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Rehab Facility Is Refusing To Allow Me To Serve Pfa Papers To My Ex With Upcoming Court Hearing

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I am cross-posting this from the r/domesticviolence subreddit after receiving zero feedback. Background to my case can be found in this thread here. I am in Philadelphia, PA and successfully obtained a temporary PFA against my ex-partner in court last Monday (the 27th). My next court hearing is tomorrow, Wednesday, February 5th. He has been in and out of rehab for the past several months and essentially would come back to my apartment for a period of time from a few days to one week, and then would invariably relapse. As a result he has no permanent housing, now that he has been excluded from my address (the lease is in my name only and he has never established residence here - fortunately for me!).

My dilemma now is how I'm going to go about serving him with papers. He is currently in an inpatient program at another rehab facility. I was advised by my local police precinct to go to the facility in person, then call 911 (yes, they told me specifically to call 911) and request that police come and serve him with the papers. On Saturday when I attempted to do this, the Director of Compliance categorically refused to serve him with any court documents or accept any paperwork on his behalf, citing "HIIPPA" (even though they were happy to take his Social Security card and EBT card from me, "as a dropoff," with the understanding that they were still not confirming or denying he was a current patient) ???? so I called 911 around 3:30pm and requested assistance as I had been instructed.

The location of this particular facility is right in the rancid, beating heart of Kensington (iykyk); the 25th precinct is by far the busiest and most crime-ridden in the entire city. I sat there in the lobby until 6:00pm, and although I called two more times to make sure they hadn't forgotten about me, by the time it got dark outside and they still had not responded, I felt it was no longer safe for me to stay any later and I left emptyhanded.

What exactly do I do in this situation?? Without a signed affidavit of service I will have to request a postponement. How am I supposed to serve him with papers when the facility where he's being housed is refusing to allow this?? Can he hide out in this facility indefinitely with the sole purpose of preventing me from being able to obtain a permanent PFA? I am on my way over there now to attempt service a-GAIN just so I can at least demonstrate that I made a good faith attempt to uphold my obligations, but I'm feeling extraordinary discouraged at this point because I feel as though the system is trying to protect the defendant at the expense of the plaintiff (me).

submitted by /u/MakeWayForWoo
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