Man Avoids Being Served Legal Papers 23 Times

The Colorado Attorney General's office has made 23 attempts to serve Colorado Springs resident Douglas Bruce with a court order compelling him to testify at a deposition in connection with three campaign-finance complaints.

In a document filed Friday in Denver District Court, the Colorado Attorney General's office maintains that the in-person attempts, as well as notices sent to Bruce by regular mail, express mail, e-mails and newspaper articles, constitute proof of service.

Read more here.

NY City Tightens Screws on Debt Collectors

In the past 45 days, New York City has adopted two new policies that stand to help residents counter unlawful debt collection practices. But advocates say very little is being done to penalize the debt collectors who for years have broken pre-existing laws.

The majority of the 300,000 New Yorkers sued annually for bad debt have their wages garnished and bank accounts emptied on fraudulent grounds, after their debt collectors don't take suitable steps to notify them they are being sued, said Johnson Tyler, an attorney for South Brooklyn Legal Services who helps low-income people fight illegal debt collection.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has received 2,667 debt collection complaints in the past three years, according to a fact sheet the department displayed at a press conference this week.
In some cases, the Bloomberg administration has helped debtors ensnared by bad collectors get restitution for their losses. In the past three years, DCA restored $4.2 million in wrongful debt, charging back on average $1,559 per violating company, according to the fact sheet.

The New York attorney general's office is seeking restitution for other debtors and DCA has forced some violating companies to pay fines or surrender their licenses. Between January 2008 and March 2010, at least 32 paid a median fine of $300, according to testimony given by Tyler. During that time, at least 11 had their licenses revoked.

Some advocates feel that civil penalties like those may not be enough.

"Sometimes a slap on the hands is not enough to make them reform their practices," Carolyn Coffey, co-author of a 2008 report analyzing debt collector's abuse of the court system. "If they have to pay a fine, sometimes they see that as the cost of doing business, a criminal charge, that's something different."

But few of the business owners who have for years flouted pre-existing laws have ever faced criminal charges and few ever will, advocates say.

Tyler said that he knows of only one person who's ever been convicted on related criminal charges – William Singler, the owner of Long Island-based American Legal Process. Singler pled guilty in January to a charge of "scheme to defraud" for failing to provide proper legal notice to thousands of New Yorkers facing primarily debt-related lawsuits.

The New York Attorney General's office, which prosecuted Sigler, is prosecuting another process server on similar grounds; and the office has already garnered criminal convictions against 10 bad collectors. But a spokesman said criminal charges are not their primary tools of enforcement.
DCA aggressively pursues criminal charges against fraudulent debt collectors, by referring the offending businesses to the district attorney's office, Commissioner Jonathan Mintz said during a press conference held Monday to announce the latest policy change. "It's up to the DA's office after that," Mintz said.

The Manhattan district attorney's office arraigned 52 people on scheme-to-defraud charges in 2009, but a spokesperson for the office said it's unclear how many of those arraigned were debt collectors. Additionally, DCA doesn't track the number of cases it refers to the DA's office.

"I haven't seen any major indictments coming down, or any press conferences," held about it by the district attorney, Coffey said. "I'm guessing that it's below their radar."

One reason so few process severs face criminal charges is that, under the old law, it was too time consuming and complicated to prove a pattern of fraud, advocates say. To prove that a process server consistently failed to serve, an investigator would need to utilize a special computer program or a team of other investigators to analyze thousands of pages of documents, including some documents that he or she couldn't access without a subpoena.

"I'm pretty convinced that you could have the whole freshman class at Pace Law School, Brooklyn Law School and NYU Law School trying to catch process servers in fraud and everyone would come out saying, 'Wow that was a frustrating experience,' " Tyler said.

There is no consensus that bad debt collectors should be criminally charged.

"I don't necessarily see that the best way to go about pursing these cases is in the criminal arena," said Janet Ray Kalson, chair of the civil court committee of the New York City Bar association. "I think it's better in the civil arena because the standard of proof" there is lower.

Read more here.

Process Servers Knock in the Early Morning

Bam! Bam!! Bam!!! I jumped out of bed and rushed to my window wondering who in the world would be banging on my front door at 5:30 in the morning.

