Friendly Asked Questions
In many cases, we have clients who have never worked with a private process serving company or have questions about how the overall process works. This is where we present answers to some of the more common questions about making deliveries, what to do if no one answers, how Texas works specifically, sending legal documents to the local Harris Country jail, and so much more.
We want to give you all the information you need to make a well-informed decision about hiring a professional team of process servers like ours. We take great pride in our work and enjoy informing the public about our numerous services because they elevate our profession and make things easier for our communication in the long run.
Process servers are not allowed to break-in and/or enter a private property without permission in order to serve papers to a person. Again, they are required to follow all state and federal laws, even if they’re serving papers as part of a law enforcement job.
While you may be able to physically avoid a process server for a period of time, you‘re just delaying and dragging out your court case. Avoiding a process server makes a case take more time and more money; avoidance doesn’t make it go away completely.
If the named party in the documents cannot be found, the court may allow service by publication in a newspaper. Before this can happen, you are often asked to prove to the court that a server made a reasonable attempt to actually serve the defendant or the person named.
If you have not been properly served, and you don’t show up, the court has no personal jurisdiction over you, and can’t enter a judgment against you. … Then, a judge in a high-volume courtroom may think you were properly served, and enter a default judgment against you if you don’t show up.
Process servers do not usually call ahead of time since this gives people time to avoid being served court papers. A process server will never ask for any money. They do not collect money owed for divorce cases, child support, or any other legal reason (especially via a wire transfer)
Short answer yes. Longer answer: The process server is trying to serve you court documents and trying to locate you with the information on file.
Getting served just means that you have been given notice of a lawsuit, in this case by a debt collector. You are served if you are handed a copy of the summons and complaint or if a summons and complaint is given to someone “of suitable age and discretion” at your home. … But that does not mean the lawsuit is fake.
If a process server has gone through every other option for finding the person, service of process may be allowed through a published notice in a newspaper, magazine, or other local publication. … Some courts may ask that a secondary method like posting also used with service of process through the mail.
What Hours Can a Process Server Serve You? A process server can attempt to serve someone at any time of the day or night except on Sundays in Texas. He may ask the person being served to sign that he or she received the legal documents once served, but it isn’t necessary.
Answer YES! Regardless of whether this tactic gets the defendant to answer the door, process servers can gain valuable information from talking to neighbors.
Take Action Immediately: Contact Your Attorney
Do not ignore the summons and complaint. You must respond to the lawsuit and any delay can jeopardize your case. Upon being served, the defendant should promptly contact an attorney to schedule a meeting to discuss the situation.
Experienced and savvy process servers know to either take pictures of the defendant with the papers in their vicinity or use video to confirm the individual was actively refusing service to prove that Drop Service was necessary.
- Read the summos and make sure you know the date you must answer
- Read the complaint carefully. …
- Write your answer.
- Sign and date the answer.
- Make copies for the plaintiff and yourself.
- Mail a copy to the plaintiff. …
- File your answerwith the court by the date on the summons.
A Summons is an invitation to come to court. In some cases, the court will schedule a call or a video call for the first appearance instead.
In other cases, the court will ask that you file an appearance or an answer.
While a summons is an invitation for a person to appear in court, it is not an order.
If the individual does not wish to go to court and simply does not appear or answer the complaint, the judge can decide the case without him or her there.
In many cases, this results in a default judgment against the defendant.
A summons or subpoena is an official court document.
In fact, the term “subpoena” comes from the Latin for “under penalty.”
You must respond to a summons or a subpoena as required and by the deadline required.