What happens if I do not collect a court notification from Correos, the Spanish post office?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

Not collecting it does not stop the proceedings or prevent the lawsuit from going ahead. If the letter was the first communication in a lawsuit, such as a claim, the court will try to deliver it to your home, where it can be left with a relative, an employee or the concierge if you are not in. If even then the court cannot locate you, it will give you notice by publication (“edictos”), that is, by means of official notices published online. If you are already a party to proceedings without a court agent (“procurador”), a letter sent to the address on record in those proceedings may count as notification even if you do not collect it. Leaving it uncollected only makes it more likely that you will find out late. What the court does If the uncollected letter is the first one in a lawsuit, such as one containing a claim, the court will normally take the following steps: Attempting delivery at your home, through a court official or the court agent of the person claiming against you. If you are not in, the copy can be left in a sealed envelope with a relative or another person over the age of fourteen who lives with you, with an employee or with the building's concierge. The notification is valid from that moment. If you no longer live there or cannot be found, searching public registers and bodies for other addresses of yours and attempting delivery at them. If all that fails, giving you notice by publication, by means of notices published on the official online notice board (“Tablón Edictal Judicial Único”), on the website of the BOE, Spain's Official State Gazette. In eviction proceedings for non-payment or at the end of the tenancy and in claims for rent, the court can go straight to notice by publication if you cannot be found at the rented home or premises or at the address stated in the contract, unless you have notified the landlord of another address in a way that can be proved. What it means for you If what was being sent to you was a claim, the time limit for filing a defence starts to run from when it is handed to another person at your home or from when the notice is published, even if you never get to see the claim. If you neither appear in the proceedings nor file a defence, you will be declared in default (“rebeldía”) and the proceedings will continue without you until judgment, which may end in the attachment of your assets. If you are already a party to the proceedings without a court agent, the letters the court sends to the address recorded in them may count as notification even if you do not collect them, provided there is a record that they were sent correctly. If the letter summons you to take part in person, for example to give evidence at the trial, the court does have to try to deliver it to your home. Moreover, if there is evidence that you knew the court was looking for you and avoided being notified, it will be very difficult for you to argue later that you did not find out. The courts do not protect those who have put themselves in that position. What you should do Collect the letter even if you are not expecting anything from the court. If the time limit for collecting it has already passed and you know which court sent it, call or go to that court and ask what it was. If you have a lawyer handling a case for you, let them know. And if you discover that you have been given notice by publication or that a judgment has been given without your knowledge, seek legal advice straight away, because the time limits for taking action are short.