Are you a private individual doing your own litigation and need assistance with finding and using one of our process servers? We can help! Below are some commonly asked questions about prices and procedure as well as instructions about how to use our company.
- How much does it cost to hire one of your process servers?How much the total bill will come to depends on what the service consists of- how many attempts are made before service and how far the server had to travel for each attempt are the primary factors. Miscellaneous charges that could also apply are faxing, photocopying, long distance charges, and notary fees.
United States Process Serving Corp requires a $300.00 retainer from all private individuals requesting service of process, payable in advance by certified check, money order, or credit card. After service is completed, we deduct all costs from that $300.00 and refund any balance to you. You will receive a refund by check if you paid with a certified check or money order. If you used a credit card, we will reverse the unused balance to your credit card.
- What do I need to do first? -First, get your documents from the court.
-Then visit our website and find out if United States Process Serving Corp has an office covering the address where you want your papers served. You can do this by clicking on the ‘Search by Zip Code’ button, and either typing in the postal code of the address (for example, 90068) or simply the name of the city and the province ( Bronx, NY). Click on the ‘Start Search’ button, and you will be given the address of the closest process serving company.
NOTE: We occasionally list other process serving companies in places where we don’t have a corporate office. If the process server who’s closest to where you want your papers served is not one of our offices, then you will have to contact them directly and ask about their prices and document sending policies.
-Once you’ve determined what United States Process Serving Corp office you need to send your papers to, download this Private Individual Checklist, print it out, and fill it in. You will send this completed form along with your documents to the process server.
– When sending your documents, we recommend that you use a courier like UPS or Fedex, or, if expense is an issue, Express Mail, which allows you to track your package. This minimizes the chance that your papers could get lost in the mail, which has been known to happen!
- What do I need to send?– Your documents for service
– The completed Private Individual Checklist
– The $300.00 certified check or money order. If you are paying by credit card, call 1-800-465-7378 and have your credit card handy. We will debit your card over the phone for the $300, and provide you with an authorization number, which you must write down on the Private Individual checklist in the section reserved for that purpose.
- How long will it take for my papers to be served?–
If you’re asking us to serve a business or government agency for you, service of process can generally be accomplished quite quickly. But if we’re serving a person, how long it takes to complete the service really depends on how long it takes to catch the party at the address that you provide. Sometimes it happens right away, sometimes it takes multiple attempts over a period of days.
- What happens after my papers are served?
– Once your papers are served, the process server swears out an affidavit of service detailing when, where, and how he or she served your party. They will send this document directly to you so you can take it to the courthouse that created your file in the first place.Then the process server sends their expense list for your service to our head office in Buffalo, and we refund the unused balance on your retainer.
- Can the cost for my service come to more than $300?-Hopefully not, but as you are billed for each attempt made, charges can add up if you request that the server keep trying. What most of our clients do is ask the server to try only a certain number of times (i.e. two or three).
- What happens if the process server doesn’t get the party served?-Service attempts are not always successful. Sometimes the person you want served has moved and their new address is unknown, or maybe they are not home or are refusing to come to the door when the server makes attempts. In that event, the process server will give you an affidavit of attempted service, which will outline where, when, and how he or she attempted to serve your party, and why the attempts were not successful. You can take this to the courthouse that created your file, and request guidance on how to proceed.
