Is proof of service required for all communications with plaintiff?

[YoRocky]

At $70-$100 a pop, proof of service by mail is proving to be quite costly. I have had to use it to respond to the complaint. 

Do i also need to use it when sending them a Bill of Particulars? 

Or any of the additional mailings needed for discovery? Is certified mail return receipt sufficient for this?

In what aspects of the lawsuit is proof of service going to be required vs nice to have yet expensive 'insurance' for proof?

[RyanEX]

3 hours ago, YoRocky said:

At $70-$100 a pop, proof of service by mail is proving to be quite costly. I have had to use it to respond to the complaint. 

Do i also need to use it when sending them a Bill of Particulars? 

Or any of the additional mailings needed for discovery? Is certified mail return receipt sufficient for this?

In what aspects of the lawsuit is proof of service going to be required vs nice to have yet expensive 'insurance' for proof?

Say what? On what are you spending $70-$100???

Proof of service should be attached to pretty much everything you send them, but we are talking about a simple form you can download for free: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/pos030.pdf

When you serve them a document, request, etc the only things you should be spending money on are the envelope, the stamp, and a few dollars for certified mail/confirmation of delivery (not all the time, but most of the time) .

[YoRocky]

1 hour ago, RyanEX said:

Say what? On what are you spending $70-$100???

Proof of service should be attached to pretty much everything you send them, but we are talking about a simple form you can download for free: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/pos030.pdf

When you serve them a document, request, etc the only things you should be spending money on are the envelope, the stamp, and a few dollars for certified mail/confirmation of delivery (not all the time, but most of the time) .

Proof of service by mail can not be served by the party. It must be a third party. That is the process server cost im talking about. 

> When you serve them a document, request, etc the only things you should be spending money on are the envelope, the stamp, and a few dollars for certified mail/confirmation of delivery (not all the time, but most of the time) .

Okay i understand the costs of sending a letter certified mail/confirmation delivery. But like i said above, a third party has to do that if im doing a process by service of mail.

So my confusion remains. Do i need to send a Bill of Particulars letter by proof of service (form pos 030) 

[WhoCares1000]

So you do not have a friend who is willing to send out anything that you need sent out. As long as they hand the materials over to the post office (or put them in the mailbox), you are fine. The friend would be considered the third party. Same goes for any family member not in your household (such as a cousin). I am sure you can find someone like that and then all you have are the mailing costs.

[YoRocky]

2 hours ago, WhoCares1000 said:

So you do not have a friend who is willing to send out anything that you need sent out. As long as they hand the materials over to the post office (or put them in the mailbox), you are fine. The friend would be considered the third party. Same goes for any family member not in your household (such as a cousin). I am sure you can find someone like that and then all you have are the mailing costs.

No i dont. 

Does a bill of particular have to be sent with a proof of server? Does every communication during discovery have to be done this way?

[BackFromTheDebt]

I know this is more difficult in times of COVID --

Back when I was in court a lot, I worked in a building.  There was a receptionist in the building, and the nice HR lady was also a notary.  I could get anything notarized without leaving work.  Sometimes when the receptionist was on lunch break the HR lady would sit at the desk.  

Next to the receptionist's desk was a box, a literal box, with the outgoing mail.  

In situations where I had to have a 3rd party deliver the stuff, I would hand it to the receptionist or the HR lady.  If I needed a notarized statement that a 3rd party had mailed it, I would wait until lunch time, have the HR lady notarize a statement that she had mailed the items, hand it to the HR lady who would put the items in the box next to the desk.  

I found that many banks have a notary on staff.  I would sometimes go to a branch of a bank with which I had a court case to have one of that bank's staff notarize the document.  I somehow got a kick out of that.  

I don't think it would be that difficult to build up a relationship with the notary at your local bank branch.  Find out her name.  Work out ways where you can get a notarized statement that she is mailing the letter for you.  She can notarize the statement, then drop the item in the mail drop box for you.  Simple as that, and it costs you nothing but the stamps.  

Discovery items would probably be best sent CMRRR.  That costs a little money, but it is much cheaper than the $70-100 you are paying now.  

