Founder’s Message

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

It has been some time since I have addressed the Covid-19 pandemic but here we go again. So, in the past week the CDC has updated their guidelines in regards to people who have been fully vaccinated. Some highlights are below:

• No more masks indoors or outdoors (but still recommended if you are in packed areas like on a plane, train or bus (did you think I was going to say automobile?) and you will need to adhere to local rules, ordinances, corporate policies, etc.)
• Domestic travel now allowed
• No more social distancing
• No testing or quarantining

For full details, please visit the CDC website, see also below:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html

Raise your hand if you live in OH?  Shucks, I can’t see who raised their hands as this is an article and not a live action scenario. Anyway, if you did raise your hand, have you got your vaccine yet? The Governor of OH has a pretty sweet incentive plan for their residents. See below (redundant, I hope not?):

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/13/covid-vaccine-ohio-giving-away-million-dollar-prizes-scholarships.html

Wow!! That’s a pretty great idea.  Wish all states would do this.

Be safe, we are almost there!!

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

It is crazy to think that we are already halfway through the 2nd quarter of 2021. Summer is right around the corner and the legal industry will again start to heat up on the heels of Covid 19. For the state of Florida the mandate on Evictions and Foreclosure was lifted in the beginning of April. If your office is in need of a professional, knowledgeable and quick process serving company to serve Evictions and Foreclosure please reach out to your local Accurate Serve® Office. If you are located in the 20th Circuit of Florida (Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry Glades) please contact our Ft Myers office at brandon@accurateserveftmyers.com

As you have heard me mention before, our team will always confirm receipt of new jobs in a quick manner. Staying on the topic of evictions and foreclosures our team provides quick and efficient service on these cases.

Starting with evictions, any case that does not have a claim for damages will either be served on the first attempt or posted on the second attempt a minimum of 6 hours after the first and only if there is no response at the door. The ROS will list both of the attempts including dates and times to show that the two attempts were made 6 hours or more apart before posting. If there are damages on the case and the defendant has 20 days to respond then service is handled as in hand service only, meaning we will continue efforts to serve the subject or a co resident over 15 years old and the documents will not be posted.

Moving onto foreclosure, our office handles these with special care. All servers no matter the location of service are instructed to provide marital and military status of the subject being served which is reflected onto our affidavits along with the description of the individual which we include in all cases. In SWFL there are many times where the defendant in a foreclosure case will have an alternate address, either in the area or out of state as we have many snowbirds. Unless instructed otherwise we always like to start with the local address, if the defendant is not there or the local address is only occupied by the unknown tenant(s) our office is able to quickly reroute these jobs to the alternate address. Lastly and one of the most important aspects is our returns. As mentioned above they will have the marital, military and physical description listed, you will also receive a copy of the summons showing the servers notation which consist of date and time of service along with the servers initials and ID #.

Accurate Serve® continues to advance in technology and for states that allow it like Florida we are able to use our e-signature function to quickly provide these returns to our clients for filing. The foreclosure will have a typed timestamp which is easy to read and very noticeable on the copy of the summons which will be attached to all returns on these cases.

Referrals are a great source of business for our office. If you have enjoyed working with us and have another attorney/paralegal in your office or know of an attorney/paralegal outside of your office that would benefit from using our services please have them contact our Fort Myers office at 239-822-7299 or brandon@accurateserveftmyers.com. If your office is located outside of the 20th circuit you can find your contact for service here – theaccurateservefranchise.com

All the best,

Brandon Muscato
Need our help?
Call (239) 822-7299
or
Email brandon@accurateserveftmyers.com

We have touched on Motion & Order counties in Florida. Sometimes our clients decide to use the Sheriff in those counties rather than file the Motion and await the Order. You should still file the M&O even if you go the Sheriff route. What if the 1st address is no good and the Sheriff tells you that a few weeks down the road? Well, you may have a second address to try by then and the M&O should be good to go and you can use us instead of the Sheriff for any subsequent addresses.

