Los Angeles based Plaintiff's counsel Fred represents Sally, and mails the Summons and Complaint of Sally's complaint to defendant Joe's San Francisco home. An Acknowledgement and Receipt form is attached. Fred also hires someone who leaves a copy of the Complaint on Joe's doorstep. Joe is out of the country on vacation at the time the complaint is left at and delivered by mail to his home. He does not return for another 30 days after their delivery to his home. The Acknowledgement form is never signed or returned by Joe, who also does not respond to the Complaint. No other action is taken by Fred to serve the Complaint on Joe, because Fred mixes up this case with another one and wrongfully believes it was signed in this case. Moreover, his long-time legal assistant quit recently, and she normally helps him comply with service rules. Twenty-five days after the Complaint is left at/delivered to Joe's home, Fred asks the court to find Joe to be in default on Fred's complaint and to enter a default judgement against Joe for $1 million dollars.

Questions:

Question 1: Was service of the Complaint on defendant Joe proper? Why or why not? Question 2: Assuming the court denies the default request and sets an Order to Show Cause as to why Fred should not be sanctioned for failing to serve the defendant within 60 days of the Complaint's filing, what arguments can Fred make in opposition to this Order? Question 3: If a default judgment is entered but the majority of his assets are in Nevada, what are defendant Joe's options in responding to the default and the pros and cons of each? Question 4: Assuming a default order and judgement are entered and defendant Joe timely files a CCP 473 Motion to Vacate them, what grounds should be asserted in the Motion and why?