What happens if someone refuses certified mail

Here are some examples,. You may be a defendant in lawsuit. If the plaintiff the person suing has been unable to have you personally served with the Summons and Complaint by a process server, many courts allow service by certified mail. In other words, you will have lost the case. If you are involved in a business dispute and have been served with a Summons and Complaint, it may be in your best interest to discuss your rights with a business dispute lawyer businesses can rely on.

Some taxing and government authorities utilize certified mail in order to assess taxes against you or take some other type of administrative action. Again, an envelope returned as refused may result in your having waived your right to contest the taxes or other government action. If some court has already assessed a money judgment against you, some laws require you to receive official notice before your paycheck or bank accounts can be garnished to satisfy a judgment.

Read More: Certified Mail Requirements. Although it is not illegal to refuse certified mail, it can count against you as the recipient because the sender may be forced to hire process servers to complete the task and they may recoup their fees from you following a court order.

If a moving party can provide proof of attempting to serve an individual with notices and motions via certified mail marked "Refused" , then a court may pass judgment in favor of the sender because he has tried all he could to bring all parties to court for a hearing. This process varies from state to state.

Jin Machina began writing professionally in You won't be given the mail itself before signing for it and accepting delivery, but you are entitled to be told the sender's name and address before making the decision. The delivery person will note that delivery was refused, rather than simply being undeliverable. Unlike some other types of mail, you can't return it once it's in your hands -- signing for the mail indicates proof of delivery. Rejecting certified mail doesn't make a negative situation go away.

The willful failure to accept certified mail likely won't stop the foreclosure process, for example -- the noted refusal to accept the document is enough to indicate a good-faith attempt to deliver the needed notice.