Server claims I am avoiding being served and can be arrested

[BigJohn]

A server has been trying to serve me. I haven't been avoiding him but according to what those in my stores said, they claim the server, pointing his finger into their faces, claim I am avoiding being served and that I can be arrested for that. One person in the store told him he has to be polite and he said he doesn't have to.

Sounds like scare tactics on his part but is there any substance to what he said?

[HHM]

Yes, at some point it is possible, some states have provisions for a warrant to be issued if the plaintiff can prove you are intentionally avoiding service. Its rare (and I am not sure many states still have a provision for this), because after several failed attempts, they can simply serve you by publication.

[AngelinaCat]

A server has been trying to serve me. I haven't been avoiding him but according to what those in my stores said, they claim the server, pointing his finger into their faces, claim I am avoiding being served and that I can be arrested for that. One person in the store told him he has to be polite and he said he doesn't have to.

Sounds like scare tactics on his part but is there any substance to what he said?

Big John: It's all bluff. Yes, they can harass your co-workers, family members, and all that.

However, that being said, there are procedures that the process servers must follow. No one is obligated to take the subpeona for you. Nor can they be intimidated into it. Nor in some states, like Florida, can summons be issued on Sundays. Any abuse of this can be reported to the State's Attorney's office.

If the case is State Civil, the spouse or family member age 18 or older can be required to take the subpeona, if they are caught at the door to your domicile. They are NOT required to take it if the process server encounters them away from your home. Your co-workers are not required to take it. Nor is a non-related roommate that you might have sharing your apartment.

NOW, if the case is FEDERAL, YOU must be served personally. No surrogate, such as spouse or family member will do. Nor can the summons be left on your car's windshield, or thrown on the ground in front of your spouse, as is what happened with 'Hub and I. Nor can this be done in the State Civil, either.

Our very best wishes go forth~~~

[treehugger1]

My state allows service by return receipt mail in addition to service by publication. I think publication service has to be done on at least one day in each of 4 consecutive weeks. I suppose if I "missed" all of those service opportunities, the judge could issue a warrant, but I think in my local district, the judge would side with the plaintiffs and issue a summary judgment to see if THAT would get my attention. LOL

[AngelinaCat]

treehugger1 is correct in that a standard BK can, and usually is, served by US mail, as well as the usual suits for delinquent accounts. You must have something else going on to warrant all of this *kind* attention.

[BigJohn]

The guy claimed he wa an officer of the Superior Court. He actually put that in writing. So I went to the court and went to the floor were officers of the court are and asked for this gentleman by name. He doesn't work there. They suggested I should call so I did. He is a paper server. Claims he can do what ever he wants to. This was Thursday at about 4:00 PM. So I told him where I was and that I was on the floor were the Officers of the Court are. I told him he could come here and serve me here. He didn't want to come to the court. So we agreed to meet in front of my store tomoroow night at 7:00 PM.

I checked with the court and the Officers checked with the courts and we came up with nothing as far as something being filed. I got the feeling the documents were dated about 10 days ago and they have not been filed. I assume I will not have much time to reply so can I ask the court to give me more time for a response and if I can do this, how do I do it?

[AngelinaCat]

Big John, what is your case? If you would rather be private, PM either 'Hub or I. From what I am reading, I can see no reason whatever for you to be treated (terrorized) as you are.

[AngelinaCatHub]

The guy claimed he wa an officer of the Superior Court. He actually put that in writing. So I went to the court and went to the floor were officers of the court are and asked for this gentleman by name. He doesn't work there. They suggested I should call so I did. He is a paper server. Claims he can do what ever he wants to. This was Thursday at about 4:00 PM. So I told him where I was and that I was on the floor were the Officers of the Court are. I told him he could come here and serve me here. He didn't want to come to the court. So we agreed to meet in front of my store tomoroow night at 7:00 PM.

I checked with the court and the Officers checked with the courts and we came up with nothing as far as something being filed. I got the feeling the documents were dated about 10 days ago and they have not been filed. I assume I will not have much time to reply so can I ask the court to give me more time for a response and if I can do this, how do I do it?

[BigJohn]

Big John, what is your case? If you would rather be private, PM either 'Hub or I. From what I am reading, I can see no reason whatever for you to be treated (terrorized) as you are.

Hopefullt tomorrow I will present my docs to my lawyer. Hopefully, we will file CH 13 next week or the next week.

What I have is a business (corporation), house, truck, car and wife. By filing Chapter 13 we plan on saving everything. The reason for the bankruptcy is mainly due to being sick. I was permanently disabled in 1994 from a fall. In 2005 I was injured as a result of 4 men trying to rob me. In 2006 - 2007 I had several bouts of MRSA and later came down with a bad case of diabetes. As you can probably see, this has all had an impact on my business. With the way the economy is, the only option I have is babkruptcy.

[BigJohn]

Thanks for the advice.

We agreed to meet in front of my store but now what I will do is call him on my cell phone (telephone record) and ask him to come in the store to serve me. We have several cameras which record with date and time stamp and frames can be brought up and printed along with date and time.

[Overmylimit]

No doubt, I would be real careful if he didn't want to come to the court. Take Hub's advice for sure on this.

[anime-chicka]

If servers are supposed to be nice, then we've got quite a few that have definite attitude problems. More than once I've had to have our HR manager escort them out of the building for being intimidating and threatening. Before I knew better, I was once accused of hiding a person he was trying to serve. I moved away from my desk and invited him to take a look under it if he was so sure.

Another time I was accused of obstructing justice and would be arrested because the person he was trying to serve was always out. I held my hands out and told him to arrest me. I can't control when people come and go in my office, and since its a sales office, most of the sales reps are out between 8am and 4pm.

[treehugger1]

I guess if I'm going to be served, I'd just as soon know about it. I work ina very good office with awesome people. All of the people in my section know of my financial issues (as well as a few other folks' issues.) They all know to accept any papers served on me (service to another party is allowed where I work,) but the server does have to follow up this type of service with a registered letter.

On the other hand, I don't think I would be able to hide easily from any process server. How long have you been able to avoid this?

[BigJohn]

Dropped all the docs my lawyer wanted so hopefully next week or the following week we will file Chapter 13.

I allowed the server to serve me. I asked him to step inside my store. He didn't want to but I was not going outside. He came inside. We have cameras so everything was recorded. I asked him for ID and he should an ID claiming he was an Officer of the Court.

I am in Ariona and the court is in Utah. The documents were filed in the middle of September.

I looked over the summons and it has my name and doing business as - my business name. There is no account number. All it has is an amount and the Business Card Ageement. It says I have 30 days to provide an answer.

[epiphany]

Dropped all the docs my lawyer wanted so hopefully next week or the following week we will file Chapter 13.

I allowed the server to serve me. I asked him to step inside my store. He didn't want to but I was not going outside. He came inside. We have cameras so everything was recorded. I asked him for ID and he should an ID claiming he was an Officer of the Court.

I am in Ariona and the court is in Utah. The documents were filed in the middle of September.

I looked over the summons and it has my name and doing business as - my business name. There is no account number. All it has is an amount and the Business Card Ageement. It says I have 30 days to provide an answer.

Much ado about nothing if you are truly filing in the next couple weeks. F him and the horse he rode in on.

Sorry you had to go through that though.

ep