the lawsuit) would be $8,000 plus interest plus court costs. Court costs would include the court filing fee and process server fee. You could retain an NC attorney and as mentioned above file the lawsuit in NC.
You would need to check with the court clerk to find out whether or not the court allows documents to be filed on-line. However, if you file in NC instead of SC, going to the NC courthouse to file the documents in person would be an acceptable solution.
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