Ham

This case comes to us from the appellate division of the superior court, which granted the request of appellant Christine Marie Ham to transfer the matter under California Rules of Court, rule 8.1005. The issue before us is whether Code of Civil Procedure section 415.45, which governs service of summons in unlawful detainer actions, permits service by posting and mailing after multiple attempts to effect personal service have been unsuccessful. The appellate division, reversing the superior court, ruled that such efforts are not sufficient to comply with the “reasonable diligence” requirement of section 415.45. We agree with the superior court, however, that in the particular circumstances presented, the landlord, The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford), exercised reasonable diligence in attempting to serve appellant. We will therefore affirm the superior court’s order denying the motion of appellant Christine Ham to vacate the default judgment entered against her.

Background

Neither party’s brief on appeal offers a complete and accurate summary of the procedural history of this case accompanied by correct citations to the record. The…