First, make the attempts count
Most "evasive" defendants are simply never home when a server shows up at 2 PM. Our first move is to vary the timing: an early morning, an evening after 7 PM, and a Saturday when your level's time includes one. Each attempt is logged with GPS, time, a photo and a note about what we saw, cars in the driveway, lights on, a neighbor's comment. That log is the due diligence a court expects to see.
Substitute service at the home
Florida law allows papers to be left at the defendant's usual place of abode with a person who lives there and is 15 or older, as long as the server explains what the documents are. A spouse, adult child or roommate who answers the door can be served this way. What does not count: a neighbor, a housekeeper who does not live there, or leaving the papers at the door. We record the name and description of the person served in the affidavit.
Service at work or anywhere else
Personal service does not have to happen at home. The workplace, a courthouse hallway, a gym, a restaurant: if we can identify the person, we can hand them the papers. When we know a defendant's schedule from earlier attempts, we plan for it and coordinate with you first, because a workplace serve should be discreet.
Gated communities and condominiums
Florida Statute 48.031(7) gives a process server the right to enter a gated residential community to attempt service. In practice the server shows identification at the gate, and if a guard still refuses, the refusal is recorded on the attempt log. High-rises are different: the concierge can refuse a walk-up, so we document the building policy and use the hours residents pass through the lobby. In some buildings the law allows service on the building's authorized agent for evictions; ask us about the specific case.
Businesses that hide behind a registered agent
Every Florida company must keep a registered agent on file with the Division of Corporations. If the office is closed or the owner is never in, service on the registered agent during business hours is valid. When the registered agent has resigned or the address is stale, the statute provides a fallback sequence, and we walk you through it.
When the address is wrong
If attempts show the person moved, we stop and tell you rather than burning attempts. If you have another address for the person, we continue there. Our field app flags this in your portal as soon as the server learns it.
Signs someone is avoiding service
Real evasion has a pattern. The car is in the driveway but no one answers. The lights go off when the server knocks. A relative says the person "doesn't live here" while their mail sits by the door. A receptionist says the owner is never in, on every visit. None of this stops a serve, but it changes the plan: more varied times, a different location, and a careful note of each observation, because those notes end up in the affidavit.
What the rules allow, in plain terms
Florida's service statute, section 48.031, covers personal delivery, substitute service at the home on a resident who is 15 or older, and access to gated residential communities. For a company, the registered agent on file with the Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) is the usual first stop. What the rules do not allow is just as important: papers taped to a door without the conditions the law requires, papers left with a neighbor, or a server who pretends to be someone else. A serve done the wrong way can be thrown out, which costs more time than one more attempt.
How long it usually takes
Most people who seem to be avoiding service are served within the included attempts once the timing changes: an early morning, an evening, a Saturday. When a case truly stalls, the attempt log becomes the evidence your attorney uses to ask the court for another method. Florida's general deadline to serve a defendant is 120 days after the complaint is filed, so it pays to start early and keep the record clean.
What you get either way
Served: a notarized affidavit with the date, time, place, manner of service and a description of the person. Not served after the full round of attempts: an affidavit of due diligence listing every attempt with its GPS position and photo. Both are e-filing ready and appear in your portal the moment they are signed.