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Rule 737.4 Service and Return of Citation; Alternative Service of Citation (2010)

TEXT

(a) Service and Return of Citation. The sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by Rule 536 who receives the citation must serve the citation by delivering a copy of it, along with a copy of the petition and any attachments, to the landlord at least six days before the appearance date. At least one day before the appearance date, the person serving the citation must return the citation, with the action written on the citation, to the justice who issued the citation. The citation must be issued, served, and returned in like manner as ordinary citations issued from a justice court.
(b) Alternative Service of Citation.
(1) If the petition does not include the landlord's name and business street address, or if, after making diligent efforts on at least two occasions, the sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by Rule 536 is unsuccessful in serving the citation on the landlord under (a), the sheriff, con-stable, or other person authorized by Rule 536 must serve the citation by delivering a copy of the citation, petition, and any attachments to:

(A) the landlord's management company if the tenant has received written notice of the name and business street address of the landlord's management company; or
(B) if (b)(1)(A) does not apply and the tenant has not received the landlord's name and business street address in writing, the landlord's authorized agent for service of process, which may be the landlord's management company, on-premise manager, or rent collector serving the residential rental property.

(2) If the sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by Rule 536 is unsuccessful in serving citation under (b)(1) after making diligent efforts on at least two occasions at either the business street address of the landlord's management company, if (b)(1)(A) applies, or at each available business street address of the landlord's authorized agent for service of process, if (b)(1)(B) applies, the sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by Rule 536 must execute and file in the justice court a sworn statement that the sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by Rule 536 made diligent efforts to serve the citation on at least two occasions at all available business street addresses of the landlord and, to the extent applicable, the landlord's management company, on-premises manager, and rent collector serving the residential rental property, providing the times, dates, and places of each attempted service. The justice may then authorize the sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by Rule 536 to serve citation by:

(A) delivering a copy of the citation, petition, and any attachments to someone over the age of sixteen years, at any business street address listed in the petition, or, if nobody answers the door at a business street address, either placing the citation, petition, and any attachments through a door mail chute or slipping them under the front door, and if neither of these latter methods is practical, affixing the citation, petition, and any attachments to the front door or main entry to the business street address;
(B) within 24 hours of complying with (b)(2)(A), sending by first class mail a true copy of the citation, petition, and any attachments addressed to the landlord at the landlord's business street address provided in the petition; and
(C) noting on the return of the citation the date of delivery under (b)(2)(A) and the date of mailing under (b)(2)(B).

Added by order of Dec. 14, 2009, eff. Jan. 1, 2010.