Consequences of Evading a Process Server

If you have a court case that you need to have legal papers served on, you might run into the problem of the individual evading the process server. Since your case can’t move forward without service of process, this can mean your case gets stalled in the water. But what can you do? Are there any consequences for evading a process server? The short answer is: it depends.

Legal Consequences

There are not a lot of legal consequences to evading a process server, depending on the type of case. Most of the time evading service of process is simply an inconvenience that you have to address with a private process server. In some cases, service can be done by newspaper announcement in the classifieds, but this is not an option for every case.

Legal Precedent

Sometimes someone will be home when the process server arrives, but they refuse to take the papers or sign for them. When this happens, process servers may have some recourse to get your case moving forward. In Olin Corp vs. Haney, a Florida case, it was determined that service of process was affected when the process server read the papers to the individual and left the copy in their door.

Criminal Charges

There are some instances when evading a process server is a criminal offense. If the individual being served threatens the process server, they can contact the police, and it is a misdemeanor offense. If an individual is actually violent to a process server, the individual can be charged with a felony offense.

If you have a difficult serve that needs to be perfected so that your case can move forward, we can help. Contact us today for more information or to get started.