serving the tenant with a summons and complaint

[Carlos Enriquez]

After a few hiccups with the 3 day notice to pay rent or quit, which should have been done on Thursday, August 6th, my PM finally got the attorney involved to serve the tenant.  He had served the wrong person in the household who was not on the lease (daughter), so it was delayed.

Serving the tenant with a summons and complaint by the attorney's service was to have begun on Monday, August 17th.  I called this morning (Thursday the 20th) to find out that the tenant still has not been served.  My PM assured me that the attorney's service can still go to court showing all their attempts at different times to win by default.  It's in WA State, and I'm not sure how it works there, as I'm in California.  My PM is trying to encourage and educate me on how things are handled there and I'm learning.  But I would like to know from others, what happens if a process server can't locate a tenant?  My tenant seems to be in hiding.  I think he's a "professional tenant" from what I've been reading in BP.  Thanks.