Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Florida

Re: Jurisdiction in Collections

the venue, jurisdiction, and choice of laws clauses of the contract giving rise to the debt would, i agree, decide the issue and i would also assume such clauses exist in any commercial contract...and the contract could provide for almost any jurisdiction, from New York to the Virgin Islands. w/o such clauses, i would think it is arguable that florida's long-arm statute or the US constitution would allow that state to acquire personal jurisdiction of a citizen of GA. if a florida court couldnt acquire personal jurisdiction then the only venue left would be the debtor's county of residence in GA.

this would, however, only become an issue if an action was brought to enforce the contract in a court of law--an 'involuntary' collection. 3rd party collection agencies are essentially limited to 'voluntary' collection--collection w/o resorting to legal process--such as, for example, when they repeatedly call your home or work and attempt to shame you into paying the balance...this 'collection law', the methods collection agencies may or may not use is generally a matter of federal law: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (GOOGLE it and you will get more than enough information). it is also possible that the state laws of florida and/or georgia could provide the debtor better protection than does the federal law, in which case the collection agency would have to abide by them as well.

there is also the related issue of post-judgment remedies--attachment/garnishment, etc. as a general rule florida law is much more protective of the debtor than GA law, which is a pro-creditor state...pas

Re: Jurisdiction in Collections

Possibly neither. Look in the original contract and see what state laws are specified. If none was, then the answer is Florida.