How do I know if I am Being sued?

Question

Well I am being threatened to be taken to small claims court (long story) And I need to know how to look up and see if someone actually filed a case againest me and my fiance. I have called the court and they said nothing showed up but they said it could be spelled differently or the plaintiff can serve us by publication ! How am i suppose to find out?

Answer 1

you won,t know untill you get a letter.

Answer 2

You have to be served by a court. If you're not served properly, any judgments against you will have to be vacated.  Publication severance is unlikely. If you're not served, you're not sued. Show the plaintiff how smart you are and cite the case of Pennoyer against Neff. Say, "Yo! Plaintiff. According to Pennoyer v. Neff, I don't have to pay you a penny unless I am properly served."

Answer 3

The plaintiff can serve by publication which means a notice in the legal section of your newspaper. Better start reading!

Answer 4

Even in Small claims court, a person is required to serve notice upon a defendent.  This can be by personal service and in many jurisdictions, it can be by certified mail or, as you say, publication.  Unfortunately, if you do not read the publication that they serve you through, you will not know if a case has been filed.  I would just keep calling the court on a regular basis, say every 2-3 weeks or so, and ask them.  Or there may be internet access to the small claims court docket in your city that you can check.

If you do find out a suit has been filed, be sure you show up on the answer date set by the court.  You wouldn't want to have a default judgment entered against you.

Good luck.

Answer 5

If you are named in the suit - you will be served.

Most of the time - the law suit comes by certified mail.  Although suits can also be served by a process server.

If you are concerned it's by publication - start reading the legal notices in the paper every day (they are usually at the start of the classified ads).

If you get sued - you want to make sure you answer and appear. If you do not answer or appear - a default judgment can be entered against you. That's an automatic "you lose".  

Answer 6

You have to be served. This is either by publication (in the newspaper), by personal or substitute service (papers given to you or someone else at your house), or sometimes, by mail (depending on your State's rules).

If you are calling the Court and they can't tell you I wouldn't worry about it. If the name is spelled wrong then if a judgement is rendered it will be spelled wrong too and therefore of no consequence to you.

You can't get served by publication unless the Court authorizes such, and that usually requires an affidavit that you could not be personally served or located. I wouldn't worry to much about it, and if this is small claims court then the Court won't actually handle the publication and whoever is threatening you will have to go through a complicated procedure and also pay the fees.

Again, don't worry about this one.

Answer 7

im sure youll get a letter in the mail

Answer 8

You will receive notification from either the lawyer or small claims court.

Answer 9

Usually a person that is being sued is served papers.