Standing at my door was a white man who looked like he could have been an undercover cop.

He was wearing a black pullover and backward baseball cap, and had what appeared to be a police badge hanging from a chain that was around his neck.

I shouted, "Can I help you?" from a window in the second-floor bedroom.

"Where are you?" he yelled back.

"Here, at the window," I said.

"What window? There are like 48 windows," he said.

"Who are you? What do you want," I asked, now getting concerned about the man's failure to identify himself.

 Where's "Patricia Bassett," he hollered up at me.

"I don't know anybody named Patricia Bassett," I said. "No one with that name lives at this address.

"How long have you lived here?" he asked.

I asked him to identify himself. He again refused.

"Sir, you either tell me who you are or I'm calling the police," I said.

"You d____ a__!" he screamed and gave me the finger before sprinting down the stairs and jumping into a red pickup truck.

I called the Maywood Police Department. Officers had no knowledge of anyone scheduled to serve a warrant at my address.

Undercover cops or deputy sheriffs would have identified themselves as the police, I was told.

Maybe he was like Dog, the celebrity bounty hunter, I thought.

But Illinois is not friendly to bounty hunters. Under Illinois statutes, "no bail bondsman from any state may seize or transport unwillingly any person" found in the state who is in violation of a bail bond.

If the man wasn't the police and wasn't a bounty hunter, then he was likely a process server.

Unfortunately, there's no way to track down a renegade process server.

Process servers are basically unregulated.

"It's funny that you are calling about this now," said Steve Patterson, a spokesman for the Cook County Sheriff's Department.

Although everyone who serves legal paperwork is supposed to be a private detective licensed by the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, most process servers are unlicensed, Patterson said.

Process servers are also required to register with the Cook County Sheriff's Department, but that doesn't happen either.

In fact, only one process server has registered with the sheriff's office, according to Patterson.

Read more here.

New bill benefits Georgia process servers by raising court fees

House Bill 1055, signed May 13 by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, will increase certain court fees immediately and potentially direct more business to private process servers. Bill items that will affect service of process in Georgia include:

• Court filing fees for civil cases will immediately increase by $125 in Superior and State Courts. The base amount that the $125 will be added to varies by county, and the final amount will depend on various state-assessed and county-assessed costs.
  
• The Sheriff's fee for serving summons and complaints will increase to $50, up from $25.
• Service of dispositions will remain at $25.

Paul K. Tamaroff, President of the Georgia Association of Professional Process Servers (GAPPS), provided ServeNow.com with the following statement discussing why HB-1055 and another bill, HB-545, should be considered a victory for Georgia process servers:

GAPPS President Paul Tamaroff's Statement
HB-1055 in conjunction with HB-545 (which passed the Georgia Legislature and is awaiting the governor's signature), will have profound benefits for Georgia process servers.

HB-545 amends O.C.G.A. §9-11-4(c) and completely changes the process by which private process servers may be appointed to serve process. Presently, to serve a Georgia paper a process server must first be appointed by the court in which the paper is filed. There are two types of appointments; "permanent" and "special". Permanent appointments are usually for only one year and must be renewed annually. Of 159 counties, most of which have three different courts, Superior, State and Magistrate, only a few counties offer such permanent appointments. Thus, for the vast majority of courts in Georgia, a process server must get specially appointed by the court for each paper to be served. HB-545, effective July 1, 2010, while retaining the permanent and special appointments, provides for certification of process servers who complete a specified number of hours of continuing education, pass a test, and get a criminal background check. Once certified, such process servers will be able to serve all papers out of all the courts in the state without further appointment. The bill also requires owners/management companies of gated communities to allow these process servers on the property to perfect service.

The two bills should cause attorneys to utilize the services of private process servers. In addition to the usual benefits provided by private process servers, attorneys will no longer have to get a process server appointed (always a waste of time). Additionally, the raising of the sheriffs' fees will further encourage attorneys to use private process servers, especially those who keep their rates in line with the new sheriffs' fees.