April 2021 Job Count – 4,840
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -5.54

*This includes jobs that may be on hold or waiting for new info. There is no way to take those jobs out of the calculation. So, if a job is placed on hold for 2 weeks, that’s 14 days on that job which factors in to this average. So, we’re even better than what the eyes see, LOL. Some papers get served same day, some next day and some take multiple attempts/addresses to effect service. All we do all day and every day is serve papers. We’re good at it and we love what we do. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to continue to serve your papers.

Service of Process in the Lone Star State

From FL to CO to MI to GA, our carousel of state process serving laws in states where we have offices, now continues to the great state of Texas. Other than FL, TX is home to the most Accurate Serve® offices, boasting 2 locations, in Dallas AND Houston. FL and TX have several similarities when it comes to process serving laws. Some of those are below:

• No Sunday service
• Date/time of service needs to be endorsed on the process served
• Must be at least 18 to qualify to serve process
• Clerks and Attorneys can issue Subpoenas

Some differences include:

• FL courts generally issue Summonses to initially serve on Defendants.  TX issues Citations
• TX Statutes require personal service on defendants.  Most FL cases, substitute service on a co-resident is acceptable.  For TX cases, if personal service proves difficult, the Judge/Courts can approve alternative service via posting or sub service
• An officer authorized to take depositions in the State can also issue Subpoenas and then subsequently, serve them

No matter what state the papers originate, no matter where the papers need to be served – our Accurate Serve® offices/locations know the rules and how to get the job done.

If you are an Attorney in Texas, please reach out to either our Dallas or Houston offices.  They will be your intake or point of contact with Accurate Serve®.

If you are an Attorney outside of TX, please continue to use the office you have been using.  If you are new to using our company, please check out our franchise website (www.theaccurateservefranchise.com) to find out which office you should send your papers to expedite service of process.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

The Search is Over…

Greetings! If you need service of process in the Orlando area, the Orlando office covers Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties. However, if you also need service of process in any other part of Florida, there is no need to Google search ever again. Through the Accurate Serve® affiliates, we have the entire state of Florida covered. We provide our clients with a one-stop-shop for all their process serving needs. No need to perform numerous web searches looking for a server who covers one county or another. Your local Accurate Serve office provides you with one contact, one email address, one phone number, one group of dedicated professionals who are members of a larger group of dedicated professionals with one common goal, SERVING YOUR PAPERS!

Wondering if we can help with service in a rural county? We absolutely can!

If you have multiple serves going to various locations in Florida, all you need to do is send the documents over via email and we will get them served for you.

Using your local Accurate Serve® for all your serving needs allows you to focus on the primary parts of your cases and practice and allows us to better serve you.

All the best,

Jared Williams
Need our help?
Call (407) 674-7038
or
Email serve@accurateserveorlando.com

Too many keys on your key ring?  Constantly inserting the wrong key into the key hole?  Try painting  the top part of your keys with nail polish (the part that does not go into the key hole).  This can help you differentiate one key from another.

March 2021 Job Count – 5,426
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -5.4

*This includes jobs that may be on hold or waiting for new info. There is no way to take those jobs out of the calculation. So, if a job is placed on hold for 2 weeks, that’s 14 days on that job which factors in to this average. So, we’re even better than what the eyes see, LOL. Some papers get served same day, some next day and some take multiple attempts/addresses to effect service. All we do all day and every day is serve papers. We’re good at it and we love what we do. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to continue to serve your papers.

St. Patrick’s Day and Process Serving in the South

Continuing our journey state to state discussing process serving laws, this month leads us back to the South and the beautiful peach of a state, Georgia. The state capital of Georgia is Atlanta and that is where Accurate Serve® has based their GA operations/office. Did you know Atlanta is home to one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day parades in all of the south? The first St. Patrick’s Day parade in Atlanta dates back to 1858, so it has been running for over 150 years. That’s impressive!!

