Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

If you don't have a lawyer get one. First you cannot personally serve the defendant. You so it be certified mail return receipt requested.You also send it first class mail/. When the green card comes back you file that with your affidavit of service. Now what if the green card doesn't come back. Well that's a little to complicated for here. Time to breakdown and get professional legal help.

{John}

Not only can you not serve the defendants personally, you cannot serve them by mail either. The Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure require that the defendant(s) be served by an individual, over the age of 18, and who is NOT a party to the action. So, the Plaintiff cannot serve the defendant either in person, OR by mail. To do so would be considered invalid service on the defendants. If you filed your Complaint in the Court of Common Pleas, most counties require service of the Complaint to be effected by the Sheriff, otherwise the Complaint will not be considered "properly served".

If you filed your case in one of the Magisterial District Courts, then the Court will take care of serving the Complaint.

Best of luck,