subject: Ontario Small Claims Court Plaintiffs Claim And How To Serve It! [print this page] When a Defence is filed in the Ontario Small Claims Court, the court will notify the parties of their court date, whereas in the case of a Plaintiffs Claim, the Plaintiff has to serve the Defendant.
Under the old rules, service by regular mail was acceptable. Under the new rules it is not. Under the new rules you must serve the documents personally or using a courier, process server or agent. You must be able to prove that the other side received the court documents.
So what happens if the person you are pursuing is evading being served? You can:
1.Hire a process server or paralegal to serve your court documents. These are seasoned professionals and in many cases will be successful at getting the job done.
2.Try packaging your court forms in a box or other unique packaging and courier it to the Defendant without your name and address on the package. That can work often times to.
3.Make a Motion to the Ontario Small Claims Court and ask a judge to issue an order permitting substituted service which could include permission to serve the person at work, permission to post the notice on their front door, permission to leave the court documents with a family member at the residence, permission to serve the person at work and more. This can be a very effective option.
Whichever choice you make, the clock doesnt start ticking until your documents have been served so it pays to be vigilant. For more information about serving your Ontario Small Claims Court Forms visit www.easycourt.ca.
