Service of Process: Important Things You Need to Know
There are a lot of misconceptions out there about process servers, so we think it’s time to clear the air. Process serving is a serious job that is essential for the healthy functioning of the legal system. This isn’t Hollywood, and you’ll never find our servers sneaking around in costume, waiting to ambush an unsuspecting person just trying to make it to work. Instead, we operate under the strictest legal and ethical guidelines to ensure every document we handle makes it where it needs to be and is legally valid. In this post, we’ll go over what you need to know about process serving here in the Centennial State.
What is the Service of Process?
Service of process involves delivering legal documents, usually those issued by a court, to their intended recipient. Recipients are typically defendants and witnesses, which could be individuals or business entities. Service of process allows courts to be sure that all persons involved in a court case are properly notified and have time to prepare their defense or rebuttal, or time to gather requested evidence.
What Documents Can Process Servers Deliver?
Process servers deliver a wide range of documents, including summons, complaints, writs, orders, eviction notices, family law orders, and more.
Who Can Serve Process in Colorado?
Colorado is one of the least regulated states when it comes to process service. In Colorado, there are no legal requirements to be a process server outside of being 18 years old or older and not being a party to the case being served. Lobbyists for the process service industry are working in states like Colorado to bolster regulatory oversight.
When Can Process Be Served in Colorado?
Colorado does not place any restrictions on when process may be served. It is permissible to serve process in Colorado on any day, at any time, including holidays.
What Happens After Process is Served?
The type of process being served will dictate what steps happen next once process has been served. For a summons and complaint, which are the typical starting point for any civil case, the defendant(s) will have a certain number of days to respond to the complaint. This response is called an answer, and it outlines the defendant’s side of the story and may even include a countersuit if appropriate. Once the answer is filed, all parties are expected to be in court at the designated date and time, or attend court-ordered mediation.
Family law cases are often also handled in mediation when possible. If mediation cannot resolve the issues, then the family law case may go to trial.
Eviction cases often have a shortened timespan and may require the recipient to take action almost immediately to avoid the eviction proceedings. Florida landlords can use several types of notices to begin the eviction process, all of which can also be delivered by process servers, including 3-day and 7-day notices for various infractions. If the tenant doesn’t resolve the issue within the time frame, formal eviction proceedings will ensue. Once the eviction is ordered, the process server will deliver the eviction notice and the tenants have until the deadline to vacate the property.
Denver’s Elite Process Service Agency is Accurate Serve
If you need quality process service in Denver or the surrounding areas, make the call to Accurate Serve. Our experienced, knowledgeable, and professional servers will handle your court documents with discretion, getting them where they need to go in a timely and efficient manner. All the while, we’ll keep you updated on the status of your case with our convenient online case status tracker, available 24/7 right from our website. Don’t waste time with cut-rate servers who don’t know Colorado law – trust Accurate Serve instead for all your process service, document retrieval, skip tracing, and diligent search needs. Call us at 303-501-7121 or send us a work request online to get started today.