Problem with serving a summons

[nemochian]

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

Hello everyone. I hope that what I am about to ask has not been covered elsewhere, so please forgive me if it has.

My wife and I have filed a suit, in small claims court, against our previous landlords (see my previous thread/posting - "Landlords are keeping our $1,200 Deposit")...a month ago. The Sheriff's Department has not been able to serve the summons, for they can not seem to catch the defendant while they are home.

The Defendants are small business owners, and they run the business out of their home. So, they do not have additonal places of work, for the Sheriffs to try and serve them at. The Sheriff's Department has tried on several occasions, during the day of course, to serve the summons...and have had no luck.

I was told today that they would try a couple more times, but if they could not catch the defendants at home, they would have to determine the summons "undeliverable". They said that if it was determined undeliverable, they would give us a copy of everything and would not make any further attempts to serve the summons.

My question is, where does this leave my wife and I? Is there any other way to serve the summons? We cannot just let the defendants off of the hook, because the Sheriff's Department only goes out to their house during the day! I know that they would find them at home, if they went in the evening. They still owe us $1,200.00 and we desperately need it right now.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Dandy Don]

Is it mandatory that you use only the sheriff's department to serve the summons? Aren't there other private individuals or companies that also perform this service?

Offer to pay the sheriff's department an additional fee to do service at nighttime, or discuss this with a private investigator who could do surveillance on the home to find out IF they are there in the daytime at all and/or exactly what hours they are home at night.