Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Either state. Probably better where the defendant lives.

You would have to sue where you loaned the money. Generally you could also sue where the defendant lives. The defendant is the person being sued. I do not agree with Mr. Marman that you can sue in your state also. Unless the defendant now lives in your state or you have a written agreement that you could sue in your state, your state courts have no jurisdiction over the defendant. Jurisdiction means power or right to decide the dispute. Otherwise, someone who lends money in Hawaii and moves to Vermont could sue in Vermont and force the defendant to go to court in Vermont. You could then easily win by making it too difficult for the defendant to answer the complaint and go to court. Credit card companies write in their contracts that they can sue in the state where they have their lawyers or headquarters. However, consumer protection laws limit the validity of such designation of places to sue outside the state where the defendant lives.