Question Regarding Attempted Service While Outside of Country

[JeffreyOsb]

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

Hello, I have a question... my ex-girlfriend notified me just today that someone attempted to come by our old place and serve me(I have not lived there for over a year). I was not there because, well, I'm in another country right now and have been(I have not been in the US for over a year). I had no idea I was being served, there was no way for me to know. She was told over a year ago and did not tell me until recently...

What can I do about this? Has legal action begun without my presence? How would i investigate? I understand they can only provide information about the lawsuit to the individual in question and as such I doubt they'll give me any information over the phone. Is there a website where I can look up pending or completed cases against me?

I truly don't know why there would be a lawsuit against me.

 

[Paul84]

I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I understand, the plaintiff cannot start a legal action against you unless a process server or third party has properly served the summons. Did they leave a summons with your ex-girlfriend? If not, don't worry about it.

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

Hello, I have a question... my ex-girlfriend notified me just today that someone attempted to come by our old place and serve me(I have not lived there for over a year). I was not there because, well, I'm in another country right now and have been(I have not been in the US for over a year). I had no idea I was being served, there was no way for me to know. She was told over a year ago and did not tell me until recently...

What can I do about this? Has legal action begun without my presence? How would i investigate? I understand they can only provide information about the lawsuit to the individual in question and as such I doubt they'll give me any information over the phone. Is there a website where I can look up pending or completed cases against me?

I truly don't know why there would be a lawsuit against me.

 

[Mark Maroon]

Hello, I have a question... my ex-girlfriend notified me just today that someone attempted to come by our old place and serve me (I have not lived there for over a year). I was not there because, well, I'm in another country right now and have been (I have not been in the US for over a year). I had no idea I was being served, there was no way for me to know. She was told over a year ago and did not tell me until recently...

What can I do about this? Has legal action begun without my presence? How would i investigate? I understand they can only provide information about the lawsuit to the individual in question and as such I doubt they'll give me any information over the phone. Is there a website where I can look up pending or completed cases against me?

I truly don't know why there would be a lawsuit against me.

Legal action against you begins when someone files a civil complaint against you in court - irrespective of whether or not you are ever served.

The plaintiff cannot proceed to a judgment against you unless you have been served.

The plaintiff can serve you in MANY different ways. For instance, if they are required by the rules of the court that they filed in to serve you by sheriff or by an independent process server, but that doesn't work, then they can ask the court if they can serve you in some other way (for instance, by e-mail, fax, leaving the complaint on the door of your residence, publishing a notice in the local paper, etcetera). Depending on the circumstances, alternate service might allow the plaintiff to obtain a judgment against you despite the fact that you never received a copy of the complaint. Depending on the circumstances, if you never got a copy of the complaint and a judgment was entered against you, then you might be able to have the case re-opened and the judgment stricken due to lack of service.

If they want to, the plaintiff can tell you or anyone else anything they want about the lawsuit by phone or any other means of communication.

If you know where the complaint was filed, then you could ask that court how to find information about any possible complaint that was filed against you (some courts have online access that can be searched by the name of the plaintiff or defendant).

If you don't have ANY clue what this might all be about, then you will be looking for a needle in a haystack - when the needle might not even exist. That of course is very difficult, because you can never prove that the needle doesn't exist - only that you haven't found it yet. Start with the assumption that any lawsuits against you were likely filed in one of the local courts where you lived at the time your girlfriend said someone tried to serve you. After that, your guess is as good as mine.

 

[Paul84]

Legal action against you begins when someone files a civil complaint against you in court - irrespective of whether or not you are ever served.

The plaintiff cannot proceed to a judgment against you unless you have been served.

The plaintiff can serve you in MANY different ways. For instance, if they are required by the rules of the court that they filed in to serve you by sheriff or by an independent process server, but that doesn't work, then they can ask the court if they can serve you in some other way (for instance, by e-mail, fax, leaving the complaint on the door of your residence, publishing a notice in the local paper, etcetera). Depending on the circumstances, alternate service might allow the plaintiff to obtain a judgment against you despite the fact that you never received a copy of the complaint. Depending on the circumstances, if you never got a copy of the complaint and a judgment was entered against you, then you might be able to have the case re-opened and the judgment stricken due to lack of service.

If they want to, the plaintiff can tell you or anyone else anything they want about the lawsuit by phone or any other means of communication.

If you know where the complaint was filed, then you could ask that court how to find information about any possible complaint that was filed against you (some courts have online access that can be searched by the name of the plaintiff or defendant).

If you don't have ANY clue what this might all be about, then you will be looking for a needle in a haystack - when the needle might not even exist. That of course is very difficult, because you can never prove that the needle doesn't exist - only that you haven't found it yet. Start with the assumption that any lawsuits against you were likely filed in one of the local courts where you lived at the time your girlfriend said someone tried to serve you. After that, your guess is as good as mine.

Mark, thanks for that clear and detailed explanation, with excellent suggestions. In my case so far, which is now in mid-discovery after drawn-out motions to dismiss, I found the initial process of serving the summons to be the most complex legal process to get right. I'm also based overseas so can sympathize with the (potential) defendant.

If there were a default judgment, as in your hypothetical, and if it were for a material amount, wouldn't that have to appear in Jeffrey's credit report? And aren't such credit reports available online for a nominal sum from places like Equifax? For example, if you rent out your house, the realtor will typically provide such a credit report of, say, 5 to 10 pages on the prospective renter, with the report listing any outstanding debts that they have.