If a defendant is not a registered company?

[JK27]

If the defendant is not a registered company in the town in which they reside and is not an LLC or INC, how would this effect my claim against this company? I filed a small claim against a company who did work on my house and called to find out the town clerk as well as the city to get this information. Turns out they are not registered anywhere. Does this mean this company is not insured?

[PattiP]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

Then sue the individuals involved personally.

And let them explain in court why they are not legally formed or registered.
IF they even show up.

[adjusterjack]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

Turns out they are not registered anywhere. Does this mean this company is not insured?

Not necessarily. Sole proprietors buy insurance. But whether they have insurance or don't have insurance has nothing to do with the merits of your case.

Neither does whether or not they are registered anywhere. That's between them and the state.

If the company is a sole proprietorship you sue Joe Blow DBA Whatever.

Of course, if Joe Blow is fly by night you might find it easy to get a judgment and still never see a nickel.

I'm guessing you didn't check him out before hiring him.

[Unregistered]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

If they are not properly registerd as a company or the registration has lapsed, then the individuals involved can be sued and held liable.

[LJJ]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

Then sue the individuals involved personally.

And let them explain in court why they are not legally formed or registered.
IF they even show up.

I agree 100%, sue the individuals and let them explain to the court why they should have corporate status and why they should not be personally liable.

[Unregistered]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

Not necessarily. Sole proprietors buy insurance. But whether they have insurance or don't have insurance has nothing to do with the merits of your case.

Neither does whether or not they are registered anywhere. That's between them and the state.

If the company is a sole proprietorship you sue Joe Blow DBA Whatever.

Of course, if Joe Blow is fly by night you might find it easy to get a judgment and still never see a nickel.

I'm guessing you didn't check him out before hiring him.

I always add the individuals in my filings because often the sole proprietorships dont do everything correctly and then the option is to collect from the person, not the defunct legal entity he or she formed.

[Wenton2]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

If the defendant is not a registered company in the town in which they reside and is not an LLC or INC, how would this effect my claim against this company? I filed a small claim against a company who did work on my house and called to find out the town clerk as well as the city to get this information. Turns out they are not registered anywhere. Does this mean this company is not insured?

Sue them in small claims and name every name you have that they used with you, and name the individuals as posters noted above. The persons may even face fraud charges if they willfully and purposely misrepresented their status.

[Lexus]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

Regardless of their registration you can claim them for damages together with allegations of fraud and misrepresentation. In such a situation they will be forced to show facts in order to justify their activities.

[Unregistered]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

Then sue the individuals involved personally.

And let them explain in court why they are not legally formed or registered.
IF they even show up.

I faced the same and i sued every person i any way involved in their individual capacity.

The "owner", the workers the receptionist.

And the case settled in 6 days.

[Unregistered]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

If the defendant is not a registered company in the town in which they reside and is not an LLC or INC, how would this effect my claim against this company? I filed a small claim against a company who did work on my house and called to find out the town clerk as well as the city to get this information. Turns out they are not registered anywhere. Does this mean this company is not insured?

You may then have a deceptive trade practices claim against the person as well.
File a complaint with your state attorney general's office!

[Unregistered]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

You may then have a deceptive trade practices claim against the person as well.
File a complaint with your state attorney general's office!

The AGs office IS a good place to start. Businesses are generally loathe to tick off the AGs office. In my experience.

[Unregistered]

Re: If a defendant is not a registered company?

Very helpful discussion BTW. It solved my problem right ON POINT!!
Thank you all!!