Personal Delivery: One copy of the notice of petition and petition may be given to you personally. If they are given to you personally, no other copies have to be served on you.
Substituted Service: This kind of service takes two separate steps and must result in your being served with three copies of the notice of petition and petition. One copy must be given to a person of “suitable age and discretion” who lives or works at your home, not just someone who happens to be there (This person does not have to be an adult, but it should not be a small child). The next day, excluding weekends and certain holidays, the two other copies must be mailed to you, one copy by regular and one copy by registered or certified mail. Certified mail does not require a return receipt, but you will probably have to sign for it.
Conspicuous Place Service (often called “Nail and Mail Service”): This kind of service also takes two separate steps and must result in your being served with three copies of the notice of petition and petition. The person serving the notice of petition and petition must come to your apartment at least two times to try to give those papers to you personally or to someone who lives or works at your home. Those two attempts must be at different times of the day, usually once during working hours and once during non-working hours. After those two attempts, the person serving the notice of petition and petition can attach one copy to your door or place it under your door. The next day, excluding weekends and certain holidays, the two other copies must be mailed to you, one copy by regular mail and one copy by registered or certified mail. Certified mail does not require a return receipt, but you will probably have to sign for it.
For information on serving eviction papers, contact a professional eviction service call (800) 774-6922. Representatives are available Monday-Friday 8 am – 8 pm EST. If you found this article helpful, please consider donating. Thank you for following our blog, A space dedicated to bringing you news on breaking legal developments, interesting articles for law professionals, and educational material for all. We hope that you enjoy your time on our blog and revisit us! We also invite you to check out our Frequently Asked Questions About Process Servers.
