Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Washington

Re: Small claims

If a server comes to your door, sees you, tells you what they are there to do, and you refuse to open the door to accept the papers, and they can physically identify you, then yes, I believe most courts will uphold that as good service, if they then just leave the papers on the front porch. Additionally, under the court rules for small claims court, I think they can just mail you a certified copy of the complaint, and that will suffice.

Re: Small claims

You have been legally served. As the previous attorney stated, the issue is whether the server can identify you, not whether you signed or "accepted" the papers.

I served process before law school and there was one time that the lady looked out of an upstairs window and said she was not coming to get the papers. I yelled up to her in a loud voice: "Lady, I'm leaving these legal papers here on the porch. If you want your neighbors to know your business, just leave them here. But you have been legally served."