Husband just got served

[RF536]

My husband just got served a court summons, well actually I had to sign for the paperwork. We knew he was going to served, but we thought he would get served at work, as it is related to work.

We live and a rural area, so I normally have the doors locked, especially while DH is at work. About 10am this morning this big guy comes to the front door and starts knocking. I told the boys to go downstairs and watch T.V.until the guy left, because they were upset by our dog barking. The guy just kept knocking on the door, so after about 5 min. I called DH at work and told him what was going on. He called one of the neighbors to come check on what this guy wanted. While I was waiting for the neighbor to come, the guy calls DH and work and tells him that he is at our house, and asks him if he could please tell me "he is harmless and to open the door and sign the papers." DH replied "No offense but I don't know you either, so I am not going to do that, but I do have a neighbor on the way and when he gets there she will open the door."

I am sorry, but who shows up at a house pounds on the door for 5+ mins., obviously either no one is home or they are not going to answer the door give it up.

 

[pfishgirl]

Umm is that even Legal? If You are Not being served and your DH is.. then he needs to sign and be served Not you.. I'd call a lawyer and ask.. Or even your local court house..

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

How many process servers was your husband expecting?

Is there a scam of people accessing homes by claiming to have legal papers?

Just trying to understand why you would not answer the door.

 

[RitaE]

Umm is that even Legal? If You are Not being served and your DH is.. then he needs to sign and be served Not you.. I'd call a lawyer and ask.. Or even your local court house..

Yes, it is legal. He served the papers to the legal residence named in the papers.

As for who pounds on a door for 5 minutes? People serving court papers who know somebody is home but just refusing to answer the door. They really can't just give it up, they have to serve the papers in order to collect their fee.

I'm sorry your husband was served, don't know the circumstances but I know it can be upsetting.

 

[RF536]

Apparently since I am his wife I can sign for the papers, so no problem there, but I didn't know that this was who that guy was.

Chicagodisneyfan - We honestly thought he was going to be served at work, since everyone else involved in the case has been served there, so I did not think that is who this was. We have had several break-ins in the area in the past few months, and since I was alone with the boys and not expecting anyone I didn't answer the door. This was a very large guy, and when he kept pounding on the door, it really made me nervous.

 

[pfishgirl]

Yes, it is legal. He served the papers to the legal residence named in the papers.

Hmm.. Wow.. Is this a new law? Because, when my DH was served papers, he witnessed an accident, they couldn't serve me.. They had to find DH and serve him, cause I was not involved..

 

[Justanopinion]

We live in a very rural area also and this is part of the reason we have a Post Office box. Very few people actually know our address or where we live.

About a year ago, DH's step daughter left her husband. She led him to believe that she was at our home. A server did call our house to talk to her, he was trying to serve her, but since they didn't know where we lived he couldn't, besides the fact that she wasn't here. It really was quite funny. The man was very aggressive over the phone but that didn't bother me because I was confindent he didn't know where we were.

 

[ntsammy5]

This is the reason I keep a gun, OK several guns, in the house. You never know when you might need one.

 

[RitaE]

This is the reason I keep a gun, OK several guns, in the house. You never know when you might need one.

I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to shoot the Process Server, no matter how much you dislike him.

 

[MushyMushy]

This is a little different, but we had a "brush" with the law like that. My DH had gotten a speeding fine or something and was making payments through the magistrate. One day some guy was knocking at our door, and I ignored it -- at the time we lived in a bad neighborhood and I routinely ignore people at the door anyway. The guy was insanely persistent, knocking at the front, then the back, then at windows. My dog was going NUTS.

I finally wrapped a towel on my head (smooth, I know) and answered. He was there to ARREST my husband. Fortunately my husband wasn't home and I told the guy I didn't know his address at work, which I didn't, and it was in a different county anyway.

I frantically called DH at work, so he left early to go to the magistrate's office only to find out that the warrant was a mix up. We have a common name and they sent the wrong one out. I'm just glad he wasn't home, otherwise he would have been carted off and had to straighten it out from there.

 

[phragmipedium]

I think it depends on whether the person/agency who is requesting the documents to be served says the documents can be subserved or not, and what the laws are in your state. I work in child support and many of our documents can be subserved to another adult at the residence address of the party we are serving, as long as they are not another party to the case. We still have to follow up with another set of documents regular mail to the same address when this happens per our state laws. If a document can be subserved, we've usually tried sending it certified, registered, return receipt through the mail first unsuccessfully. When we're starting an initial order where paternity is in question and is addressed in the order, the documents cannot be subserved or certified mailed and must be personally served to the specific non-requesting party.

Since it's related to work it's odd that your husband wouldn't have been served there, but I know sometimes sheriffs/process servers attempt the residence first. I don't know the legalities of it (ie if they're allowed to block service) but I've heard people talk about being unable to serve someone at certain employers. If there was no problem with subservice and you don't work or not on weekends, for example, it's possible they even could have purposefully served them to you at the house rather than not catch your husband at work.