HB-545 is unusual in that it teams the private process servers with the sheriffs. For the past six years the Georgia Sheriffs' Association has fought our attempts to amend the law. Now, the Georgia Ass'n of Professional Process Servers (GAPPS), will be working with the sheriffs' association in establishing and executing the continuing education program and the administering of the test. Certified process servers will be listed on the Sheriffs' Ass'n website. The county sheriffs will be the certifying authorities. The law requires certification of all process servers who qualify, absent good cause shown as to why a process server should not be certified. It is an excellent opportunity for private process servers to establish good working relationships with the sheriffs.

We will be meeting with the Sheriffs' Ass'n during the coming weeks to put the continuing education program together so that process servers may apply for certification as soon as the bill becomes effective on July 1.

"Hurt Locker" Lawsuit Target Pirates

The war against movie piracy is getting downright explosive.

The producers of "The Hurt Locker" are preparing a massive lawsuit against tens of thousands of people who pirated the Oscar-winning drama online. The case could be filed as soon as Wednesday.

Voltage Pictures, the film's financier, has signed up with the U.S. Copyright Group, a Washington D.C.-based venture that has begun a litigation campaign targeting users of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) service.

"The Hurt Locker" first leaked onto the web more than five months before its U.S. release last June, and was a hot item in P2P circles after it won six Oscars in March, including best picture and director. Despite the accolades, the film grossed only about $16 million in the U.S.

The U.S. Copyright Group has already filed lawsuits over about 10 other films, including German filmmaker Uwe Boll's "Far Cry," "Call of the Wild 3D" and "Uncross the Stars." Reports of those suits raised alarms in some circles, whereas others joked that the movie industry was merely suing those with poor taste.

"You can guess that relative to the films we've pursued already, the order of magnitude is much higher" with "Hurt Locker," said Thomas Dunlap, a lawyer at the firm.

Read more here and find and follow us on Twitter!

La Salle County Expects Six Figures From New Process Server Program

A plan to assign one deputy strictly to process warrants as a means of increasing the county’s revenue stream appears ready for full board action.
Finance committee members on Tuesday approved of hiring a new correctional officer so that a sheriff’s deputy can dedicate his entire work week serving civil and criminal warrants. The county will fill the open deputy position with a correctional officer, and hire a new person to fill the resulting correctional officer vacancy.


Read more here and don't forget to check out and subscribe to our free monthly newsletter, The Serve Report, for news, upcoming events and much more!

Connecticut AG Subpoenas Craigslist Over Prostitution Ads

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Monday that he has issued a subpoena to craigslist Inc. seeking information on whether it's fulfilling its promise to crack down on ads for prostitution in its adult-services section.

In a statement Monday, Blumenthal said the ads have persisted despite a commitment in 2008 by the classified advertising website to crack down on those ads and he wants to know whether craigslist is profiting from those ads.

"The craigslist brothel business seems booming--belying its promise to fight prostitution," Blumenthal said. "We are asking craigslist for specific answers about steps to screen and stop sex-for-money offers--and whether the company is actually profiting from prostitution ads that it promised the states and public that it would try to block. We're seeking answers, so we can reach legal conclusions."

Blumenthal, in part, is seeking documents related to craigslist's manual review process for potentially objectionable ads, information on the ads that are eliminated or rejected and communications from law enforcement regarding ads and craigslist's response.

In November 2008, craigslist reached an agreement with Connecticut and 39 other states to crack down on prostitution ads, including requiring posters of adult-services ads to give a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The website also agreed to provide information in response to law-enforcement subpoenas.

Read more here and don't forget to subscribe to our free monthly newsletter, The Serve Report, for news, upcoming events, and much more!

Georgia Process Server Bill Passes - HB 545

Our friends in Georgia have notified us that HB 545 passed on April 29th. The new legislation provides for the following:

• to provide for certification of persons authorized to serve process throughout the state if the server passes an exam and background check
  
• to provide for service upon persons residing in gated and secured communities

This new law will go into effect on July 1, 2010.

View the complete law in pdf format here.

New York City Process Serving Legislative Updates

In response to the blatant failure to serve on the part of a number of New York Process Servers, the New York City council has passed a new legislation further regulating the process serving industry. 

