Adaptation note: This story is adapted from a matter handled by Lingtu Law. Party identities, case details and the outcome have been changed, and it does not reflect the actual result of the original case.

Mr. S and Mr. K once stayed at a friend's house. The friend said at the time that the place was already set up and would eventually be listed on Airbnb. Some time later, the friend claimed valuable items were missing from the house and sought tens of thousands of dollars. The friendship turned adversarial and the friend sued. Mr. S never even saw the summons before the court entered his default.

• The proof of service looked flawless on its face. The process server left the complaint at Mr. S's former address with a person living there at the time. Opposing counsel also said he had records showing Mr. S still lived there.
• The other side refused to stipulate to setting aside the default, partly because none of our materials were sworn evidence. To go to court, every statement needed a signed declaration behind it.
• The key witness's recollection didn't match the draft. The person who accepted the papers said he told the process server to take them back but the server left them anyway, while the draft had said he "refused" them.
• Time was short. Counsel expected a new law to take effect soon that would change the rules for this kind of motion, so the hearing had to happen first. Once a hearing date was set, service and filing had to be completed within 3 court days.

• Reconstruct his actual movements from card records. We read the timestamp on each of Mr. S's transaction screenshots and converted the ones from other time zones to Pacific Time; one was a late-night gas purchase in a city far from the old address. Declarations from his employer and a coworker showed he had moved out months earlier and had been living in company-provided housing since.
• All four declarations were made under penalty of perjury. Sections Mr. S had to complete personally were signed by hand in ink; the three witnesses signed by DocuSign, which California court rules permit for declarations and which made their cooperation much easier.
• The firm contacted witnesses directly, not through the client, and didn't show the witness the proof of service first, asking him to describe the day in his own words. Anything he couldn't recall clearly was cut, leaving only what he could swear to. We adjusted the argument to match: the papers were left at the old address, but Mr. S didn't return there for over a month, and by the time he first went back for mail the default had already been entered, so he could not have answered in time.
• Beat the new law's effective date. We took the earliest hearing date available and, within 3 court days, served the other side and filed the full motion with a proposed answer attached.

Date	Milestone
Jan 2026	The process server left the complaint at the address Mr. S had moved out of, with someone else accepting it
Feb 2026	The court entered default; days later Mr. S went back to the old address for mail for the first time
Mar 2026	Lingtu took the case; the other side refused to stipulate; four sworn declarations were signed and a hearing date set
May 2026	The judge granted the motion, set aside the default, and allowed Mr. S to answer

The other side had a proof of service with every box checked. We had card timestamps, the employer's testimony, and the witness's own words. With the default set aside, whether those "missing valuables" ever existed will finally have to be proven in court.

The judge granted the motion, set aside the default, and allowed Mr. S to file a formal answer.