How to serve a Small Claims in California

First off, let me say, that if you want to hire someone to help you prepare a Small Claims packet for filing with court, my company, ACTIVE LEGAL PROCESS SOLUTIONS can help. If you visit our website, http://www.activelegalprocess.com/ , you can download our Small Claims Request Form on the "Services & Pricing" tab. Our rate is extremely reasonable and you can rest assured knowing that your documents will be prepared, filed, and served by an experienced professional. But maybe you're a do yourself kind of guy or gal and want to gain a little knowledge into the process, well this is the article for you!! I live in Kern County, but there may be others who read this article that are in other counties. I know that our court http://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/ has a really great Small Claims help section that you can check out, it answers lots of questions. Also, to download a copy of the Small Claims packet, go to ttp://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/. Very easy and saves a trip to court to pick one up. The form is fairly self explanatory, you will fill out your name and address (you will be the Plaintiff), the Defendant's name and address (the person you will be serving who owes you the money), the amount you are suing for (only sue for what you can prove in court....receipts or estimates are good to have in court), the date the incident took place, a brief description of why you are suing, and a couple yes or no questions. The court also requires that you the Plaintiff have tried to collect the debt from the Defendant through verbal or written contact to no avail. Another thing to consider when you file is that you are within the Statute of Limitations, a common law system designed to set forth the amount of time that a certain individual or business has to proceed with a legal claim. Each state is different, but in California the Statutes are as follows: A written contract is 4 years, an oral contract is 2 years, personal injury is 2 years, and property damage is 3 years. If you are past your time to file, you're unfortunately out of luck! Once you have filled out your package, you must file the documents in the appropriate court. The court you file in is the "venue". This is determined by a couple factors, either where the contract was written or performed, or where the Defendant resides, where the property was damaged, etc. The court will also require a filing fee. To view the filing fees, visit your court's website, most have a section that addresses filing fees. The fee depends upon the amount you're suing for, the higher the amount, the higher the filing fee. Once the documents have been filed, the court will return your documents with a hearing date and time, this is when I suggest hiring a professional process server!! There are time constraints that must be followed!! In California, when serving an individual in the same county in which the documents were filed, you must personally serve them at least 15 days prior to court, or sub-serve them 20 days prior to court. When serving an individual in a county outside the county in which the documents were filed, you must personally serve the individual 25 days prior to court, or sub-serve them 30 days prior to court. Personal service is self explanatory, this is when you personally serve the named Defendant. Sub-service is when you serve a spouse or co-tenant over 18, or a co-worker where the Defendant is employed (if sub-serving, you will also be required to mail a copy to the Defendant to complete service). Once you have successfully served the documents, you must fill out a Proof of Service and file it with the court. Here in Kern county, Proofs of Service must be filed within 5 business days of the hearing (the sooner the better in case there are any problems with the Proof, you'll have time to make corrections). Once your Proof of Service is filed, you are pretty much just waitin' for your hearing. Hopefully you'll be collecting your moolah!!  Best wishes :)

Most Frequently Asked Questions About Process Serving

I'm kind of experiencing writer's block right now and haven't been able to sit down and commit myself to actually writing something worth reading....so....I thought I'd do a little Q&A with some of the questions I'm asked frequently from my In Pro Per clients and the folks that don't have much knowledge about process servers and process serving. At least a few times a month I'm asked what hours I serve and how often I make attempts. I offer two types of service, routine (first attempt within 72 hours), and rush (first attempt within 24 hours). As an example, for a routine serve in Bakersfield I charge $40.00 for one address and will make random attempts in the morning, noon, and night, and on weekends until the documents are served, or I am able to determine the house is empty or the people being served have moved. On a rush, I charge a total of $60 for one address in Bakersfield and will attempt the same morning, noon, night, weekend times, but will do so on a daily basis. I don't serve too late at night, and find that I have the best luck in the morning around 8am or the early afternoon around 3-5 pm. Another question I'm asked quite frequently is "what if they don't want to take the papers from you". Although I don't run into this problem very often, I do occasionally have to perform what is known as a "drop serve". A drop serve is done when you have made a positive ID on your mark and they will not willingly take the papers from you, and you are forced to announce service and drop the papers in as close a proximity to the person served as possible. This is why I strongly suggest using a licensed, professional process server. If a drop serve does occur, I will prepare a strong Declaration of Facts to add to my Proof of Service. In my Declaration of Facts I will meticulously outline the date and time I arrived at the property, the attitude of the mark, anything they may have said prior to the drop serve, and a detailed physical description. You may even be asking, what is a Proof of Service? Well, a Proof of Service is a form that is filled out and usually filed with the court after the documents have been served. A Proof of Service in California generally includes the date and time of service, the address where the party was served, the case information...Plaintiff..Defendant..case number, etc., the documents that were served, and the first and last name of the person who served the documents. A Proof of Service is usually signed under penalty of perjury, so make sure what you fill in on your Proof of Service is truthful and in line with what actually took place. Hope this answers some of the general questions in an easy to read manner. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to post on my blog or email me!