Serve Court Papers to LL

[FlowerGirlShari]

My boyfriend and I have currently (1 month) ago filed a small claim with the small claim's court against our old LL. Due to him living in a different county and us not being able to serve the papers ourselves, we decided to pay the fee and have the Sheriff’s office in his county (LA County) serve him the papers. When we talked to the court where we filed the claim (Irvine) two weeks ago their records showed that the Sheriff’s office has not had luck in serving the LL yet. Our question is, if we have done our part in filing the claim, paying the fee's and then show up to court on our assigned date and the LL does not show, what happens?

Background: We filed the claim in Irvine, CA because the property we rented from the LL is located in Irvine, CA.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[OHlandlord]

Check with the clerk of courts in the county where the property is located for alternate forms of service. Some areas allow a private process server (someone dressed as a pizza delivery boy usually gets them to open the door), notification by regular or certified mail, or notification by publication in the local paper for a number of weeks. Call and ask. If the court determines that the LL was properly notified according to the laws of that area, and the LL does not show up for court, you normally will win by default.