Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
Being sued by someone I,ve never sold anything to
recently I recieved a summons from someone claiming that I sold them a bad engine block. I alone am named as the defendant, yet I have never sold an engine to anyone, nor spoken to anyone about any engine. I did however, find out that a friend that stays on my property and uses my telephone at times, did sell an engine block, as is, did not warranty it, nor did the buyer want a receipt. he took possession of the engine, and paid my friend. I had no knowledge of any of this transaction until the plaintiff, a few days after buying the engine, started to leave threatening messages on my answering machine, even admitting that he did not know if my friend knew whether or not the engine was bad. yes, I have the recordings as evidence. What should I anticipate?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Being sued by someone I,ve never sold anything to
Mr. Drescher is right, of course, that you should be able to have the case dismissed if you are not the proper defendant. If this is a small claims suit, you might not need to do anything more than show up in court and present your defense (but read your summons carefully; for all I know, you might have to file a written response).
Things are more complicated if this is not a small claims matter. The court will not simply dismiss this matter on its own. You will have to answer the complaint (within the time period specified on the summons) and file a motion for dismissal. You may also have to go through some discovery along the way, or you can try to negotiate with the other side. If the amount at stake is high enough, you might want to hire a lawyer.
Re: Being sued by someone I,ve never sold anything to
to fully protect yourself you must file a cross-complaint against the roommate who did sell the engine.
Re: Being sued by someone I,ve never sold anything to
If things are as you represented in your posting, then the judge should dismiss the matter. The plaintiff must prove that YOU are the person who sold the engine block to him. So long as you do not run an engine block business out of your home and had no knowledge of the business affairs of the person staying at your house, the case should be dismissed.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
