To sue a business in small claims court or any other venue, you must file the proper paperwork and pay the appropriate fees. You are then required to serve the appropriate party before the case can be heard. Basically, serving the other party a summons notice is a way of letting the business know that it is being taken to court for whatever reason. Fortunately, there are various ways to deliver a summons letter. Here are some of the most common ways with regards to businesses and companies.
Certified or Registered Mail
Typically, you won’t actually head to the post office and send the summons notice there. You will simply pay the court clerk a fee so that the letter can be mailed off. This is one of the best and most effective ways to take care of this procedure because certified mail guarantees that the other party will receive the papers. Luckily, this option isn’t even that expensive and is the least time consuming. Also, you will often need to serve an individual at a business that isn’t local or very close.
Utilizing a Friend or Family Member
You are legally barred from delivering a summons yourself. However, you can enlist the help of a friend or family member or other “disinterested party. This person can travel to a business to serve the appropriate person with the summons and won’t charge you tons of money. Such a method only works when the company is located within the same city or county as yourself. Otherwise, you can’t really send a friend across the country to serve someone at a corporation.
Substitution
To carry out this option, you need to have someone deliver the papers to the company. If the individual is not at the location at that time, then the server should leave the papers with the highest management person there. Afterward, you should send the summons by certified mail to the same person at the same location. Sure, this is just a combination of the previous two options, but it works.
Using a Serving Company
Finally, you can use a professional serving company that will deliver the summons papers for you. This option isn’t cost effective for the average person though, so it isn’t a recommended choice. Still, you can pay a company to deliver the paperwork so that you don’t have to deal with the hassle of finding someone else to do it. In the end, you will pay a lot of money for very little.
Which method is best?
Undoubtedly, using a serving company should be a last resort. Certified mail is the best option when you need to serve a company employee that isn’t located nearby. Using someone else to serve a local company is a great option in that case. Obviously, each situation is going to dictate which method you choose to go with. You just have to remember that you need to find the specific person you must deliver the summons to even if you are suing a company.
For more information, visit Serving a Business.
