Served "Legal Papers" at doorstep by courier

Some dude showed up at my door in the middle of the day and handed me legal paperwork...he made small-talk and said "the legal matter should be explained in the paperwork" and then left.  Definitely a courier, not professionally dressed or anything.   I'm not sure whether to take the legal paperwork seriously, or if this just "upping" the pressure.  Paperwork said lawsuit filed in my county district court for the collection of a debt......but the weird thing is the date next to the lawyer's signature was from 6 months ago??? And it demands a response within 10 days of receiving paperwork, etc.    Is this just meant to frighten me with legalese?    Well, it ain't working.  Not falling for this one....nice try dudes.

So... any docket number for the alleged " lawsuit filed in my county district court" on these papers? Why am I guessing the answer to this question is "no"?

All photo-copied...no original signatures...the signatures from the attorney are illegible due to poor ink quality on the copies.....AND the date next to his signature is Aug 2012.....'served' just recently....5 month gap??     C,mon.    Thanks for the reply.

A few minutes chatting with your local court clerk should clear the air right quick. Like Sir Bed, I doubt you'll find any filed copies of these papers. I would also examine your court's rules of procedure. That response time sounds awfully short. I'd agree the outdated sig is suspect, but may be less so. In my area the plaintiff can take months of sweet time getting defendants served after the complaint filing.

Anyway, if it seems clear that the "dude" was not a process server and you were handed some kindergarten project "legal matter", I hope you confirm where the papers came from and serve their author a *real* summons and complaint. Those photocopies and their paperboy should yield violations of up to six subsections of FDCPA 1692e. You might also fit in oppression or abuse per 1692d.

§ 1692e. False or misleading representations
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1692e

Resident47, I greatly appreciate your info...yeah, the "dude" who I found on my doorstep was dubiously casual and appeared to have no other job than hand me the paperwork.  He was friendly and made a point to give the impression that he knew nothing of the legal matter & was a mere messenger boy. (er, middle-aged dude.)  

If this was a "proper" process server, must they make themselves known as such?  Are they typically more "business-like"?   It all happened so fast that I never got his name.  It's looks like I have some violations to investigate and serve on some rinky-dink law firm.  Again hugely appreciated...have a great weekend.

I don't *think* there's any requirement for a "proper" process server to identify himself as such. I don't believe there are any specific requirements for the job other than a willingness to work cheap, so I wouldn't take his un-business-like appearance into account at all.

That said, everything else about this scenario sounds very suspicious. You refer to a "response within 10 days", but what kind of response? And to whom? The court? The lawyer?

To whom to they allege you owe money? Is there any possibility you might owe money?

Was there any formal validation of the debt in the papers you received? From what you say it doesn't sound like it. Why would anyone go to the trouble and expense of physically delivering legal papers to someone who owed money and *not* include validation of that debt if such validation existed?

Did you receive any information prior to this? 6 months ago? Sir B is correct .. check with your local court clerk. If you were summons to court already you would have already gotten a judgement against you and that would have come from the court. Also you would have had the original paperwork sent you with the court stamps etc.. the copies seem suspect. Did you get a description of the car this guy drove? Is the creditor a legit creditor of yours?

Here's a question for the peanut gallery: Don't process servers work in pairs, so as to have a witness? I've never been served myself but I'd expect you'd want someone to witness the event, otherwise the recipient could deny it ever having happened and it would just be one man's word against another's.

Can anyone with legal training clear this up for me?

I hope nom_de_guerre76 gets to the bottom of this keeps us posted. It seems certain that it's a scam but it's more elaborate than anything else I've seen discussed on 800notes. Hiring someone to deliver papers is really over the top (unless the "server" is the scammer himself). Most crooks of this type just work the phone banks...

Don't expect too much from process servers.    They're kind of the lowest rung on the civil litigation ladder.  
As for the "paperwork," get down to the courthouse NOW and find out if any  civil action has been brought against you.   It is not impossible there was a default judgment against you and only now are they serving you--happens.  There has to be some form of docket or case number on the process, whatever it is, and the clerk of courts should be able to make sense of it.   The plaintiff has to certify service to the court once you are served, so there should be some record of that as well.  Make sure the date of claimed service matches the date you were actually served--sometimes they lie.  

