Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

Filing a warrant in debt versus a Virginia LLC with a Maryland personal guaranto

My commerical tenant has not paid his rent fro the last 5 months. I am filing a Warrant in Debt in General District Court. The commercail lease contract is with a Virginia registered LLC but the owner of the business is a resident of the state of Maryland. The owner also personally guaranteed the contract between the LLC and myself.

Question: How should I name the defendant in the Warrant in Debt? Joe Smith d/b/a XYZ,LLC

or XYX, LLC

or Joe Smith?

If I name the LLC as defendant, how can I get a General District Court in Virginia to enforce a judgement against the guarantor, in this case a resident of Maryland?


Asked on 7/08/02, 2:29 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Filing a warrant in debt versus a Virginia LLC with a Maryland personal guar

You name both the Maryland owner as well as the LLC, as in your first proposed designation

of defendants.

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Answered on 7/08/02, 4:31 pm
Bruce Marshall Durrette, Irvin & Bradshaw, P.L.C.

Re: Filing a warrant in debt versus a Virginia LLC with a Maryland personal guar

Sue the LLC, having its registered agent served. In the same suit sue the individual guarantor personally, and have the Secretary of the Commonweath served as that individual's statutory registered agent, under the Virginia long arm statute. Do this in the Court in which the real estate is located. Hopefully, the Clerk of the Court will explain to you how all this is done.

Once you have obtained a judgment, and it becomes final, you can have it domesticated in Maryland and enforce it there.

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Answered on 7/08/02, 5:09 pm
Daniel Press Chung & Press, P.C.

Re: Filing a warrant in debt versus a Virginia LLC with a Maryland personal guar

The guarantor is subject to suit in VA for guaranteeing a VA lease (as well as probably for working in VA). So you can sue both. Name them as XYZ, LLC and John Doe as separate defendants. Note that if this is a Landlord/Tenant matter and the tenant is still in the space, you can file an Unlawful Detainer, rather than a Warrant in Debt, to get the tenant evicted and recover a money judgment. Note that the jurisdiction of the General District Court is limited to $15,000 for money-only cases, but unlimited in cases of unlawful detainer.

We regularly handle commercial Landlord/Tenant matters in Fairfax and other Northern VA jurisdictions, so feel free to contact me if you decide that you need legal assistance on this.

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Answered on 7/08/02, 5:42 pm


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