Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Can I sue a Tx Incorporated Business In CA Small Claims Court?

I think the correct answer here is that you probably can't sue this Texas corporation or its owner in California small-claims court.

The reason is that, with two exceptions that don't apply here, the prospective small-claims defendant must be served in California. Sending service by certified mail is not permissible in small claims.

If the Texas corporation is qualified to do business in California, through registration with the California Secretary of State, then it must have an agent for the service of process in California. If so, you can serve the corporation in California by serving the agent. If there is no formally-designated agent, you could serve a local manager or other representative of the corporation in California. However, more likely than not, this is a small business and is not registered or otherwise represented in California, and hence can't be served.

Re: Can I sue a Tx Incorporated Business In CA Small Claims Court?

Sue all of them. However, you may have trouble serving them if they are out of state since you will either have to serve them by certified mail (which they can refuse), or personally (meaning someone will have to hand the complaint to them personally).

Re: Can I sue a Tx Incorporated Business In CA Small Claims Court?

You would need to take it to court where incorporated, i.e. TEXAS.

Re: Can I sue a Tx Incorporated Business In CA Small Claims Court?

No you cannot

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Joel Selik