The entire contents of the bill are included, but can be summarized as: 

• Independent process servers must obtain a $10,000 surety bond or put up $1000 towards the non-refundable fund for fines and legislative judgements.  
• Process serving companies must obtain a $100,000 surety bond with the city to guarantee compliance. 
• Log all service attempts with an electronic GPS system.
• Maintain records and electronic service logs for seven years.
• Provide a statement of employee rights and employer responsibilities to every process server and maintain records of receipt. 
• Individuals wishing to serve process must pass a test at the time of application for their license. 

The bill follows in it's entirety: 

The New York City Council 

Legislation Text

By Council Members Garodnick, Brewer, Gonzalez, James, Koslowitz, Lappin, Palma, Seabrook, Vallone, Barron, Mendez, White, Jackson, Lander, Williams, Sanders Jr., Levin and Vann

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to process servers. Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Section 20-403 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to read as

follows:

• a. Process server license. It shall be unlawful for any person to do business as, be employed as or perform the services of a process server without a license therefor.
• b. Process serving agency license. It shall be unlawful for any process serving agency to assign or distribute process to individual process servers for actual service in the city of New York without a license therefore.

§2. Section 20-404 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to read as follows:

• a. A process server is a person engaged in the business of serving or one who purports to serve or one who serves personally or by substituted service upon any person, corporation, governmental or political subdivision or agency, a summons, subpoena, notice, citation or other process, directing an appearance or response to a legal action, legal proceeding or administrative proceedings.
• b. A process serving agency is any person, firm, partnership, association or corporation, other than an attorney or law firm located in this state, or city marshal, who maintains an office, bureau or agency, the purpose of which is to assign or distribute process to individual process servers for actual service in the city of New York.

[b.] c. For the purposes of this subchapter the service of five or more process in any one year shall be deemed to constitute doing business as a process server.

§3. Section 20-406 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new subdivision c to read as follows:

• c. Each such applicant for a process server license or renewal thereof shall be required to pass an examination satisfactorily. Such examination shall be under the supervision of the commissioner and shall test the knowledge of the applicant concerning proper service of process within the city of New York and familiarity with relevant laws and rules.

§4. Subchapter 23 of chapter 2 of title 20 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended

by adding new sections, 20-406.1, 20-406.2, 20-406.3 and 20-406.4 to read as follows:

20-406.1 Bond required. 

• a. As a condition of the issuance of a process server license, each applicant for such license or a renewal thereof shall furnish to the commissioner a surety bond executed by the applicant in the sum of ten thousand dollars, payable to the city of New York, and a surety approved by the commissioner. Such bond shall be conditioned upon the applicant's compliance with the provisions of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and upon the further condition that the applicant will pay (i) to the city any fine, penalty or other obligation the city imposes relating to a violation of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and (ii) to a plaintiff any final judgment recovered in an action arising out of the violation of any of the provisions of this subchapter within thirty days of its imposition. If an applicant is unable to obtain a surety bond as required by this section, and upon the provision of proof satisfactory to the commissioner of such inability, the individual applicant may, in lieu of furnishing such bond, deposit an amount of no less than one thousand dollars in a fund to be established by the commissioner to pay 
• (i) to the city any fine, penalty or other obligation the city imposes relating to a violation of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and 
• (ii) to a plaintiff any final judgment recovered in an action arising out of the violation of any of the provisions of this subchapter within thirty days of its imposition.
• b. A process server licensed under this subchapter who engages in the business of serving process exclusively as an employee of a process serving agency licensed under this subchapter shall not be required to furnish a surety bond.
• c. As a condition of the issuance of a process serving agency license, each applicant for such license or a renewal thereof shall furnish to the commissioner a surety bond in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars executed by the applicant payable to the city of New York, and a surety approved by the commissioner. Such bond shall be conditioned upon the applicant's compliance with the provisions of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and upon the further condition that the applicant will pay 
• (i) to the city any fine, penalty or other obligation the city imposes relating to a violation of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and
•  (ii) to a plaintiff any final judgment recovered in an action arising out of the violation of any of the provisions of this subchapter within thirty days of its imposition.

