801.12.Jurisdiction in rem or quasi in rem, manner of serving summons for; notice of object of action.

Section 801.12 fills in the service mechanics that section 801.07’s in rem and quasi in rem jurisdiction grounds depend on. A court exercising that kind of jurisdiction can affect a defendant’s interest only if the summons, together with either a complaint copy or a notice of the object of the action, has been served. If the defendant is known, service follows the same manner as an ordinary summons under section 801.11, but that service by itself doesn’t bind the defendant personally unless a separate ground for personal jurisdiction also exists. If the defendant is unknown, publication as a class 3 notice takes the place of personal or substituted service.

The notice of the object of the action, when it’s used instead of a complaint copy, has its own content requirements. It must be signed by the plaintiff or attorney, state the general object of the action, briefly describe any specific real or personal property the action affects, make clear that no personal claim is being made against that defendant, and tell the defendant that a complaint copy will be delivered or mailed on request within the time set for responding to a summons. If a defendant served this way ends up defending the action without a reasonable basis for doing so, that defendant must pay the plaintiff’s costs.