[WhoCares1000]

3 hours ago, YoRocky said:

No i dont. 

Does a bill of particular have to be sent with a proof of server? Does every communication during discovery have to be done this way?

Then go to skid row or the local homeless shelter and ask if anyone is willing to go to the post office with you and mail something out for $10. It will still be cheaper than using the Sheriff or process server. All you need is someone not related to the case to do the service. It can be anyone who is not in your close family (even a cousin).

[RyanEX]

10 hours ago, YoRocky said:

Proof of service by mail can not be served by the party. It must be a third party. That is the process server cost im talking about. 

> When you serve them a document, request, etc the only things you should be spending money on are the envelope, the stamp, and a few dollars for certified mail/confirmation of delivery (not all the time, but most of the time) .

Okay i understand the costs of sending a letter certified mail/confirmation delivery. But like i said above, a third party has to do that if im doing a process by service of mail.

So my confusion remains. Do i need to send a Bill of Particulars letter by proof of service (form pos 030) 

Ah, okay. Understood.

I believe the answer is no - technically you don't have to include a POS with your BoP request; the risk being that plaintiff could claim they did not receive it. I haven't seen the BoP make much of an impact in CA cases, so if you don't include one I suppose it's no big deal. But there are important items that you definitely want to send with a POS (discovery responses, CCP 96 requests, memorandum of costs). Not having a POS for those items could be disastrous for you. Proof of delivery a good idea too.

If you don't have anyone that can do it, send the BoP anyway & see what happens. This will be a long process and it will probably take a little time before the next item comes up that does need a POS, hopefully you find someone by then.

[YoRocky]

2 hours ago, WhoCares1000 said:

Then go to skid row or the local homeless shelter and ask if anyone is willing to go to the post office with you and mail something out for $10. It will still be cheaper than using the Sheriff or process server. All you need is someone not related to the case to do the service. It can be anyone who is not in your close family (even a cousin).

Yeah i dont think its wise to let a thousands of dollar case ride on a transient stranger found at a homeless shelter. 

Where is the code that describes it not being a close family member?

[RyanEX]

28 minutes ago, YoRocky said:

Yeah i dont think its wise to let a thousands of dollar case ride on a transient stranger found at a homeless shelter. 

Where is the code that describes it not being a close family member?

POS-030 states it just needs to be someone who is both 18 years of age and not a party to the lawsuit.

CCP 414.10 says the same thing.

[WhoCares1000]

2 hours ago, YoRocky said:

Yeah i dont think its wise to let a thousands of dollar case ride on a transient stranger found at a homeless shelter. 

Where is the code that describes it not being a close family member?

If you would have read my response, you would see that I said you take them to the Post Office and watch as they had the envelope to the clerk or put it into the mailbox and then take them to the notary to sign the proof of service.

As for the code, I don't know California but this is very similar to the rules in Minnesota so I would assume close to the same thing.

[YoRocky]

3 minutes ago, WhoCares1000 said:

If you would have read my response, you would see that I said you take them to the Post Office and watch as they had the envelope to the clerk or put it into the mailbox and then take them to the notary to sign the proof of service.

As for the code, I don't know California but this is very similar to the rules in Minnesota so I would assume close to the same thing.

I did read the response. But do yo really think it its wise to bet the service to someone you dont know who will be impossible to find again and probably have their mental state of mind challenged. I dont.

 

 

[WhoCares1000]

13 hours ago, YoRocky said:

I did read the response. But do yo really think it its wise to bet the service to someone you dont know who will be impossible to find again and probably have their mental state of mind challenged. I dont.

 

 

If you bring in the affidavit and the CMRRR Green card into court and the judge will then ask the other side to prove that either is not true at that point. I doubt any plaintiff is going to go through all that trouble for a 4 figure amount. Hell, for extra protection, video record the person handing the envelope to the postal clerk but you will not need it. Instead, once you had the court the papers above, the court will tell the plaintiff to prove that service was not effected by the defendant contrary to the evidence the court has been handed and if they cannot, the court will assume that the plaintiff has been served (and the judge will be very angry at the plaintiff for playing games with the court).