Legal Question in Construction Law in Mississippi
Business Collection
We had a contract with a customer that we installed granite for. We completed the job and now she will not pay the remaining balance. We live in different counties. Which county do we need to file suit in? The one where our business is or the county she lives in.
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Business Collection
The normal procedure in most cases is to file where the breach occurred. In this case it would be where the property is located. If she still refuses to pay you, file a mechanics lien on the property.
The best way would be to contact an attorney near you in Mississippi, who could assist you with this case.
Good luck!
Re: Business Collection
We can give you a free referral to a MS attorney in your area, if you don't find one here.
Re: Business Collection
You can usually do either, but your best bet is to start suit in the county in which the defendant is found.
Re: Business Collection
11-11-3.
(1) (a) (i) Civil actions of which the circuit court has original jurisdiction shall be commenced in the county where the defendant resides, or, if a corporation, in the county of its principal place of business, or in the county where a substantial alleged act or omission occurred or where a substantial event that caused the injury occurred.
....
(4) (a) If a court of this state, on written motion of a party, finds that in the interest of justice and for the convenience of the parties and witnesses a claim or action would be more properly heard in a forum outside this state or in a different county of proper venue within this state, the court shall decline to adjudicate the matter under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. .... As to a claim or action that would be more properly heard in a different county of proper venue within this state, the venue shall be transferred to the appropriate county. In determining whether to grant a motion to dismiss an action or to transfer venue under the doctrine of forum non conveniens, the court shall give consideration to the following factors:
(i) Relative ease of access to sources of proof;
(ii) Availability and cost of compulsory process for attendance of unwilling witnesses;
(iii) Possibility of viewing of the premises, if viewing would be appropriate to the action;
(iv) Unnecessary expense or trouble to the defendant not necessary to the plaintiff's own right to pursue his remedy;
(v) Administrative difficulties for the forum courts;
(vi) Existence of local interests in deciding the case at home; and
(vii) The traditional deference given to a plaintiff's choice of forum.
(b) A court may not dismiss a claim under this subsection until the defendant files with the court or with the clerk of the court a written stipulation that, with respect to a new action on the claim commenced by the plaintiff, all the defendants waive the right to assert a statute of limitations defense in all other states of the United States in which the claim was not barred by limitations at the time the claim was filed in this state as necessary to effect a tolling of the limitations periods in those states beginning on the date the claim was filed in this state and ending on the date the claim is dismissed.