Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

It is legal to deliver the summons to someone other than the defendant if certain conditions are met, and if the address is actually the correct residence or work address of the defendant. If the address where the summons was served was not either your permanent place of residence, your temporary habitual residence, or your place of work, the service was not valid. If you have had a wage garnishment, however, it means the case has already gone all the way to trial without you and a judgment has been entered against you. If the service was truly invalid, it can still be set aside but only if you act IMMEDIATELY and with the help of an attorney. Call your county bar association's attorney referral service right away.

I agree with Mr. McCormick. The service of the summons would be invalid if it were served somewhere that was not your address. At least one type of service, substituted service, is permitted if it is the correct address, and the papers are left with someone else (other than the defendant) who apparently is responsible and resides or works at the address served.

Your only remedy at this point is to immediately file a motion seeking to set aside the judgment and levy based upon the facts you recite. You need to try to contest the service and lack of proper notice. If successful, the default judgment would be thrown out, and you would go back to defending the case if you have valid grounds, facts, and arguments to do so.

This is not exactly a do it yourself, learn as you go, project in court. If you don't know how to do these things effectively, then hire an attorney that does. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me.