When it comes to legal matters, serving papers to the right individual at the correct address is a crucial step in the process. In Denver, finding someone’s address for service can sometimes be challenging. Not knowing a person’s current address when you need to serve them court paperwork can cause serious delays to your case. In this post, we’ll give you our best tips for how to locate the address of someone who needs to be served in Colorado.
Do Your Own Research
The first step in locating someone’s address is to conduct your own research. Call around to mutual acquaintances or friends, Google their name, or try to find them on social media. You may be surprised how much information is available with minimal effort.
Hire a Process Server
Hiring a professional process server is always the best way to go when you need to serve process to anyone, but especially if that person has proven difficult to locate. Process servers are trained to locate people, so they always have a few tricks up their sleeve when it comes to finding someone who is being evasive. Along with scouring the internet and inquiring of their own acquaintances who may know the person being sought, process servers also have specialized skip trace skills to find out extensive information about a person:
Order a Skip Trace
If your own efforts don’t yield results, ordering a skip trace from a process server is a smart move. A skip trace involves more in-depth investigative techniques to locate someone who has moved without leaving a forwarding address. Process servers use various skills and sources to conduct the skip trace, giving you a peek into the person’s personal life. This includes searching private databases, vehicle registrations, social media, credit reports, public records, utility records, post office records, licensing organizations, business records, criminal records, property records, and more. Skip tracers also often speak with the person’s known family and associates or may even employ a paid informant to solicit information.
Request Permission for Alternative Service from a Court
In some cases, even the most thorough searches might not yield the current address of the individual. When this happens, you can request permission from the court for alternative service methods. This involves proving to the court that all reasonable efforts to locate the person have been made. Official documentation from the skip trace, along with your documentation of your own efforts, will help prove that sufficient efforts have been made.
Service by Substitution
One popular method of alternative service is service by substitution, where a judge allows another qualified person to receive the process on the intended recipient’s behalf. This substitute usually needs to be a competent adult who is likely to pass the process along to the correct person, such as a spouse, other known relative, or roommate. Once the substitute is served, the intended recipient is considered served and the case can move forward.
Service by Publication
Another popular alternative service method is service by publication. Service by publication allows the process to be posted in the local newspaper or other public place where the intended recipient is likely to see it for a certain period of time. Once the process information has been posted for the required amount of time, the person is considered served and the case can move forward.
We Can Help You Find Anyone in Colorado
At Accurate Serve® of Denver, we specialize in locating individuals who need to be served all over Colorado. Our experienced process servers are equipped with the latest tools and techniques to ensure that we find the right address quickly and efficiently. Don’t let the challenge of finding an address delay your legal case. Contact us today at 303-501-7121 or send us a work request online and let our professional team handle the search, ensuring your documents are served correctly and on time.
