South Carolina · Evasive recipients
Serving Hard-to-Reach People in South Carolina
When a South Carolina recipient will not come to the door, DFS keeps attempting at different hours and days, records every visit, and reports what it sees so counsel can choose the next lawful step.
The door that never opens
A car in the driveway and no answer, a relative who insists the defendant moved away, a person who shuts the door mid-sentence. Evasion is common, and in South Carolina it matters because actual service generally must follow filing within 120 days to preserve the filing date.
The answer is persistence with a paper trail. If personal and abode service keep failing, counsel may need a record of diligent effort for a court, for example in support of an order for publication under S.C. Code § 15-9-710.
Working an evasive serve
- Share what you knowSend every address, vehicle and schedule detail your client has.
- Attempt at different timesVisits are spread across days and hours, each logged with GPS time stamps.
- Report after each visitYou hear what happened, so counsel can supply a new address or adjust.
- Close out the fileYou receive the affidavit of service or a full due diligence record.
How DFS approaches evasive recipients
Repeated, varied-time attempts and detailed records for South Carolina recipients who avoid service.
- Varied attempt windowsEarly mornings, evenings and weekend days, rather than repeat visits at one hour.
- Lawful approach onlyService at the door or in public places, with no trespass, pretext or impersonation.
- Refusals documentedIf a recipient refuses to take papers after being identified, the exchange is filmed and described.
- Observation notesVehicles, lights, statements from occupants and anything else seen from the approach are logged.
- Attempt summaryA dated record of every visit that counsel can use in later filings.
What DFS will not do in South Carolina
Process serving is the only service DFS offers in South Carolina.
- No stakeouts, surveillance, database research or locating people; a new address comes from counsel or the client.
- No Sunday service on a person going to, from or attending a scheduled religious service (S.C. Code § 15-9-17).
- Publication and other substitute methods require court involvement; DFS supplies the field record only.
Questions about difficult-to-serve recipients
How many attempts does DFS make?
That depends on the file and the deadline. Each attempt is quoted and reported, and counsel decides when the record is sufficient to stop.
What counts as a refusal?
Generally, a recipient who is identified and told the nature of the papers but will not take them. DFS records exactly what was said and done so counsel can evaluate it.
Can DFS find a new address?
No. In South Carolina DFS does not locate people. If attempts show the address is stale, the client or counsel provides the next address.
South Carolina guides
Longer answers from the DFS Guides & FAQ.
Related pages
More on process serving in South Carolina.
Reviewed October 2026 by Delator Field Services. General information about South Carolina practice, not legal advice.
Papers to serve in South Carolina?
Send the documents and the recipient’s last known address through the request form. DFS confirms the county, service level and price in writing before the first attempt.
Questions first? Call or text (629) 310-8667 or email contact@delatorgroup.com.