Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Small claims jurisdiction

Your question does not provide enough facts. Mr. Shers may be right, but I think he has made some factual assumptions. If those assumptions are incorrect then his answer may be as well.

Re: Small claims jurisdiction

It is jurisdiction [does the court have control over the person or object] and not vnue [having jurisdiction, is this court site less suited for the case than another]. An Arizona court has no jurisdiction over someone living in another state. If the account was in Arizona, the court would have control over that.

I would contact the plaintiffs and point out that no proper service has occurred because of the lack of jurisdiction and they should dismiss the suit. If they are not willing to do so, write a short note to the court pointing out that you will not be appearing as you are a California resident who did nothing in Arizona and do no business there, so there are no minimum contacts you have to allow jurisdiction to happen. Ask for the case to be dismissed; tell the Court that plaintiff would not do so they should be sanctioned for wasting the court and staffs resources and time. Also, are they entitled to attorney fees; normally not unless in contract.