Paperwork requirements

[rmmart]

Jurisdiction

California

When a landlord has papers served on a tenant does the summons served have to be stamped by the court clerk?

 

[army judge]

When a landlord has papers served on a tenant does the summons served have to be stamped by the court clerk?

I could say, it depends on WHAT paper you're serving, but its better to say, here you go research it:

http://www.courts.ca.gov/partners/documents/lthandouts.pdf

Landlords: Serve the Papers to the Tenant & File the Proof of Service with the Court (Step 4 of 7) - eviction_housing_selfhelp

 

[mightymoose]

You likely need to submit a Proof of Service form to the clerk. If you hired someone to serve the document they likely did the proof of service already.

 

[rmmart]

You likely need to submit a Proof of Service form to the clerk. If you hired someone to serve the document they likely did the proof of service already.

What I am asking about is the document titled summons, when landlord has it served on tenant is it supposed to have a court clerks stamp on it?

 

[rmmart]

Not the proof of service of summons, the summons its self. Complaint is stamped, answer is stamped, summons is not.

 

[mightymoose]

You can check with the clerk's office regarding procedure, but I don't think they stamp it until it returns with a proof of service.

 

[zddoodah]

Yes, the summons must be issued before service is valid.

I don't think they stamp it until it returns with a proof of service.

The summons is (usually) issued by the clerk at the time the complaint is filed. The clerk will place his/her official seal in the box at the bottom left of the form and date and sign it in the prior section. The clerk will only issue a single original summons, but the clerk will, if desired, place a date and signature stamp on additional copies of the summons. The plaintiff retains the original summons and either serves a copy of the original summons or one of the additional date/signature stamped copies on the defendant. If the OP is asking whether a summons is invalid if it is not a copy of the original summons, the answer is no.

After the summons and complaint have been served, the plaintiff files a proof of service, but the original summons will not be returned to the court unless the plaintiff is seeking entry of default (in which case the clerk will place a "filed" stamp in the box at the top right of the summons.

 

[adjusterjack]

Complaint is stamped, answer is stamped, summons is not.

Then it probably doesn't matter. The documents are on record with the court. Forget that the summons isn't stamped. That won't help you.