Opinion ID: 6108933
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Money Transfers to a Texas Resident

Text: Old Republic asserts that Goldsmith directed money transfers to a Texas resident, knowing that the funds were going to a Texas resident and a bank account that was based in Texas. 3 Goldsmith responds that she sat at a computer in Louisiana and paid Bell's debts and made some online transfers to Bell's bank account. She argues that the contact is even more attenuated because Bell's bank, Bank of America, is a Delaware corporation with its headquarters in North Carolina.  Again, we look only to Goldsmith's contacts with the state of Texas, taking care not to turn a jurisdictional inquiry into an analysis of the underlying merits. See Searcy , 496 S.W.3d at 70 . Generally, money sent to the forum state is not determinative in establishing that a defendant purposefully availed itself of Texas's jurisdiction. E.g. , Alenia Spazio, S.p.A. , 130 S.W.3d at 213 ; Shell Compañia Argentina de Petroleo, S.A. v. Reef Expl., Inc. , 84 S.W.3d 830 , 839 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, pet. denied). Our analysis of this case might be different if the defendant were a corporate lender distributing funds to Texas residents with the expectation of collecting interest. See Moncrief Oil Int'l Inc. , 414 S.W.3d at 151 (articulating the benefit, advantage or profit requirement); Searcy , 496 S.W.3d at 77 (holding that a connection between a resident and a nonresident was not random, fortuitous, or attenuated-and therefore was sufficient to establish purposeful availment-when such connection was part of a general plan to use the Texas forum to make money). However, what appears to be, in this case, a series of no-interest loans between friends fails to meet the requirement that a defendant seek to benefit from its contacts with the state, which is necessary to establish purposeful availment. See Moncrief Oil Int'l Inc. , 414 S.W.3d at 151 . Of course, Old Republic argues that the transfers were not so innocent in nature, but were instead part of a multi-year asset-shielding scheme. We recognize that a state has a special interest in exercising jurisdiction over those who commit torts within its territory. E.g. , Moncrief Oil Int'l Inc. , 414 S.W.3d at 152 . However, that interest cannot and must not displace the purposeful-availment inquiry, and the mere allegation that a nonresident directed a tort from outside the forum against a resident is insufficient to establish personal jurisdiction. Id. (citing Michiana , 168 S.W.3d at 790-91 ). As we have explained, we may not determine the underlying merits in order to answer the jurisdictional question. Searcy , 496 S.W.3d at 70 ; Michiana Easy Livin' Country, Inc. , 168 S.W.3d at 790 . Therefore, whether the transfers were no-interest loans or were in fact part of an elaborate conspiracy to defraud Bell's creditors, we limit our inquiry to Goldsmith's contacts with the state of Texas. We hold that the electronic transfer of money from Goldsmith's bank account to Bell's bank account-even when Goldsmith knew that Bell was a Texas resident-does not rise to the level of purposeful availment of the forum.