Judging by your description, the paper sounds like it's part of an electronic "law suit dump" where collection agencies file literally hundreds if not thousands of suits electronically with the court, so the questionable appearance of the documents doesn't mean they aren't real.   Take this seriously, otherwise you could end up with a default judgment against you and the protections of the FDCPA go out the window and your pay check is getting garnished.    Collection agencies rarely have adequate or  any supporting evidence of a debt in these cases, so they count on default judgments to win.   In fact in a way you were lucky to get served at all.   Many defendants in cases like this are never properly served  (sewer service,) another CA tactic to get a default judgment.  

If there is a suit, if you need help figuring out what the significance of the paper is, talk to a lawyer or a non-profit credit counselor.    Whatever you do, don't blow this off.   If there is a court date, show up, hopefully with a lawyer or someone who can blow holes in their case.   Violations of state and federal law, past statute of limitations defenses, improper documentation of the debt, etc don't do you much good if you don't know about them.   Good luck and I hope this works out for you.

My wife has been served papers but they have been mailed via certified mail (post office). I was served with a summons one time thru the sherrifs office on a NSF check to appear in court. The server might not be one for a debt either. It could be for child support or divorce or being sued for other reasons. Original info very vague on why served to begin with.

Dont be silly!
Look - no docket number=no case was filed - PERIOD. Had one been filed the company wouldnt be sending you the notice - the court would be sending you a court summons.

Play their own game - - Next time this happens, keep the small talk going, play along, dial 911 and when the police get there tell them the guys company has made several threatening calls to you threatening to come to your house and do harm - trying to scare you AND NOW someone showed up at your door!!! with what look like PHONY DOCUMENTS designed to harrass you and you are scared because now you feel you are in danger in your own home!!! Whether you are actually IN danger or not is not the question - you just need to say you FEEL YOU ARE. and honestly - do you really think you are safe if they went this far to deliver scam papers in person to your house? This should be taken as a threat. Hope you dont have kids with you there.

The police will get to the bottom of at least who these scammers are - and definitely who this "fake courier" is. Perhaps he is also part of it and likely not an honest straight up type and the Police should deal with him. A message will be felt that you will not be intimidated by a scammer.

IF there was an actual case - which is in serious doubt... and IF a default judgement was indeed already filed. you now have the proof of when you were finally served and can have it vacated by the court. not tough to do. if they are this messed up then like most agencies they dont have and cannot get the original validation on the debt - so go to court after making the proper demands for validation - youll win again. FDCPA. $1,000 per violation possible fine on the agency - possible this could even be a counter suit when they do try to go to court on you again.

You arent getting garnished! thats rediculous - this rarely happens anyway. Oh and the docs must be real and if they dont look real it does mean they arent 99% of the time. If they ARE - then good for you because they violated the FDCPA with them. But this one isnt a legit collection effort as I read the original post - if a scammer - see my other reply. Either way - DO NOT PANIC and dont lie down for these lowlifes.

Look at the paperwork carefully. In the center of the first page of the complaint (usually the 2nd page of the documents, 1st is called the summons and is typically a court form with basic info) is the name of the court where the case was filed. It may also be on the top left hand corner with the attorney or party's name.

Do not assume that because there is nothing filed in your county court that there's no case; it's possible that they filed in another county, in federal court or even in arbitration. The complaint should list the court or forum it was filed with and that's the one you should be checking with. (ie. Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles {state court} or United States District Court, Central District of California {federal}, arbitration papers will say something like American Arbitration Association or JAMS, this is only available if the contract you signed allows it)

Go to www.creditinfocenter.com/forums and you can find a lot more info. It's not all too hard to beat these types of companies. Good luck!

is there a docket number or a court stamp?

Around here personal service is done typically by court appointed constables. Their names and ID numbers are all listed on the court system website. That server needs only to certify in writing when and how service was made, not much different from the delivery notations made by a UPS courier. Anyone trying to play dumb after knowingly getting served quickly finds that "one man's word" will always favor the court.

I've leaned toward your second thought from the first, that Some Server Dude is a flunkie employed directly by the collectors. I was reminded of the Nations Recovery Center trainer four years back who liked to visit alleged debtors dressed in a police uniform.

How things get done in Nom De Guerre's neighborhood is not for us to guess. Subsequent commentors have raised very sound cautions to treat this like it's real until proven otherwise. If there really are "ten days" to act, three of them are already gone this Sunday.