So, process serving dates back as far as we can remember, with the actual date nearly impossible to ascertain. One date we can lock in is 1982. That is the year NAPPS was founded. NAPPS is the National Association of Professional Process Servers. It was founded in Las Vegas. NAPPS encouraged states to charter their own state associations. In 1997, GAPPS was first formed (see NAPPS, sub in GA for National). Although formed in 1997, not much progress took place until 2001. For the next five years, GAPPS accumulated funds to launch a legislative campaign to allow for private process servers certification courses.

From 2006 to 2010, the efforts of GAPPS were fought by the GA Sheriff’s Association (GSA). In 2010, it seems the GSA had a change of heart and decided to work with GAPPS as opposed to against them. At this time in 2010, a bill was passed in these regards, O.C.G.A. 9-11-4-1, which will be discussed below.

9-11-4-1: What are some requirements to serve process in GA?

• Must be 18
• Never convicted of a felony
• Complete an education course and pass a test
• U.S. citizen

A process server must take an oath and renew their certification every 3 years.

Are there fees involved in becoming a process server in GA? The answer is Yes. See below:

• A process server must obtain a Surety Bond or Commercial insurance policy
• The Sheriff will collect an $80 processing fee for each application ($30 of this goes to GSA to maintain the PS list)
• The class offered by GAPPS is approved by GSA and the cost is $180

What are some responsibilities of process servers in GA?

• All work will be done is a lawful, professional and ethical manner
• A CPS (certified process server) shall attempt to perfect service w/in 5 days of receipt
• A CPS shall display credentials at all times while serving process and report lost/stolen credentials to issuing Sheriff w/in 3 days
• A CPS shall not impersonate a public officer or employee

To find out more about serving process in GA, check out the above Statutes and related topics. The GAPPS website is a great resource as well.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

It is safe to say that everybody reading this probably knows that if you want to serve a summons on a company here in Florida you will need to send a server to the address of the registered agent.

Here in Tallahassee we have Corporation Service company, one of the larger registered agents in the state. We go there multiple times each week, and we can help effect service there for you and your clients easily, and efficiently.

Other than the smiling faces waiting to process our summon’ at 1201 Hays st., nobody wants to receive a summons… especially if their company went out of business. These types of serves can be more difficult than effecting service on a large business who uses a reputable registered agent for service of process.

So what do you do if you’re trying to serve a summons to a company that is out of business??

If the registered agent listing on sunbiz is the old place of business, then that is a dead end. This is common in our business, but there are steps we can take from there!!

According to the statutes you would want to begin making attempts to serve the owner of the business. If they can’t be found at the place of business anymore we can help! We can offer  a skip trace to find a new address. With a skip trace we can tap into a database that law enforcement uses to get last known addresses of people. Then unbelievably, no matter where that person may be hiding, we can get them served; or at least get a server to begin making attempts. We have servers everywhere, and a network of servers around the country.

If this person is expecting to receive a summons, they may decide to move to the country, and live in a home behind a fence, and a yard full of large dogs. It sounds simple, but no process server is going to get chewed apart voluntarily to serve a summons. This is actually a very effective strategy for people trying to avoid being served. What we would do in this case is sit outside and perform surveillance until they leave their house and we can serve them. Surveillance can get expensive and we charge by the hour.

It may be more effective, and less expensive, and time consuming to simply perform our diligence at the potentially viable addresses. Then we would create non-serve affidavits if we are not able to effect service on the subject or a co-resident. Then at this point we can then serve the Secretary of State in lieu of obtaining personal or substitute service.

Our office in Tallahassee can bring this service to the Secretary of State. The following 3 things are required for service to be accepted.

1. A cover letter citing the statute that has directed us to the Secretary of State as the proper recipient for service. OR The summons can cite the proper statute.
2. The non-serve returns of service from making attempts at either the Registered Agent, or the principal of the company.
3. A check for $8.75

As we all know, with a government entity, all the boxes need to be checked. If any of these 3 are missing the service is rejected. If we receive your service request missing one of these items we will advise your office as to what the requirements are before we attempt service .

Your local Accurate Serve® office can advise you as well on the best way to effect service on your subjects around the state.

