More and more frequently I speak to judgment creditors with a judgment issued by a state or country other than Florida. The process of registering that judgment in Florida is called domestication. Once domesticated, the foreign judgment is given full faith and credit and is enforceable by Florida courts to the same extent as a Florida judgment.

The issue that I notice more frequently is that some judgments issued by other state and foreign jurisdictions won’t meet the requirements of Florida law when it comes to the original jurisdiction of the court issuing the original judgment. Florida’s domestication or registration process recognizes the judgment debtor’s ability to contest the enforceability of the judgment at any time for lack of the original court’s jurisdiction.

Let me explain by example. Some states permit service of a defendant by certified mail. Florida doesn’t recogize this type of service as adequate individual or substitute service, except in very limited circumstances. Additionally, some states have laws (commonly referred to as long-arm statutes) that permit their residents to sue non-residents in their state, when the defendant would not otherwise be subject to the court’s jurisdiction.

As an illustration, an Arizona resident or business has a contract dispute with a Florida individual or corporation. The Florida individual or corporation does not have an office in Arizona nor has the Floridian ever done business in Arizona. If the agreement does not state where venue and jurisdiction is for any dispute between the parties, can an Arizonian sue the Floridian in an Arizona court? Perhaps Arizona law permits this; I am not a licensed Arizona attorney and do not know Arizona law. However, as soon as you bring your Arizona judgment to Florida to collect it, the judgment debtor will object that they were not subject to the jurisdiction of the Arizona courts. Florida law permits the judgment debtor in this example to raise this defense at any time. Now you, as the judgment creditor, have shown your cards in your collection attempt and you are barred from collection due to jurisdictional grounds. You are left with only one option. You must reinstitiute your suit in a Florida court in the jurisdiction where the debtor resides or has an office for the conduct of its business. This way you serve the defendant under Florida law and in the end, obtain a Florida judgment.

Read more about the domestication process in Florida

 Before you hire an attorney to help you bring your judgment to Florida, make sure they consult with you on the issue of the originating court’s jurisdiction. Make sure they have the experience in dealing with the nuiances of this area of practice. If you would like to the speak with an attorney about the collection of your judgment, please call.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011 at 5:36 am and is filed under Business Law, Collections. Both comments and pings are currently closed.