How to Sue a Sole Proprietorship
The sole proprietorship is the most basic business entity. Unlike a corporation, it is not registered with a state and does not provide protection from liability. This means the debts of the sole proprietorship can be enforced against the owner's personal property. Freelance artists and contract craftspeople often are unincorporated sole proprietors.
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Instructions
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Get the name of the business owner and their place of business. The owner of a sole proprietorship and the business are essentially the same, and often there is not even a distinct entity in name. To sue effectively, you will need to know the name of the business owner (whose personal assets can be attached for business debts) and their principal place of business (which can determine the jurisdiction of the suit).
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Check the state limits on small claims. Review the laws of your state, through the website of your local state court, to find the limits on small claims. Every state has a small claims court system with a unique cap on the size and nature of claims. Sole proprietorships tend to be small businesses, and therefore claims against them can often proceed in small claims court.
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File a complaint against the owner if they are responsible, or the business if it was an employee. In your suit, your named defendant should be the owner of the sole proprietorship if they are directly responsible for your damages. But if it was an employee of the business acting within the scope of their employment, the named defendant should be the business. File the complaint in the county where the owner is based or, if this is inconvenient, where the events giving rise to the claim occurred.
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Serve process on the individual. Whether you file your claim in small claims or the county civil court, you will have to serve the complaint and summons on the business owner. Ideally this should occur at their place of business, but can also occur at their residence. You can usually either hire the county sheriff or a private process server for this task, though some states allow you to use a friend as long as they are not named in the suit.
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Tips & Warnings
The small claims complaint is usually a one or two page form that can be filled in with the basic facts of the dispute. It might be helpful to consult an attorney to help draft your complaint if your claim exceed the state limits on small claims, since it will involve a more intimate awareness of the relevant law. If you are successful in your suit, you will receive a judgment against the business that can be enforced against the individual business owner's personal property.