Brennan Fogarty
Need our help?
Call (850) 519-5494
or
Email brennan.fogarty@accurateservetally.com

Want to enjoy a glass of green brew on St. Patrick’s day? Follow these tips to enjoy yours the right way:

Read More

February 2021 Job Count – 4,411
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -4.4

*This includes jobs that may be on hold or waiting for new info. There is no way to take those jobs out of the calculation. So, if a job is placed on hold for 2 weeks, that’s 14 days on that job which factors in to this average. So, we’re even better than what the eyes see, LOL. Some papers get served same day, some next day and some take multiple attempts/addresses to effect service. All we do all day and every day is serve papers. We’re good at it and we love what we do. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to continue to serve your papers.

Serving Process in Michigan

In continuing our journey from state to state learning about process serving laws, this month we visit our most northern office, Accurate Serve® of Detroit. Did you know Michigan became a state in 1837? I like fun facts. Here is another: Our Detroit office opened up in October 2020, 184 years later. There’s no real connection, I know, just stating the facts.

So, moving on to serving process in Michigan.  Chapter 2 of Michigan Court Rules covers civil procedure.  A few highlights we would like to cover are below:

• If you are an Attorney and filing a new suit, please be sure that your Summons includes everything listed in 2.102(B)
• A Summons is good for 90 days, expires after 91, see 2.102(D)
• 2.103(A-B) explains who can serve process AND the one type of process that MUST be served by law enforcement and not private process server
• 2.104 covers Proof of Service.  MI courts require a specific/special Affidavit to be complete.  A blank one is attached for reference.
• 2.105(A) covers the 2 types of service, Personal and certified mail.  Please note, if you serve an individual personally, they do not have to sign for it to accept.  BUT, if you try to serve someone via certified mail, they MUST sign for it to make service valid.

There are more Rules and stuff that can be covered. If you would like more info on Michigan Rules of Civil procedure, please visit the following website: Click Here

And if you are a Detroit, MI Attorney (or close by) and need process served in MI or anywhere in the US, please contact your local Owner/Operator, Erik Devlin with Accurate Serve® of Detroit.

If you are an Attorney and have an established point of contact with Accurate Serve®, we thank you kindly and appreciate all the work you send us year in, year out. Whether that is 1 paper or 1,000 papers, we value your business and will work tirelessly to ensure your papers are served quickly and accurately.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

Who wants a foot-massage?! Is what somebody would say if they forgot to get you something for Valentine’s Day…. Now that I have your attention, I want to talk about something that is really exciting.

Service

of

Process

Over the last 8 years at Accurate Serve® of Jacksonville we have been in the business of executing and perfecting service of process throughout the state of Florida, nationwide, and even internationally. We are uniquely suited to manage and attend to your service of process needs. Once you send a job to us and you have our contact info, you never need to look for another process server again. We can serve everything from Summons and complaints, or writs, or subpoenas, and even just strongly worded letters.

Maybe you have a strongly worded letter, or a Summons, or a subpoena you need sent out right away so you can have the weekend free for any Valentines day plans? We can offer a RUSH service anywhere you need anything to go, locally or far, far away. We have servers everywhere ready to serve your papers.

We have never been asked to deliver a Valentine for anybody, but for the right price we would definitely give you four attempts on different days and at different times! Just like we do for all our services!

So sit back and relax, and ask somebody in your home office to give you a foot-massage, because it is almost Valentines Day isn’t it? And I’m sure you deserve it!

If you send those jobs to Accurate Serve® then you have nothing to worry about.

All the best,

Brennan Fogarty
Need our help?
Call (904) 735-7810
or
Email serve@accurateservejax.com

It’s Valentine’s Day this weekend. We checked with some of the experts and found a great guide on what TO DO and what NOT TO DO.  Study up buttercup, LOL.

