"A couple of issues with regards to improper service:
1) They are often "he said, she said" situations without additonal proof that you weren't deliberately evading service. It's often less than a tossup that you can get the default judgment set aside.
2) If your default judgment is set aside, you're just delaying the inevitable since they will simply sue you again."
With respect, I cannot disagree more.
First, this is not quite a he said she said issue. They claim to have served you. If the law in your state requires personally handing you the documents, as I suspect it does absent further stipulations from the court, then this was improper service. Improper service means the court has literally zero jurisdiction over that party until such time as the service can be legally and properly completed. This is why the moving party needs to file a proof of service in basically all jurisdictions. The POS is like you stating under oath to the court that you did in fact personally serve the defendant, or another resident, at ____ address, etc etc. Posting the summons on the door is not generally allowed in most jurisdictions unless the plaintiff can show that they made bona fide effort to serve you, and have for whatever reason not been successful. Many jurisdictions also allow alternative service by posting notice in a local newspaper, but again, the main effort to serve must be done personally.
In Texas, at least right now, Rule 106 of the RCP states that personal service must be performed--either by physically handing the actual defendant a copy of the papers, or by certified mail return receipt requested to the defendant. The return receipt is sufficient proof that service was effected in the case of the latter. If neither of those are successful, then the moving party must make an affidavit and motion to the court, explaining under oath that service has been attempted but not successful. At that point, the court will authorize the process server to leave a copy of the summons with any person over the age of 16 at that residence or business. At that point, service is considered completed unless good cause can later be shown as to why it was not--for example, if they tried to serve you at an address you never lived at, you would have a decent argument for improper service.
They are not permitted to merely nail it to the door. At least, not without bona fide effort beforehand at personal service. If you go back to the court clerk's office and view the record again, you should either see that more attempts were made prior to the "we stuck it to the door", or else it is invalid and improper service. Was the address where they claim to have stuck it on the door your actual address at that time?
Second, if your default judgment from several years ago is set aside, that means the SOL clock goes back to what it would have been had they never sued you....which more than likely means it's expired by now and any attempt to sue you would be shut down rather quickly with a "time-barred" defense. SOL begins to run at delinquency, so if your family member stopped paying on this 8 years ago or so, then it's outside the applicable SOL for most states right now. Courts do not reward plaintiffs that file cases, fake proper service and then it's shown all these years later that the POS was a lie. SOL is SOL, and the moment an account goes beyond it, the creditor can do nothing whatsoever to revive it.
