Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

I hate to see situations like this where people like the landlords think they can intimidate you because you don't know your legal rights well. Civil Code Sec. 1962.7, service by certified or registered mail, is only to be used when the property owner or manager did not disclose an actual physical address where they can be personally served. If you have filed a civil suit against them and know where they are physically, you must try to serve your Summons and Complaint on them personally first. You or the other tenants who are parties to the suit cannot serve them. That's why you hire a registered process server to do it, or any other adult over the age of 18. Hire a server near where the landlords live, it's not expensive (maybe $35 or so). And NO, one cannot call the cops on the server just because one is being served (unless the server engages in illegal behavior). They might have called the cops because first, they recognized you and wanted to deter you, and second, they might have thought you were trespassing or harassing them on their property. But, a professional server is entitled to and will serve them!

If, on the other hand, that is not the physical address of the owners or manager (so they can't be personally served), then mail them the papers again certified mail as allowed by Civil Code Sec. 1962.7. If they still refuse, then you have to show up in court to allow you to request entry of default against them due to failure to accept service.

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