Can I throw away papers I got served that aren’t mine?

[Cavo01]

What is the name of your state? California

I got served some papers today. After I opened the papers I realized that the papers are for someone else. The first name and is different, but the first and middle initial are the same. The last name is similar, but spelled differently. It also names the person being served as the owner of a company that is also being sued. I don’t own this company and do not even work in the same industry. Since it’s obviously not for me can just toss it? I really don’t want to have to call someone or get involved more.

Furthermore would I get in trouble for opening it since I’m not the person being served. I know you can get in trouble for opening someone else mail, but I don’t know if this is the same.

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? California

I got served some papers today. After I opened the papers I realized that the papers are for someone else. The first name and is different, but the first and middle initial are the same. The last name is similar, but spelled differently. It also names the person being served as the owner of a company that is also being sued. I don’t own this company and do not even work in the same industry. Since it’s obviously not for me can just toss it? I really don’t want to have to call someone or get involved more.

Furthermore would I get in trouble for opening it since I’m not the person being served. I know you can get in trouble for opening someone else mail, but I don’t know if this is the same.

Did you or someone in your household, sign for these papers?

 

[adjusterjack]

I’m not the person being served. I

Well, somebody thinks you're "it."

I suggest you call the plaintiff (or the plaintiff's attorney) and get it resolved.

Otherwise, you may end up with a default judgment on your record and the consequences won't be pleasant.

If the plaintiff won't dismiss you from the case, you will have no choice but to defend and ask the court to dismiss you from the case.

 

[Zigner]

I agree with @adjusterjack to some extent. You should contact the other party to inform them of the error. I am not convinced that *you* are at risk of having any sort of judgment (default or otherwise) entered against you in this matter, but the right (and safe) thing to do is to reach out to them. Doing so doesn't get you "involved" in the matter if you're not already involved.

 

[zddoodah]

I got served some papers today.

What sort of papers? I assume it's a summons and complaint (and likely some other stuff that gets served at the start of a lawsuit).

In what manner were you served? Did someone show up at your front door and hand you the papers and say, "you're served"? Did the person ask if you were "John Smith" before handing the papers to you? Something else? Were the papers in an envelope? If so, did the envelope have any writing on it - i.e., was there any way for you to know, before opening the envelope, that you weren't the appropriate person to receive the package? If the answer to that last question is yes, did you tell the person who gave you the package that you are not "John Smith" and that "John Smith" doesn't live at your address?

Since it’s obviously not for me can just toss it?

I am confident that you have this ability.

Furthermore would I get in trouble for opening it since I’m not the person being served.

No.

I really don’t want to have to call someone

It's a 2-3 minute phone call. What's the big deal?

or get involved more.

If you do nothing, the plaintiff's lawyer will have no reason to believe he/she didn't effect proper service and will start sending you documents relating to the lawsuit. Is that preferable to a 2-3 minute phone call?

A courteous adult would call the plaintiff's attorney and explain what happened. The lawyer will likely ask you a few questions and then thank you for the call and tell you that you can trash the papers. Doing that will save the lawyer a lot of time and his/her client some money.

Otherwise, you may end up with a default judgment on your record

I don't know how that could be possible. The person named in the lawsuit could end up with a default judgment entered against him/her, but the OP is not the person named in the lawsuit.

 

[bcr229]

I don't know how that could be possible. The person named in the lawsuit could end up with a default judgment entered against him/her, but the OP is not the person named in the lawsuit.

From a legal standpoint, no. From a close name + same address + default judgement standpoint, I can see where that may eventually hit the OP's credit report because I work in IT and bad data created by human error gets disseminated all the time. By ignoring this now OP could potentially end up with a lot of problems later.

I would definitely call and get this fixed ASAP.

 

[Bali Hai Again]

From a legal standpoint, no. From a close name + same address + default judgement standpoint, I can see where that may eventually hit the OP's credit report because I work in IT and bad data created by human error gets disseminated all the time. By ignoring this now OP could potentially end up with a lot of problems later.

I would definitely call and get this fixed ASAP.

Amen to that!

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? California

I got served some papers today. After I opened the papers I realized that the papers are for someone else. The first name and is different, but the first and middle initial are the same. The last name is similar, but spelled differently. It also names the person being served as the owner of a company that is also being sued. I don’t own this company and do not even work in the same industry. Since it’s obviously not for me can just toss it? I really don’t want to have to call someone or get involved more.

Furthermore would I get in trouble for opening it since I’m not the person being served. I know you can get in trouble for opening someone else mail, but I don’t know if this is the same.

If you own your home I would absolutely get an attorney to write a letter to the court stating that you were served paperwork belonging to someone else. You don't want the person suing attempting to claim that you are that person, getting a default judgment and attempting to put a lien on your home that you might have to fight later.