 

[Camicar]

Just trying to understand why you would not answer the door.

Many people, including myself, will not answer the door unless we know the person on the other side -- and even then, if it's my ILs, I still won't answer the door! If a large guy was persistent and especially if he'd gone around the back and started pounding on my doors and windows, I would have called the cops. In fact, we had a string of robberies in our area with two guys pounding on the front door and when the homeowner went to answer, the 2nd guy broke in thru the back and stole stuff while the door guy kept the homeowner distracted.

I had something similar happen. A woman had come to my house -- she said -- prior to a garage sale to try and cut out other buyers for a high-demand item. She told me this through the screen door. When I opened the door, she pushed her dog into my house, where he proceeded to run around and try and pee on my sofa. I grabbed for him and gave him back to her and kicked her out. She was just an idiot, but what if she'd been using the dog as a distraction to get into my house to mug me or steal stuff?

In addition, I do know people who have been attacked because they opened their doors to a stranger in broad daylight in suburban neighborhoods.

So, no, I don't answer the door to a stranger when I am home alone. Period.

 

[Michelle67]

I live in a rural area also, and I'd be pretty freaked out by some strange, huge man pounding on my door too! Heck, that would have freaked me out when I lived in a neighborhood! A friend that lived across the street from us in our old neighborhood had a guy try to push his way into her house in the middle of the day. Fortunately she is a very big strong farm girl (almost six feet tall, and about 200 lbs) and she shoved him right back out and called the police. If she'd been my size, who knows what might have happened!

 

[arminnie]

I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to shoot the Process Server, no matter how much you dislike him.

Well if he breaks into your house you can shoot him in many areas.

In addition, I do know people who have been attacked because they opened their doors to a stranger in broad daylight in suburban neighborhoods.

So, no, I don't answer the door to a stranger when I am home alone. Period.

Excellent advice as many have learned the hard way. I came SO close to big trouble years ago - the only reason I didn't open the door was because my roommate didn't have her robe on. We ended up having to call the police and go testify against him in court. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd just opened the door. It was pretty awful even with a door between us.

 

[spaceacewannabe]

Many people, including myself, will not answer the door unless we know the person on the other side -- and even then, if it's my ILs, I still won't answer the door! If a large guy was persistent and especially if he'd gone around the back and started pounding on my doors and windows, I would have called the cops. In fact, we had a string of robberies in our area with two guys pounding on the front door and when the homeowner went to answer, the 2nd guy broke in thru the back and stole stuff while the door guy kept the homeowner distracted.

I had something similar happen. A woman had come to my house -- she said -- prior to a garage sale to try and cut out other buyers for a high-demand item. She told me this through the screen door. When I opened the door, she pushed her dog into my house, where he proceeded to run around and try and pee on my sofa. I grabbed for him and gave him back to her and kicked her out. She was just an idiot, but what if she'd been using the dog as a distraction to get into my house to mug me or steal stuff?

In addition, I do know people who have been attacked because they opened their doors to a stranger in broad daylight in suburban neighborhoods.

So, no, I don't answer the door to a stranger when I am home alone. Period.

I agree. Not answering the door for unknown, large men who pound on the door is just good sense In fact, anyone who pounds (vs. knocks) on the door usually doesn't get the time of day from us---if you behave in an intimidating way, why should I be inconvenienced or made uncomfortable in my own home?

OP, having the neighbor come over was a very gracious way of handling it.

 

[KAMLEM]

Many people, including myself, will not answer the door unless we know the person on the other side. In fact, we had a string of robberies in our area with two guys pounding on the front door and when the homeowner went to answer, the 2nd guy broke in thru the back and stole stuff while the door guy kept the homeowner distracted.

The opposite was happening around here. Someone would knock on the door to find out if anyone was home, and if nobody answered they would assume nobody was home and they would break in.

 

[happygirl]

I would have just opened the door. If he was going to hurt do you think he would have been so loud to draw attention to himself If you were so conceren next time call the police not your husband

 

[doxdogy]

I live in a safe neighborhood and I don't answer if someone is pounding on the door. Thankfully, the dogs raise a ruckus if someone knocks and most people jump back away from the door. I am a small person and it wouldn't take much for someone to overpower me.

 

[goofyernmost]

I agree. Not answering the door for unknown, large men who pound on the door is just good sense In fact, anyone who pounds (vs. knocks) on the door usually doesn't get the time of day from us---if you behave in an intimidating way, why should I be inconvenienced or made uncomfortable in my own home?

OP, having the neighbor come over was a very gracious way of handling it.

So, it's OK to put ones neighbor in harms way to save one self from danger. I'm thinking...not so much.

 

[merryweather20]

I would have just opened the door. If he was going to hurt do you think he would have been so loud to draw attention to himself If you were so conceren next time call the police not your husband

Hmmm? Maybe to get you to open the door? I also don''t open the door to loud men who pound on the door. Funny. but people with a legitimate reason to knock on my door are always civil.