Menu
Aaron Morris
  • Publications by Aaron Morris
  • Best Financial Hacks
  • Loving the Law
  • All Articles
Aaron Morris

The Case of the Motorhome Snob — A Jurisdictional Tale

Posted on August 8, 2020March 17, 2022

This was a relatively small case, but it was particularly satisfying because we obtained a complete victory at a very low cost to the client.

Our client lived in Michigan and owned a very high-end motorhome that he wanted to sell.  This was no camper shell; it was a motor coach you might expect to see Willie Nelson using for tours.  Our client put it up for sale on the Internet, on a Michigan website, and it was soon seen by a prospective buyer in California. 

The buyer and our client corresponded many times by email, and eventually agreed on a price.  The buyer never traveled to Michigan to see the motor home, but our client had provided innumerable photos.  The buyer transferred the funds to our client for the purchase, and arranged for a shipping company to pick up the motor home in Michigan and deliver it to him in California.

Not the actual motorhome

The buyer was thrilled with what he received.  Over the next year, he sent repeated emails to our client, just to tell him how happy he was with the purchase. 

But then a problem developed.  Apparently there is a hierarchy in the high-end motor coach world, like you might find among those with private jets.  While giving a tour of the motor home to another owner, that person told the buyer that this wasn’t a “real” QR3, but rather was a QR2 with the upgraded kitchen option, giving the appearance that it was a QR3 (I’m just making up these model numbers).  And apparently in the motor coach world, owning a QR2 is looked down upon.

This was an outrage to the buyer.  He had seen the photos of the kitchen, and that was why he thought he was buying a QR3.  He never would have purchased a QR2.  Never mind that our client had never represented the motor home was a QR3, or that the buyer had never communicated that he had some special need for a QR3.  He argued that our client should have known that someone looking at the upgraded kitchen might think it was the QR3, and he should have warned our client that he was actually buying a QR2.

Utter nonsense, of course, but that did not prevent the buyer from serving our client with a summons for an action in Orange County Superior Court.  After using the motorhome for nearly two years, the buyer was claiming fraud and demanding the return of the entire purchase price.  The client contacted us, asking us to represent him in the action.  He was surprised when we asked only for a small retainer, but I suspected we could dispose of this action pretty quickly.

I brought a motion to quash the summons for lack of personal jurisdiction.  Such motions are tough to win, because jurisdiction is very broad.  Clearly our client had sold the vehicle to a resident of California, and under normal circumstances that could have subjected him to jurisdiction here.  But the key was method of delivery.  The buyer had arranged for delivery of the motor home.  If our client had shipped the vehicle to California, then likely there would have been jurisdiction because he would have been targeting this State.  But since the buyer had traveled to Michigan (through his shipping company) to make the purchase, our client had never directly targeted the state or “availed himself” of the laws of California.

The court agreed, and the case was dismissed.

[UPDATE:] Something made me think of this case, and I wondered if the plaintiff had ever tried again, this time back in Michigan where there would be no problem with jurisdiction. I had assumed the client would call if such was the case, but I wanted to confirm. He was happy to report that after we got the case dismissed in California, the plaintiff took no further action.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Contact Aaron Morris

Aaron Morris
Random Thoughts Publishing
Orchard Technology Park
11 Orchard Road, Suite 106
Lake Forest, CA 92630

(951) 339-1500
Email Aaron Morris

Useful Information?

Buy me coffee logo

From Best Financial Hacks

  • cash taxStop Wasting Money on the Cash Tax!
  • social securityThe Gonzo Guide to Social Security
  • How to Get FREE Audiobooks
  • side hustleThe Importance of a Side Gig and Why You Need to Know Your “Hourly Rate”
  • 35 percent offSave 35% On All Your Purchases!
  • woman with credit cardWhy You Need this Credit Card – Discover It Review
  • fly free to hawaiiHow to Fly FREE to Hawaii, First Class, Every Year, for the Rest of Your Life!
  • Woman with Credit CardThink Twice Before You “Upgrade” Your Credit Card
  • Instant GratificationWhy Instant Gratification can be Financially Savvy
  • 0% credit cards calculationsThe 0% Credit Card Strategy – Best Financial Hacks
  • spend points on amazonNever Spend Your Points on Amazon (or Cash Them Out)
  • Man with credit cardGame Changer — Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card Review
  • cash tax on laptop purchaseShove Your Financial Statistics; I Choose Not to Participate
  • fired woman with box9 Employment Myths that Will Bite You in the Butt

From Loving the Law

  • angry attorneyThe Case of the Posturing Attorney — Loving the Law
  • Putting the “Alternative” Back Into Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Botox partyYou Got Me in Trouble With the Law, so Now You Have to Pay
  • super heroes making the law betterMaking the Law Better, One Crazy Case at a Time
  • The Case of the Thin-Skinned Councilman — Loving the Law
  • Morris & Stone Wins $3.9 Million Defamation Judgment
  • lending moneyThe Case of the Man Who Needed Some Tough Love — Loving the Law
  • greedy businessmanThe Case of the Greedy Investor – Loving the Law
  • cease and desist letter through mail slotHow to Respond to a Cease and Desist Letter
  • Big lawyer over small lawyerBest Testimony of the Week
  • posturing attorneyPosturing Attorney Perils
  • You’ve Got to Know When to Hold Them, Know When to Fold Them
  • man in treeHow I Defeated an anti-SLAPP Motion by Doing Almost Nothing

Disclaimer

3D illustration of "DISCLAIMER" title on legal document

NOTICE PURSUANT TO BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS CODE SECTION 6158.3: This is not a legal site. In my “Loving the Law” series, I tell stories that illustrate why I enjoy practicing law. While I sometimes use my litigation victories as the basis for a story, the outcome of any case will depend on the facts specific to that case. Nothing contained in any portion of this web site should be taken as a representation of how your particular case would be concluded, or even that a case with similar facts will have a similar result. The result of any case discussed herein was dependent on the facts of that case, and the results will differ if based on different facts. And of course, nothing here should be taken as legal advice.

©2025 Aaron Morris | WordPress Theme by Superb WordPress Themes