NEFF
To give legal proceedings any validity, there must be a tribunal with legal authority to pass judgment, and a defendant must be brought within its jurisdiction by service of process within the state, or by his voluntary appearance.
The substituted service of process by publication in actions brought against non-residents is valid only where property in the state is brought under the control of the court, and subjected to its disposition by process adapted to that purpose, or where the judgment is sought as a means of reaching such property or affecting some interest therein; in other words, where the action is in the nature of a proceeding in rem. The Oregon court did not have personal jurisdiction over Neff because he was not served in Oregon. The court’s judgment would have been valid if Mitchell had attached Neff’s land at the beginning of the suit. Mitchell could not have done this because Neff did not own the land at the time Mitchell initiated the suit. The default judgment was declared invalid. Therefore, the sheriff had no power to auction the real estate and title never passed to Mitchell. Neff was the legal owner.