Went to the courthouse today to check status to see if there were any open cases pending with my name on it. There is one there that was filed in 12/05 under an address that I had never lived at (is a friends house) but was a temporary mailing address over three years ago. Upon looking at the status it showed "Personally served 3/25/06 at 10:05 am at the address of my friends house. I don't live there. How could I have been personally served anything? I called my girlfriend and she said she was out of town that weekend so nobody at all was there. What can I do about this? Isnt that illegal? Now I have until 4/13 to file an answer to avoid a default judgment. How do I raise this improper service in my answer? Is this there poor attempt to get a default judgement?
Whether it was improper service depends on what your state considers "personal service". You're going to have to look that up via the court's rules-procedures. Given that you personally visited the court, did you get a copy of the complaint? The individual judge may not appreciate that you've got knowledge of the suit but then appear in court to say that you weren't properly served. He-she will likely ask you to waive service. As a strategy, you may be better off not showing up and later filing a motion to vacate the judgment based on lack of service (but who knows what kind of record any court clerk might have of your visit). I'd talk with a local attorney.
Sorry, I didn't complete my train of thought in the reply. I assume that former (?) girlfriend-whomever never saw a copy of the complaint, e.g., it was never posted at the address in question. (Be very sure that you can trust her and all occupants of that house, as someone may simply have trashed it.)
Public record is *public*, and it does not necessarily follow that the clerk demanded, or even had the right to demand, any ID before providing the information. There shouldn't be a problem in requesting specific public information or doing it without producing an ID, on demand. (IOW, don't volunteer information about yourself.) You can ask, "Is there anything filed for Jane Smith?" [That doesn't mean you are *that* Jane Smith.] Check the procedures for service for the court because some allow service to any individual over the age of 13 at the address. Some require that the individual named be personally served and still others may allow a summons to be mailed.
