2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY-TWO Appendix (§§ 1 — 39.4) › Appendix III - Rules of Civil Procedure for the General Court of Justice, 1979 (§§ 39.2 — 39.4) › Part II - COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION › Rule 4 - Process › Rule 4.5 - Service by edicts and publication thereof

(a) The court shall issue an order providing for a summons by publication when the person to be served is outside of Puerto Rico or if in Puerto Rico, cannot be located although pertinent attempts have been made to locate him/her, or when the person goes into hiding to avoid being served, or if it is a foreign corporation with no resident agent, and it is proved to the satisfaction of the court through an affidavit stating the steps taken, and said statement or sworn complaint filed states that justifies the granting of some relief against the person to be served or that said person is the proper party in the suit action.
The return of process, unexecuted, shall not be a prerequisite for an order for service by publication.
The order shall provide that the summons shall be published only once in a newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico. The order shall also provide that, within the ten (10) days following the publication of the summons, the defendant shall be sent a copy of the summons and of the complaint filed, by certified mail, with acknowledgment of receipt, or through any other mail delivery service with acknowledgment of receipt, provided said entity has no ties with the defendant nor any interest in the suit, to his/her last known address, unless a sworn statement is made justifying that in spite of the steps taken, which shall be stated, it has been impossible to find any known address of the defendant, in which case the court will [excuse] compliance of this provision.
(b) The summons shall contain the following information:
(1) Title—Service by Edict
(2) Part of the Court of First Instance
(3) Case number
(4) Plaintiff’s name
(5) Name of defendant to be served
(6) Type of action
(7) Name, address and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney
(8) Name of person issuing the summons through publication
(9) Date of issue
(10) Term within which the person so served shall answer the complaint, as provided in Rule 10.1, and a warning that if he/she fails to answer the complaint by filing the original of the answer with the corresponding court, with a copy to plaintiff, the contempt shall be entered and judgment shall be rendered granting the remedy sought without further summons or hearing. The summons shall identify in ten (10)-point bold black letters, every first mention of a natural and/or juridical person who is summoned thereby.
If the complaint is amended at any time before the appearance of the defendant summoned by publication, said amended complaint shall be served on him/her in the manner provided by the applicable rule on service.
In the case of defendants who are away from Puerto Rico, the plaintiff may substitute personal delivery of copies of the complaint and the summons on the defendant, for summons by publication. Service of summons in this case shall be made pursuant to Rule 4.3.
History —Amended on Aug. 4, 1979, No. 197, p. 575, § 1; Aug. 12, 1995, No. 196, § 1; Dec. 25, 1995, No. 249, § 7; July 31, 2007, No. 97, § 1.