Scordato v. Dyess

73 Pa. D. & C.4th 360, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 27
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Centre County
DecidedJuly 28, 2005
Docketno. 2005-922
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 73 Pa. D. & C.4th 360 (Scordato v. Dyess) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Centre County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scordato v. Dyess, 73 Pa. D. & C.4th 360, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 27 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2005).

Opinion

GRINE, J.,

Before this court for consideration are the preliminary objections of defendant [362]*362Adam P. Dyess of Sterling Wholesale Unlimited to plaintiff Thomas Scordato’s complaint. Defendant objects to plaintiff’s complaint on the grounds that this court lacks the necessary personal jurisdiction to continue this action in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and, alternatively, that Centre County Pennsylvania is not the proper V'enue for this action. Both plaintiff and defendant submitted written briefs in support of their respective positions, which this court has reviewed. This court finds that it does not have personal jurisdiction over the defendant and, accordingly, sustains defendant’s preliminary objection as to personal jurisdiction. Because this court finds it lacks personal jurisdiction, defendant’s preliminary objection as to venue need not be addressed.

PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION

Plaintiff is a resident of Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Defendant has at all times relevant to the present action been a resident of Nevada.

Plaintiff filed his complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of Centre County Pennsylvania following the purchase of a 1981 Mercedes-Benz 240D automobile. Plaintiff purchased the automobile from defendant via an online auction conducted through eBay. Plaintiff’s complaint ¶1. After viewing the posting, plaintiff contacted defendant to inquire about the mileage listed in the auction advertisement. Id. Defendant assured plaintiff the mileage listed as 71,825 miles was accurate. Id. Plaintiff subsequently purchased the vehicle from defendant based on defendant’s representation that the mileage was accurate. Id.

[363]*363The automobile in question was in defendant’s possession in the state of Nevada at the time of sale. Plaintiff mailed his payment for the automobile to defendant in Nevada via Federal Express and also arranged to have the vehicle shipped from Nevada to Pennsylvania through another carrier. The vehicle arrived in Lamar, Pennsylvania, after which plaintiff drove the vehicle to his home in Bellefonte. Id. at ¶2.

From the time he took physical possession of the automobile, plaintiff began to suspect that the car was not in as good of a condition as defendant represented. Id. at ¶4. Before the vehicle could be driven from Lamar it first had to be jump-started. Id. Additionally, the alternator light was on indicating the alternator was faulty. Id. Finally, upon reaching his residence, plaintiff examined the documentation for the vehicle located in the glove box. The original service maintenance booklet indicated that in 1987 the mileage of the car was 75,817. Id. at ¶6. Plaintiff also contacted the previous owners of the vehicle and learned at the time the vehicle was traded in, it had over 250,000 miles on it. Id. at ¶8. Upon learning that defendant had provided false information to plaintiff, plaintiff filed the now-contested complaint in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas.

DISCUSSION

Defendant contends that Pennsylvania does not have personal jurisdiction, general or specific, over him. Defendant has at all times relevant to the present action been a resident of Nevada. Additionally, the vehicle at the center of this suit was in the state of Nevada until plaintiff [364]*364made arrangements to ship the vehicle from Nevada to Pennsylvania.

This court must first remark that finding no personal jurisdiction over defendant would result in the dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint, as such defendant’s preliminary objections should be sustained only if it is quite clear that no jurisdiction exists. Hall-Woolford Tank Co. Inc. v. R.F. Kilns Inc., 698 A.2d 80, 82 (1997), citing King v. Detroit Tool Co., 452 Pa. Super. 334, 682 A.2d 313 (1996). Additionally, the burden of establishing no jurisdiction exists rests on defendant, thus this court must examine the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiff. Id.

“General jurisdiction is founded upon a defendant’s general activities within the forum which evidence continuous and systematic contacts with the state.” Id. at 82. On the other hand, “[sjpecific jurisdiction... is focused upon the particular acts of the defendant which gave rise to the underlying cause of action.” Id.

It is quite clear to this court; that it lacks general jurisdiction over the defendant The defendant was, and continues to be, a resident of the state of Nevada. Plaintiff has not alleged in his complaint that defendant’s sale of this particular automobile was part of a continuous and systematic contact with the state of Pennsylvania. Plaintiff has not alleged that defendant regularly sells automobiles to Pennsylvania nor that defendant ever traveled to Pennsylvania in order sell a vehicle, much less the one at issue in the present case.

Finding no general jurisdiction over the defendant, this court must look to whether defendant’s particular actions in this instance are sufficient for this court to assert spe[365]*365cific jurisdiction over him, which can only be done through Pennsylvania’s long-arm statute. In order to meet the constitutional requirement necessary to assert personal jurisdiction under the long-arm statute, “a defendant’s contacts with the forum state must be such that the defendant could reasonably anticipate being called to defend itself in the forum.” Id. (citations omitted) “Random, fortuitous and attenuated contacts cannot reasonably notify a party that it may be called to defend itself in a foreign forum . . . the defendant must have purposefully directed its activities to the forum and conducted itself in a manner indicating that it has availed itself of the forum’s privileges and benefits such that it should also be subject to the forum state’s laws and regulations.” Id. at 82-83. (citations omitted)

Again, defendant insists Pennsylvania lacks jurisdiction over him as he has never had any substantial, meaningful contact with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Defendant never traveled to Pennsylvania in order to complete this sales transaction. On the contrary, defendant notes, and plaintiff admits, that plaintiff made the initial contact regarding the sale of this automobile. Plaintiff’s complaint ¶1. Plaintiff mailed payment to defendant in Nevada and arranged for the vehicle to be shipped from Nevada to Pennsylvania. The only contact defendant has ever had with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as alleged by plaintiff is his contact with plaintiff concerning the sale of this automobile. However, as defendant notes, an individual’s contract with an out-of-state party alone cannot automatically establish sufficient minimum contacts [with] the other party’s home forum.” Hall-Woolford, 698 A.2d at 83, citing Kubik v. Letteri, [366]*366532 Pa. 10, 18, 614 A.2d 1110, 1114 (1992). (emphasis in original)

In support of his objections to jurisdiction, defendant directs this court’s attention to factual similarities between this case and the case of Hall-Woolford Tank Co. Inc. cited supra. In Hall-Woolford, plaintiff was a manufacturer of wooden tanks and fermenters.

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Bluebook (online)
73 Pa. D. & C.4th 360, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 27, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scordato-v-dyess-pactcomplcentre-2005.