Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Illinois
Unable to serve summons
I live in Chicago, IL and I'm suing someone who lives in Tucson, AZ. I mailed the summons via certified mail with return receipt and also via UPS signature confirmation. This person knows that I am suing her and I think she is refusing to accept the letters. So I am unable to serve the summons. However before I filed a lawsuit I had mailed her a final notice also via certified mail with return receipt which she did accept and I have proof that she lives there and singed for it, what can I do if I cannot server her?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Unable to serve summons
You will need to have the sheriff in her county serve her. If that fails, you will probably need the court's permission to have a private process server locate her. In any event, certified mail is only effective if sent by the clerk to a defendant in the county in which the lawsuit was initiated in a small claims matter, and UPS is never effective for service of summons.