Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: reimbursements for damage

I have no idea why you can't go to small claims court. Of course, if you get a judgment in CA, you will have to "domesticate" the judgment in AZ and spend a little more money to collect there, unless the former tenant maintains a bank account in CA.

Re: reimbursements for damage

From time to time, I hear stories like this about people receiving advice from small claims advisors that is just plain wrong. Unless the small claims advisor can provide you with a specific code section that addresses the issue, then you should be able to file your small claims action and have the case heard on the merits.

If you do get a judgment, collecting may be difficult. Judgments don't collect themselves and a California judgment can only be used to go after assets in California. The costs of registering the judgment in Arizona might not be worth the tiem and trouble, but you will probably need an attorney in Arizona to assist you.

Re: reimbursements for damage

in a nutshell, you have a jurisdictional issue that may not be easily remedied. meaning, a CA smalls claim court would have subject matter jurisdiction over your claim since the tort or contractual issue happened in CA. however, the CA small claims court would lack personal jurisdiction, meaning since the renter has since moved out of state, it is highly unlikely the CA court would allow you to "drag him/her back to court in CA now". this is a constitutional protection/defense that will probably defeat any attempt by you to have the case heard in CA small claims court, especially since individual defendants are not subject to the "minimum contacts" rule that out of state companies can be subject to in order to establish personal jurisdiction over the defendant. further, if you are somehow able to convince the CA small claims court to hear your case, despite the personal jurisdiction defense supra, it will be very difficult for you to enforce the judgment in arizona under "sister state" jurisdiction, unless the defendant does not protest or appeal such action. so, your best bet is to sue in arizona if at all possible/cost effective on your end. if you would like further assistance, contact us.