Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

You need to bring the paperwork to a lawyer, explain the service on your parents, and figure out the best way to proceed. You will also want to get a copy of the Proof of Summons from the court file.

I suspect you will need to file a motion with the court to set aside the judgment. That, however, is a "best guess," based on what you have described. You will need to prepare papers to do that -- it is not a form. You likely will need a lawyer's assistance.

If the case is clear, the other side might stipulate to set aside the judgment. The attorney you hire may be able to help you do this.

You can bring a motion for relief from the default and the default judgment on the ground that you were not properly served. But believe it or not, there is a chance that the service was proper. Even if it was, you may be able to get relief on the ground that you did not actually learn of the complaint.

You will only get one chance to bring this motion, and your time to do so is limited. You should hire a lawyer to help you if at all possible.

Good luck.

I agree with Mr. Hoffman that you need to file a motion to vacate the default and the default judgment. I disagree, however, that you were validly served. We don't serve people who reside out of the country by leaving papers with their parents.

Mr. Roach's response overlooks the option of substituted service, which can be performed at the defendant's residence or place of business or the place where she usually receives her mail. If you were using your parents' house as your mailing address while you were overseas, then the plaintiffs could have properly sub-served you there.

Of course, even if you could have been served there, it is possible that the plaintiffs made mistakes that rendered the service invalid. [Substituted service is a multi-step process, though I will not describe the requirements here.] And as I mentioned earlier, you may be eligible for relief even from valid service if you did not actually receive the papers.

If a default judgment was entered against you, your remedy is to try a Motion to Set Aside Default. You'll need counsel to do it right unless you are willing to learn everything it takes to practice Law and Motion issues. If serious about hiring counsel, feel free to contact me.

Mr. Hoffman ignores the fact that you were residing in Asia, not your parents' house when the service took place. That's not valid service, we call it "sewer service." Further, the parties would have been required to comply with the Hague convention on extraterritorial service.