Read More

January 2021 Job Count – 4,768
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -4.6

*This includes jobs that may be on hold or waiting for new info. There is no way to take those jobs out of the calculation. So, if a job is placed on hold for 2 weeks, that’s 14 days on that job which factors in to this average. So, we’re even better than what the eyes see, LOL. Some papers get served same day, some next day and some take multiple attempts/addresses to effect service. All we do all day and every day is serve papers. We’re good at it and we love what we do. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to continue to serve your papers.

From East to West

Last month we touched on the different classification of Process Servers in Florida. From our far east state to our far west, this month, we are all about the Ins and Outs of serving process in Colorado. The state association for process servers in Colorado is called PSACO or Process Servers Association of Colorado. I applied for membership in 2020 and was accepted, thanks PSACO representatives, members, etc. My website proudly displays our membership logo, see below:

Fellow Accurate Serve® Team Member, Brennan Fogarty, is also a member of PSACO.  He is also the proud Owner of Accurate Serve® of Denver.

To know how to do something well, you need to know the basics.  Well, to be as basic as possible, CO rules of SOP are as follows:

• Can NEVER Drop Serve, 18 to sub serve.  To sub serve, must be a direct family member at least 18 years old.

So, you can call those the meat and potatoes of CO PS but we are making Shepherd’s Pie, so there is a lot more to it.  Luckily for us, PSACO has made a nice little cheat sheet to aide those in the legal field, see attached.

A quick note:

• CO requires an Affidavit of Service (AOS) w/ notary.  When Covid-19 became a widespread pandemic, CO courts started to allow Returns of Service (ROS) w/o notary

From FL to CO (and AL, MI, GA and TX too), we have you covered.  If you are a Denver Attorney (or paralegal) reach out to our Denver office please.  If you are located in one of these states, find your right point of contact with our organization.  Please visit our franchise website and use the cool tool, Find Location, feature.  It’s red and currently in the Pacific Ocean.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

Happy New Year! Each January marks the beginning of a new year, a fresh start and new goals to achieve. This January also marks the beginning of our second office opening in TX. Accurate Serve® of Houston will work side by side with Accurate Serve® of Dallas to provide Houston Attorneys and Paralegals with a Professional Process Serving company that will handle local, statewide, nationwide and international service of process.

Our team is here to provide you with quick response time to all emails, including confirmation of new jobs. No matter the location of service we provide timely updates on all attempts as well as job completion notifications.

Communication remains the main priority for our team. Part of that communication is ensuring that our servers throughout the nation understand how to serve process in accordance to TX Statute. All servers, including our locals ones are provided with instructions on how to serve each job and completed service is only accepted by our office if the job is served in accordance with the instructions. This allows you to also provide us with special instructions such as serving someone at an alternate location (Work or family/friends house), contacting someone to set up service or sitting on a location for surveillance in order to get a job done. Any additional information or special instructions for service is appreciated and communicated with our servers to help complete service more efficiently for you.

As we move forward in this new year please reach out to our new offices in TX as we are looking forward to the opportunity to earn your business. We have our goals set high and look forward to having you and your team as a part of our Accurate Serve® Family. When you are ready to contact us for service please email us at – serve@accurateservehouston.com, we are also always available for phone calls. I look forward to hearing from you and earning your business.

Thank you,

Brandon Muscato
Need our help?
Call (346) 226-3111
or
Email serve@accurateservehouston.com

As you can see in the CO cheat sheet, some papers can be sub served but some need to be personally served.  There are specific rules/laws for each state that need to be followed. We pride ourselves in our knowledge BUT if you need something special on a serve you send us, please let us know. This will only ensure accuracy of delivery.

December 2020 Job Count – 4,527
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* – 5.5

*This includes jobs that may be on hold or waiting for new info. There is no way to take those jobs out of the calculation. So, if a job is placed on hold for 2 weeks, that’s 14 days on that job which factors in to this average. So, we’re even better than what the eyes see, LOL. Some papers get served same day, some next day and some take multiple attempts/addresses to effect service. All we do all day and every day is serve papers. We’re good at it and we love what we do. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to continue to serve your papers.

We have had questions on Motion & Order in Process Serving, so my article this month is an article re-pull from a few years ago. The below describes M&O for PS in FL in detail.

