Now Sewer Service - Any Suggestions?

[ryan]

Was in court today for my FC lawsuit. Happen to check the Court Clerks office and just found out one of my CC's has filed a suit and there is an Affidavit Of Service claiming I was served in person (thats the only way this particular type of suit, in my state, can be served, btw)...

I was not home, nor was ever served by this person. Its a completely fraudulent affidavit- A Lie. It actually shocked me to read it!

It also includes a brief physical description which pretty clearly does not match my obvious age.

I reside with no one else, no kids, and have for many years. ..so there's no other persons with me who could have been served instead.

Any advice?

[flyinbroke]

Countersue....find a NACA attorney who works on contingency and go git 'em.

[BigJohn]

Was in court today for my FC lawsuit. Happen to check the Court Clerks office and just found out one of my CC's has filed a suit and there is an Affidavit Of Service claiming I was served in person (thats the only way this particular type of suit, in my state, can be served, btw)...

I was not home, nor was ever served by this person. Its a completely fraudulent affidavit- A Lie. It actually shocked me to read it!

It also includes a brief physical description which pretty clearly does not match my obvious age.

I reside with no one else, no kids, and have for many years. ..so there's no other persons with me who could have been served instead.

Any advice?

One person claimed a while back I had hit a car with my truck and drove away. Their description of me was I was bald. When the insurance investigators came to investigate, they were surprised to see I have very long hair.

[ryan]

Countersue....find a NACA attorney who works on contingency and go git 'em.

I guess I'm wondering how practical something like that is....tho I'd love to do it.

My quick reading on this whole sewer service thing is its a big 'Catch 22'...

If I file a Motion To Quash The Service and attach an affidavit that specifies the items that are fraud etc. it may still end up being my word against the process servers' (tho it is a private process server, not the Sheriffs office)

Worse, even if I succeed in getting the service ruled 'not proper', I'm hearing from some, that the plaintiff lawyer could just ask the judge if I can be served right here and now in the courtroom, rendering all my efforts in vain.

I'm in a quandary..

[mpm203k01]

Question

Who is the O/C and law firm Ryan?

[ryan]

mpm203k01 - prefer not to say.

This is copied from IL Legal Aid Society:

Q: I heard a collection case had been filed against me. The Circuit Clerk confirmed that a case had been filed, and told me the court date. If I haven’t received any court papers yet, do I have to show up? What happens if I don’t?

A: You must be served with a Summons, and a copy of whatever Complaint or Petition that was filed against you. Until then, you don’t have to go to court, and no judgment can be entered against you.

But, caution: you can be served without knowing about it. That could happen if they serve someone at your residence, and then mail copies to you. That’s effective as long as it’s at your “usual place of abode,” and on “some person of the family or a person residing there,” who’s at least 13 years old.

The theory behind “abode service” is that the person who gets served will tell you about it, since they’re family or share your abode. Hopefully, that person will also give you the papers they received. But if they don’t, with luck you’ll get them in the mail. Abode service isn’t complete unless someone at your abode is served, and copies are sent (regular mail) to you.

Be sure, then, that somebody where you live or stay didn’t get served with the court papers aimed at you. Lots of people deny getting served, only to find out a housemate got served and forgot all about it. Courts are pretty generous in saying who’s a family or household member who can accept abode service.

In Small Claims cases, it’s also possible to serve the Summons and Complaint by certified or registered mail. But only the Circuit Clerk’s office can send it, and the person getting sued must sign for it. If you don’t sign for it—or the mail man overlooks the “restricted delivery” requirement and lets somebody else sign for it—you haven’t been properly served.

If there was abode service, and you don’t show up, a default judgment can be entered against you for whatever the other side sued for.

If there’s not any kind of service on you, and you don’t show up, the court has no personal jurisdiction over you, and can’t enter a judgment against you. The case can be continued to another court date, and the other side can try again to serve you.

It’s tricky if you were improperly served. Two examples are if the other side says they completed abode service at some place that’s not your residence, or if somebody else signed for the certified or registered mail that only you were supposed to sign for. Then, a judge in a high-volume courtroom may think you were properly served, and enter a default judgment against you if you don’t show up. You could try to undo that judgment afterwards, or you could try to stop it before it happened.

To stop it from happening, you’d have to show up at the scheduled court date and say you’re making “a special and limited appearance.” That’s a legal device that only lets you object to service of the summons. If you don’t say the magic words, or if you do anything more than object to service, you’re considered to have given up your objections, so that the case can proceed against you.

But even if you do it right, and your objections to improper service are sustained, you could be properly served while leaving the courthouse.


Of course, you can always voluntarily appear in the case, without having been served. That can save you court costs, by saving your adversary from having to serve you.

So, it seems like no win.

[treehugger1]

You are probably correct in that the end result will be the same. However, I have to wonder if a good attorney could not file some type of countersuit in your behalf. This might be especially true if the process server has a history of false service.

You might google the OC for suits in your court. You would be able to see if the attorney firm is the same. Then you could go through each case and see the record of services.

Just thinking out loud. And, how much time do you want to spend?

[ryan]

You might google the OC for suits in your court. You would be able to see if the attorney firm is the same. Then you could go through each case and see the record of services.
Just thinking out loud. And, how much time do you want to spend?

I'm trying this right now...thanks, its a good idea. Its a creditor that has its own in-house legal for CC suits.

[tobee43]

this type of the thing happens all the time.

we appeared in court....we asked for them to provide the "green" slip from the post office with our signature on it...

they asked for a recess to obtain the signed green slip.....returned from the recess and produced a "green" return receipt slip that just had a LINE on it as a signature...even the judge didn't go for that one!!

so they LOST!!! didn't get their judgement...held them off until we filed and the whole thing was discharged.