legal papers filed state i was served.. but was not
Date: Wed, 08/15/2007 - 08:03
i recieved in the USPS mail a summons for a debt i want to settle.
The papers were received on the 11th. One copy certified mail that a room-mate signed for. And one copy via standard first class mail.
My issue is the papers state i was served on the 10th. But, i was not served anything from the court. Just the copy of the summons "Plaintiff's certificate of written discovery via USPS mail that i recieved on the 11th.
I thought you had to be served court papers BEFORE they could file stating you recieved any in TX.
Please let me know if there is any advice.
The papers were received on the 11th. One copy certified mail that a room-mate signed for. And one copy via standard first class mail.
My issue is the papers state i was served on the 10th. But, i was not served anything from the court. Just the copy of the summons "Plaintiff's certificate of written discovery via USPS mail that i recieved on the 11th.
I thought you had to be served court papers BEFORE they could file stating you recieved any in TX.
Please let me know if there is any advice.
hiya froglady-- In Texas, the rules of civil procedure state
hiya froglady--
In Texas, the rules of civil procedure state the following(this is rule 106, for your reference):
Quote:
Unless the citation or an order of the court otherwise directs, the citation shall be served by any person authorized by Rule 103 by delivering to the defendant, in person, a true copy of the citation with the date of delivery endorsed thereon with a copy of the petition attached thereto, or mailing to the defendant by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, a true copy of the citation with a copy of the petition attached thereto. Upon motion supported by affidavit stating the location of the defendant 's usual place of business or usual place of abode or other place where the defendant can probably be found and stating specifically the facts showing that service has been attempted under either (a)(I) or (a)(2) at the location named in such affidavit but has not been successful, the court may authorize service (1) by leaving a true cope of the citation, with a copy of the petition attached, with anyone over sixteen years of age at the location specified in such affidavit, or (2) in any other manner that the affidavit or other evidence before the court shows will be reasonably effective to give the defendant notice of the suit. |
http://www.serve-now.com/resources/process-serving-laws/Texas/
In plain english, they are required by law to serve you either in person or by certified mail. The summons must include both a true copy of the summons from the court itself, as well as a copy of the complaint filed by the plaintiff, also known as a petition.
If they try to serve you in person or by certified mail and are unsuccessful, the law requires them to then notify the court of this, in which the court will allow them to try to serve you by leaving a copy with anyone over 16 years old at the address listed for you on the complaint.....the court will also at that point allow them to use any other method that the court would consider reasonably effective.
However, considering the fact that you received this motion in the mail and in person, they obviously know where to find you. So, any of the additional remedies would not appply, because they knew your location well enough to send you the second document there.
This may help, what exactly does the document say that you received? If youre willing to give me some more details I can help you make some sense of it. If in fact you were not served properly, you may have grounds for dismissal because of it.
