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!