What are the consequences if a defendant fails to waive service without good cause?

If a defendant fails to waive service without good cause, the court may impose expenses incurred in making service as a consequence. This approach aligns with the legal principle that encourages cooperation in the process of serving legal documents. When a defendant does not respond adequately to a request for waiver, the court recognizes that additional efforts and resources have been expended in attempting to serve the papers, and thus it can require the defendant to reimburse those costs. This serves to uphold the efficiency of the legal process by discouraging defendants from avoiding service when they are capable of waiving it voluntarily.

In this context, if the defendant does not provide a reasonable cause for failing to waive the service, it emphasizes accountability for the legal process and helps mitigate unnecessary expenses for the plaintiff. This ensures that the legal system operates fairly and funds are not wasted in attempts to serve individuals who could have participated in a more straightforward manner.

The other choices focus on consequences like contempt of court or fines, which are generally not the direct result of simply failing to waive service. Automatic waiver is not a realistic outcome of lack of response; rather, it contradicts the principle of due process that requires proper notification of legal actions. Thus, the expectation set by the legal framework is that incurred expenses will be