CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals found that a circuit court did not err when it found that West Virginia was obligated to give "full faith and credit" to a New Jersey judgment against a man who was living in West Virginia at the time of the lawsuit.
Blake V. Burr appealed an order of Kanawha Circuit Court from Feb. 7, 2019, that granted Discover Bank’s motion to dismiss and dened as moot Burr’s motion for partial summary judgment.
Burr filed a complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court in October 2016. He alleged Discover Bank violated of the West Virginia Consumer Credit Protection Act and committed acts of negligence, invasion of privacy and unjust enrichment arising from communications sent to him after a default judgment against him in a collection action in New Jersey in 2016.
Burr was a longtime New Jersey resident who was residing in West Virginia when Discover sued him in New Jersey.
At a pretrial hearing conducted in the West Virginia action in November 2017, the court ordered the parties to submit briefs on the question of whether Burr’s West Virginia complaint was precluded by the New Jersey judgment.
A bench trial was scheduled for January 2019, and the parties were advised that the circuit court would dismiss Burr’s complaint. The circuit court’s order entered the following month, concluded that Burr had availed himself of the New Jersey forum, and the West Virginia court was obligated to give full faith and credit to the New Jersey judgment.
"In this case, we are asked to consider the deference due a default judgment entered in the State of New Jersey in light of Mr. Burr’s allegations that Discover engaged in prohibited acts and practices in the collection of debt from Mr. Burr in West Virginia," the court wrote. "We agree with Mr. Burr that the judgment of a sister jurisdiction is subject to attack on jurisdictional grounds."
The court, however, disagreed with Burr’s contention that the circuit court misapplied the collateral attack doctrine by finding it inapplicable.
"Rather, the circuit court gave Mr. Burr the opportunity to establish New Jersey’s lack of personal jurisdiction...but specifically found that Mr. Burr availed himself of the New Jersey forum and he was subject to personal jurisdiction in that state, notwithstanding his temporary living arrangement in West Virginia," the court wrote.
The court found no error with the circuit court's findings of fact and affirmed the ruling.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number: 19-0195