§20-406.2 Responsibilities of process serving agencies. Every process serving agency licensed under

this subchapter shall:

• a. Comply with all applicable state and federal laws;
• b. Be legally responsible for any failure to act in accordance with the laws and rules governing service of process by each process server to whom it has distributed, assigned or delivered process for service;
• c. Provide to each process server employed by such agency a written statement indicating the rights of such employee and the obligations of the process serving agency under city, state and federal law. Such statement of rights and obligations shall include, but not be limited to, a general description of employee rights and employer obligations pursuant to laws regarding minimum wage, overtime and hours of work, record keeping, social security payments, unemployment insurance coverage, disability insurance coverage and workers' compensation;
• d. Keep on file in its principal place of business for a period of three (3) years a statement for each employee, signed by such employee, indicating that the employee read and understood the statement of rightsand obligations such employee received pursuant to subdivision (c) of this section.

§20-406.3 Records, Audits.

•  a. Every process server and process serving agency licensed under this subchapter shall retain records in compliance with section 89-cc of the New York state general business law for no less than seven (7) years of each process served. Such records shall be retained in electronic form. Tampering with any such electronic records shall be prohibited.
• b. A process server licensed under this subchapter who engages in the business of serving process exclusively as an employee of a process serving agency licensed under this subchapter shall not be subject to the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section, but shall be required to comply with all other applicable laws.
• c. The commissioner may conduct audits of the information required to be kept pursuant to subdivision a) of this section in order to monitor compliance with this subchapter.

§20-406.4 Educational materials. The commissioner shall develop educational materials to be provided to all process servers and process serving agencies licensed under this subchapter. Such materials shall at a minimum identify the laws and regulations pertaining to service of process in the city of New York.

§5. Section 20-409 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new subdivision c to read as follows:

• c. Upon application for renewal of a license issued pursuant to this subchapter, applicants subject to subdivision (a) of section 20-406.3 of this subchapter shall certify in writing compliance with the record keeping provisions of such section.

§6. Subchapter 23 of chapter 2 of title 20 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding new sections 20-409.1 and 20-409.2 to read as follows:

§20-409.1 Violations and penalties. Any person who, after notice and hearing shall be found guilty of violating any provision of this subchapter, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of chapter one of this title and shall be subject to a penalty of not less than seven hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars for each violation.

§20-409.2 Civil Cause of Action. Any person injured by the failure of a process server to act in accordance with the laws and rules governing service of process in New York state, including this subchapter and regulations promulgated thereunder, shall have a cause of action against such process server and process serving agency, which distributed or assigned process for service, in any court of competent jurisdiction for any or all of the following relief:

• a. compensatory and punitive damages, provided that punitive damages shall only be awarded in thecase of willful failure to serve process;
• b. injunctive and declaratory relief;
• c. attorneys’ fees and costs; and
• d. such other relief as a court may deem appropriate.

§20-409.3 Reporting. Twenty-four months after the local law that added this section becomes effective, the commissioner shall submit a report to the speaker of the council regarding the effectiveness of these provisions on effectuating proper service and improving oversight over the process service industry. Such report shall include, among other things, the results of audits the commissioner has completed of process servers and process serving agencies, including information regarding their compliance with the provisions of this subchapter.

§ 7. Subchapter 23 of chapter 2 of title 20 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 20-410 to read as follows:

§ 20-410 Electronic record of service. A process server licensed pursuant to this subchapter shall carry at all times during the commission of his or her licensed activities and operate at the time process is served or attempted an electronic device that uses a global positioning system, wi-fi device or other such technology as the Commissioner by rule shall prescribe to electronically establish and record the time, date, and location of service or attempted service. All records created by such electronic device shall be maintained in an electronic

database by the process server, or if such process server is acting exclusively as an employee of a process service agency, by the process service agency, for seven (7) years from the date such record is created.

§8. This local law shall take effect one hundred eighty days after enactment provided, however that the commissioner of consumer affairs shall take all actions necessary for its implementation, including the promulgation of rules, prior to such effective date and except that section 20-410 shall take effect sixty days after the adoption of rules promulgated pursuant to such section.