In Florida, you have 2 options when it comes to serving your civil process.  You can go with the Sheriff or a private process server. The Sheriff has a lot of responsibilities other than serving papers whereas here at Accurate Serve, all we do all day every day is serve papers.

Florida has 3 classifications for private process servers and they are detailed below:

1. Special Process Servers
2. Certified Process Servers
3. Process Server by Motion & Order

A Special Process Server is a Process Server who has been appointed by the Sheriff to serve non-enforceable civil process in that county. Basic requirements to become a special process server include: Permanent Resident of the State, 18 years of age, no mental/legal disabilities. You also have to take a class, pass a test, pay a fee, get a background check, stay in good-standing, re-certify annually and maintain your ID card. See 48.021 for more info.

A Certified Process Server is a Process Server who has been certified by the Chief Judge to serve non-enforceable civil process in that circuit. The qualifications needed mirror the ones listed for Special Process Server. The main difference is the certification goes through the courts not the Sheriff and you are certified to serve process in the whole circuit, not just one county. See 48.27, 48.29 and 48.31

And now for the last and most dreaded one, it’s Motion & Order Counties.  *There are 14 counties that are labeled Motion & Order. What this means is that the courts do not certify process servers in that county and the sheriff does not appoint process servers in that county. So, if we need to serve process in a Motion & Order county, then we need to be appointed on a case by case basis. Note, Subpoenas do not need a Motion & Order but Summonses do require one. We have templates at the ready for these counties which list our Servers’ names.  If a serve requires a M&O, we will let you know and send you our template to complete. It needs to be completed by the Attorney and e-filed to the case docket. You should also follow up with the Judge or JA to ensure the M&O gets executed quickly so we can begin our efforts.

Please note that M&O does not apply to serving foreign process in Florida.

*Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Calhoun, Clay, Flagler, Gilchrist, Holmes, Levy, Nassau, Putnam, Union, Volusia, Washington

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

Let me start by saying Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones. As we are wrapping up what has been an unprecedented 2020, I am excited to announce our growth and opening of Accurate Serve Dallas. Our Dallas office is ready to handle any process serving needs that you and your office may have. We will be providing service locally throughout Dallas County as well as Statewide and Nationwide Service.

Our office is focused on providing timely service while keeping you up to date on all attempts and information for each job. We are always available for phone calls but much of our communication will come via email. Once we update a job, whether it is an attempt or the job has been completed, you will receive an email with the details of that attempt or job completed information. Many of our servers take advantage of the technology that we have by using our app on their phone to provide job details. This helps us to provide you with quicker updates and images of attempts or service when needed.

All jobs filed within the state of TX will be served in accordance with TX Statutes and procedures of service. As Accurate Serve continues to grow throughout the nation, our team also continues to expand our knowledge of Statues and Procedures from state to state. Our objective is to be your one stop shop for a process serving company. I should also mention that we have successfully served internationally as well, throughout many parts of Canada, Europe, Asia and South America.

If you are in need of service or just have a question, please email us at serve@accurateservedallas.com. We look forward to working with you, creating new relationships and successfully serving your office.

Thank you,

Brandon Muscato
Need our help?
Call (469) 518-9581
or
Email serve@accurateservedallas.com

Routine service is within 4 business days. Rush Service is within 24 hours. Same Day Service is service that day. When sending your AS office docs for service, please let us know in the email (or website submission) what priority you require for service. Please note, if the court date is less than a week away, we will auto rush it BUT it helps if you draw our attention to the court date in your correspondence.

November 2020 Job Count – 4,374
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* – 4.7

*This includes jobs that may be on hold or waiting for new info.  There is no way to take those jobs out of the calculation.  So, if a job is placed on hold for 2 weeks, that’s 14 days on that job which factors in to this average. So, we’re even better than what the eyes see, LOL. Some papers get served same day, some next day and some take multiple attempts/addresses to effect service. All we do all day and every day is serve papers. We’re good at it and we love what we do. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to continue to serve your papers.