Owed Money by an Overseas Supplier? Here Is How Florida Courts Can Help

Can I sue a foreign supplier in Florida? Sometimes, yes. A Florida court can hear your claim when the supplier has enough connection to Florida and the case can be served on it properly. The answer turns on the contract, the supplier’s contacts with Florida, and whether the judgment can be collected. This guide covers those questions in order. Ayala Law PA focuses on business litigation, including contract disputes and international trade litigation. Eduardo A. Maura is the lawyer responsible for this page. Our office is in Tampa, at 1646 W Snow Ave, and we handle commercial and construction matters for businesses in Tampa, Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay area.

Short Answer: Can You Sue a Foreign Supplier in a Florida Court?

A Florida court can sometimes hear a claim against a company located abroad. The supplier must have enough connection to Florida, and it must be served correctly. Florida’s long-arm statute applies to a person “whether or not a citizen or resident of this state.” A company abroad can therefore be sued here for a cause of action arising from one of the listed activities. Service is a separate step. Florida’s long-arm statute, § 48.193, provides that a person subject to the jurisdiction of Florida courts under that section may be served with process by personally serving the defendant outside Florida, as provided in s. 48.194, and that this service has the same effect as if it had been personally served within the state. Serving a company abroad takes planning, so start early. For a broader view, read our cross-border business disputes page.

Does the Contract’s Forum Selection Clause Decide Where You Can Sue?

A forum selection clause often decides where a case can start, if the clause is enforceable. It may name a Florida court, a court in another country, or arbitration. A clause naming a Florida court supports filing here. A clause naming courts abroad or arbitration can send the dispute somewhere else.

Arbitration clauses get special treatment. A written agreement to arbitrate in a maritime transaction or a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce is generally valid, irrevocable, and enforceable under 9 U.S.C. § 2, except on grounds that exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract or as otherwise provided in chapter 4. Florida’s arbitration statute says the court decides whether an agreement to arbitrate exists. So an arbitration clause can become the first fight in the case.

Choice of law, meaning which country’s or state’s law applies, is a separate term. It can change the rules that decide the claim. Before you send a demand or file anything, read the dispute resolution and governing-law sections. Check the exact wording in the signed contract, not a summary.

Where the Goods Were Delivered and Other Florida Contacts

Under § 48.193(1)(a)1, a person, whether or not a citizen or resident of Florida, who operates, conducts, engages in, or carries on a business or business venture in Florida, or has an office or agency in Florida, submits to the jurisdiction of Florida courts for any cause of action arising from those acts. The same statute also reaches a company that breaches a contract by failing to perform acts the contract requires in Florida.

Delivery is often a key fact. If the contract required the supplier to deliver goods in Florida, a failure to do so can tie the claim to Florida. Payment terms and messages to a Florida buyer can also show whether the supplier reached into the state. Under § 48.193(2), a defendant engaged in “substantial and not isolated activity” in Florida is subject to Florida jurisdiction, even if the claim does not come from that activity.

Venue is a separate question. The venue statute, § 47.011, says actions shall be brought only in the county where the defendant resides, where the cause of action accrued, or where the property in litigation is located. It also says that section does not apply to actions against nonresidents. Same facts can help or hurt your claim, so the outcome depends on the facts of each case.

Identifying the Right Foreign Defendant

Sue the company that made the promise. That is usually the legal entity named in the contract or the invoices. A sales representative’s name or a trade name is not the company that owes you money. Check the exact legal name, the country where the company is organized, and whether it has a Florida subsidiary, distributor or agent.

Naming the wrong entity can cause delay and extra cost. Pull the seller’s name from the purchase order, the signed agreement, the invoice and the shipping papers. If the names don’t match, write down the differences before you file. Then confirm the details against public records in the company’s home country.

Serving a Foreign Supplier Under the Hague Service Convention

Other countries use their own rules. Confirm the method for your supplier’s country before you rely on a timeline.

Translation can add time and cost, since foreign courts and companies often need documents in their own language. Plan for that when you set expectations with your team.

Can the Foreign Supplier Actually Pay a Judgment?

A court win does not put money in your account by itself. Collection depends on what the supplier owns and where those assets sit. Under § 56.061, Florida makes lands and tenements, goods and chattels, equities of redemption in real and personal property, and stock in corporations subject to levy and sale under execution. In plain terms, certain property can be seized and sold to pay a judgment.

Ask early where the money is. Does the supplier have a Florida bank account, a U.S. customer that owes it payment, inventory in the United States, or a Florida subsidiary? Enforcement in the supplier’s home country is a separate question, and those rules may differ from Florida’s. Judgments also carry interest. Under § 55.03, a rate set in a written contract is not affected by the statutory rate.

How Long Do You Have to File?

Under § 95.11, an action on a judgment or decree of a court of record in this state must be commenced within twenty years. Date each late payment, missed delivery and breach as it happens.

A contract cannot cut that period short. Under § 95.03, a contract provision setting a shorter time to sue is void.

Buyers face a separate trap. Under § 672.607(3)(a), where a tender has been accepted, a buyer must, within a reasonable time after he or she discovers or should have discovered any breach, notify the seller of breach or be barred from any remedy. Otherwise the buyer may be barred from any remedy. Keep written proof of every notice you send. Delay also makes evidence harder to find.

Costs, Fee Recovery, and Next Steps

Fee recovery is not automatic. Under § 57.105(7), if a contract contains a provision allowing attorney’s fees to a party when he or she is required to take any action to enforce the contract, the court may also allow reasonable attorney’s fees to the other party when that party prevails in any action with respect to the contract. Read the contract for that clause before you assume fees will shift.

Costs in a supplier case can include court filing fees, process server and foreign service charges, document translation, and attorney time. Sellers have their own remedy. Under § 672.709(1), a seller may recover the price of goods the buyer accepted when the buyer fails to pay as it becomes due.

Before you speak with a lawyer, gather the contract, purchase orders, invoices, shipping records and emails in one folder. Write down the dates of each delivery, payment and notice. Note the supplier’s exact legal name and address.

If a foreign supplier took your payment or shipped goods and then stopped responding, you may have a claim worth reviewing. Our team can walk through the forum, service and collection questions with you. Call (305) 570-2208 or use our contact form.