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I want to elaborate on this.
Do you know what the Mailbox Rule is? https://twitter.com/boozybadger/status/1294396989644378115
Do you know what the Mailbox Rule is? https://twitter.com/boozybadger/status/1294396989644378115
It’s a contract common law rule that day is a majority of jurisdictions if you mail an acceptance of an offer, it is effective on posting (unless it’s an options contract) even if someone later sends a revocation of the offer if mailed before the revocation is received.
So Bob offers to sell something to Tim via a letter. Bob changes his mind the next day and sends a revocation. Say the day after that Tim gets the offer and drops a letter in a postbox accepting. His acceptance is effective because he mailed it before getting the revocation.
But how do you prove this? Postmarks are a good way to prove it. But if hours and sorting are cut in Tim’s location, maybe his letter isn’t postmarked for the day he mails it. And now we have a he said/he said lawsuit over when it was mailed.
Or the fact that for service of papers other than original process, like an answer with a counterclaim, some jurisidictions say service is made when the paper is mailed.
So say I file an answer with a counterclaim on the 10th. In PA you get 20 days from date of service to file your answer to my counterclaim. So typically you have until the 30th.
Normally not an issue. Your lawyer would get my stuff a day or two later with plenty of time to answer it. But say a slow down means they don’t get it until the 20th. Now they only have 10 days. Less if it’s delivered on a Saturday.
Or worse, a Notice of Default, which I have to send 10 days prior to taking a default judgment and says “Hey, file your answer within 10 days from the day I mailed this or I get to take a default judgment.”
There’s a real chance you may not get it before I take the default now.
There’s a real chance you may not get it before I take the default now.
But under the current rules, my service is still valid whether the post office is operating at a snails pace or not.
So you just sort of got fucked and now have to file special motions I can fight to open the default and file your answer.
So you just sort of got fucked and now have to file special motions I can fight to open the default and file your answer.
...this is going to be interesting.
And that’s not even getting to the question of when “shall be served by certified mail” means certified US Mail, no exceptions, and you have a statute of limitations issue coming up.
