Suing for rent if I live out of state

[Movinout2016]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia and NY

Hi all,
I've got a complicated issue. I moved into an apartment in Georgia while I was finishing college. The lease end date was set for July 25 and I moved to New York State on June 1. I left no damage or mess and gave back all my keys and parted ways amicably. The landlord then trumped up a bunch of fees that were clearly gratuitous and filed to have me evicted June 25 after I had already moved out. Outside of the eviction, they are now trying to sue me for 2 months rent plus all of the bogus fees. They filed in Georgia magistrate court last week and here's the fun part: I gave them a forwarding address that is a friends house I was staying at for a couple weeks. I gave them written notice when I left but did not provide a new forwarding address (I never filed any change of address with usps). The small claims service was sent to the original residence in my name. The landlord then hand wrote my temporary New York address and forwarded it. My friend just gave me a call and Told me that he got it but does this not constitute an illegal service? They have no way of knowing whether I was served or not ESPECIALLY considering I told them in writing 2 months ago that I could no longer receive mail at that address. Also, as far as jurisdiction, would they not have to file in magistrate for out of state service or sue me here? I'm just trying to see what my options are for recourse. thank you.

 

[Movinout2016]

Addition

Another note: they had someone else move in before the writ of posesssion was formally issued. Not sure if that makes a difference.

 

[FarmerjTemp]

so when will court be or was the hearing already held and how do you know for a fact that there was another tenant in place at the time of the eviction hearing ? Bottom line if court already happened then id say you should use the links above , find a atty to help you in the state and county the rental was in and pay for the help you need to get rid of this problem by proving that the LLs service to you was defective and that another tenant was in occupancy as well as suing the LL for any amounts held from the deposit that were not fair including any possible penalty to the LL for being unfair ( if that states laws allow it). Sad to say when a tenant moves more than just a few hours drive when they leave one rental they really often have no way of knowing if a LL lied to the courts using old addresses when suing for eviction or other issues and in that situation it makes it much more spendy to undo what the LL did.