4 Tips to Serving Papers Like a Pro
Becoming a process server is a great career. You get to perform important legal work, but you don’t have to spend so much time in school. You can get started more quickly and start making an impact.
But, just like with other professions, there are people who do the job well and people who don’t. If you need to hire a processing serving company, it’s important that you know what goes into the job so that you know how to identify the best. If you are a budding or novice process server, it’s important that you know how to get better at the job so you can deliver better results for your clients and develop a strong reputation. Here are a few helpful hints for how you can become an exceptional process server:
Get Information Before Serving Court Papers
You need to find out everything you can about the person to be served before you head out looking for them. You need to know a lot more than their name and where they live. You also need to know things like where they work and when, as well as what their usual routine is. You need to know what kind of car they drive. And, perhaps most importantly, it is helpful if you know a bit of what they look like. Key identifying details like tattoos can be most helpful.
You can get some of this information from social media, but you should also ask your client for anything they know, as well as for a recent photo, if available.
Name Drop Effectively To Serve Someone
If you show up and start asking the neighbors whether “John Smith” lives next door and when he’s usually home, they’re going to be suspicious. They may even peg you for a bill collector or some other official, and they might pretend ignorance. You’ll have much better success if you just ask for your friend “John” instead and pretend like you’re just lost.
You might go to the neighbor’s house and ask for John. Then you just wait while they tell you that no, he doesn’t live here, he actually lives next door, but he’s usually not home until around 5, and so on. You’ll be surprised at how much information people will give you without much prodding if you just act casual and confident.
Sometimes Court Servers Use Props
It is illegal for a process server to pretend to be a police officer or other law enforcement officer, a mail or post delivery person, or a government employee. However, in many states, you are allowed to carry some props, such as a bouquet of flowers or a pizza. You don’t have to say that you are there to deliver. You can just hold the items in your hands and let people make their own conclusions.
The props may help you to go into a neighborhood or place of business without being harassed. You may have a better chance of getting closer to the person to complete your process of service.
Call Their Home Number
A lot of people will just pretend not to be at home if someone shows up at their door whom they do not recognize. If you can find their home number, call it. If you hear the phone ringing inside, you know you are at the right location. If someone actually picks up the phone, you know they are home. You can use this information to help you track the person’s movements so that you can eventually make contact and complete process of service.
Becoming a great process server takes a lot of training and skill-building over years of experience. If you need to complete process of service, don’t try to complete it yourself unless you are a trained process server. If you are an individual, you should leave the work to the professionals and call a process serving company to ensure the proper completion of the job. You’ll get the process completed more quickly, and you’ll have the documentation you need to move your case forward.
Contact our Process Server Professionals
Call ASAP Serve Legal Services in Mesa today to get the process of service you need. We are one of the top process serving companies in Mesa, and we offer a range of services, including court document filing, court research service, court document delivery, and of course, process of service. Simply fill out the service request on our site or call one of our friendly customer associates to get your service started.
