Florida House Bill 91 Has Been Signed

Over the past several years, our state association (FAPPS) has been working our our lobbyist to amend some of the verbiage in the Statutes that pertain to service of process. While some of the changes are minimal, such as changing the wording from may to shall in 48.021, some changes are pretty big.

One of the big changes is that Process Servers are now allowed to electronically sign Returns of Service. The Statutes previously allowed only the Sheriff to utilize an electronic signature, but now the Sheriff and Private Process Servers can electronically sign Returns. At Accurate Serve, we are ahead of the game in technology and with our Servers using their smart phones and App to update jobs, they will soon be able to electronically sign their Returns from the field on their mobile devices. So, our FL Clients should be getting those returns even quicker in the very near future.

See below for a few highlights of the changes and see attached for the complete Bill.

48.031 (5) – The statute now reads you must place the date and hour of service, your initials or signature, and, IF APPLICABLE, your identification number.

Summary: This change was created to address issues in counties where process servers are serving by Motion and Order (or out of state) and do not have an identification number. It also re-affirms that you only have to place the required information on the first page of the process served. This does not change the requirement to follow the Rules of Civil Procedure to also include the date and hour of service on the original process filed with the return of service or affidavit.

48.21 Return of Service – updated to clarify language that all pleadings and documents served must be listed on the return of service. Electronic signatures are now permitted.

Reminder: If your jurisdiction requires a notarized affidavit you will not be able to utilize an electronic signature. This also includes counties where the process server is serving by Motion and Order. Rules of Civil Procedure require that an affidavit is required when serving by Motion and Order.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

Timeless Classics and Summer Serving 

Welcome to the Jungle – A day in the life of a process server in central Florida.

Schools Out for the Summer – This means our odds increase in residential serves with co-residents 15+ being home and able to accept service.

Double Trouble – May 31st started 100 days of summer heat.  It goes without saying that with the rising temperature comes an increase in not only tourists but also auto accidents and DUIs.  Subpoenas to be served upon law enforcement officials through the department liaison must be effected 5 days prior to the court date. This does not include the date of service, court date, weekends and federal holidays in which the courts are closed.

Rock You like a Hurricane – June 1st marks the beginning of hurricane season.  Even inland in The Sunshine State we are effected by hurricanes.  Torrential rain and poor weather conditions means possible delays in service.  Let’s not forget FEMA holds on foreclosures.

Don’t Stop Believing –  Every service is a journey. Florida is notoriously known for snowbirds. It’s possible that the defendant has migrated back north for the summer. We have a network of servers with which we have established relationships to better handle all of your nationwide needs. Don’t have their summer address?  In efforts to locate the defendant or witness we can run a skip trace to produce any other addresses available on record.

Taking Care of Business,

Your Accurate Serve Ocala Team

Need our help?
Call (352) 278-2188 or
Email kevin@accurateserveocala.com

May 2019 Job Count – 4,549

Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* – 4.09

*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.

The 2019 NAPPS Convention found it’s way to Orlando, FL this year. The Accurate Serve team was out in full force. The Convention kicked off Thursday May 2 with the annual NAPPS golf tournament. Accurate Serve put together one fierce foursome: Beau Charlet, Brandon Muscato, Brennan Fogarty and Derek Keating (see pic, pictured from left to right). The best ball tournament was won by this AS team with an amazing score of -10 under par. After golf, there was a networking lunch followed by bag stuffing. Our golf team stuffed over 200 bags full of our SWAG items (On that note, if you need any SWAG items for your office or for some type of event, please reach out to your local AS Owner/Operator). Thursday night concluded with more networking and BINGO. Although no AS Rep won anything at bingo, it was a great time.

The Convention continued on Friday with the start of the annual meetings. At the end of the day, there was a networking reception/cocktail party followed by a poker tournament. We had 2 AS Reps enter the poker tournament, Beau Charlet and Josh Kes. Both played well and made it to the final table (started with 10 tables of 5-7 at each table). Josh came in 5th place and Beau took home the 1st place trophy and cash money, LOL. Saturday included the continuation of the annual meeting, election of officers and annual banquet/awards ceremony. Sunday switched from NAPPS to FAPPS as FAPPS held it’s quarterly board meeting. We had at least one AS Rep in attendance Thursday – Sunday.

It was a great time had by the AS family as we came together to represent and market the Accurate Serve brand. Networking with colleagues from all over the US (and Canada) was a great experience. While we are able to keep your papers in house in pretty much all of FL, we do utilize the services of a lot of the people we were able to meet and socialize with that week. And these are also people who use our team to serve their papers in FL. Every single person we spoke with at the Convention knew of Accurate Serve and has either used us or we have used them to get papers served. That’s just awesome!!

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

Usually when talking with people and you mention that you are a process server, a lot of people tend to ask if it’s just like what the guy does in the movie, Pineapple Express. They sometimes ask if we ever disguise ourselves as someone to try to serve a paper when you can’t get someone served. What they don’t know is, you cannot conceal your identity as a process server when serving a paper. When you are serving a paper at someone’s residence, you always have to be prepared. Yes, Google maps can give you an idea of the address but it can not prepare you for the potential encounters when you arrive there. Here are some things we run in to when serving a paper.

Gated communities: by law, the security guard at the gate is supposed to let us into the community. Some are unfamiliar with the law so we have to quote the statutes to them. This usually does the trick but if they still do not budge, we have to call the non-emergency dispatch for the local law enforcement to help educate and assist us onto the property.

Gated fences: by law, we CAN NOT jump a locked gate or open a mail box. What most of us tend to do is honk the horn several times, leave a note, look up the property appraiser to see if the subject owns the property or speak to a neighbor.

Loose Dogs: Yes, dogs. If we are on someone’s property and the dog is unchained and seems aggressive, we usually honk the horn until the residents come out or report back to the client telling them it is unsafe to serve the paper since there is an aggressive dog running around the property.

Business at a residence: When serving a business at a residence, please remember to address the documents in c/o someone at the house. Sometimes when serving someone who has roommates, they do not know the business once we mention it but once we mention the business owner or registered agent’s name, they confirm with us that the subject lives at the address. We cannot stress how important this is and how much time it saves from going back out to the address again.

Video Doorbells/Surveillance Cameras: It’s a 50/50 with these. When people expect that they are being served, sometimes they work with us in regards to telling us when to come back through the video doorbell. We also had instances where we had interactions with the subjects we are serving and they are uncooperative with us through the video doorbell telling us to get off their property.

There are other things we come across when serving papers but these are some of the things we usually run across and we figured we could give you a quick insight of what we encounter. Let us know what you want to hear about and we will gladly include it in the following newsletter.

– Joshua Kes

Need our help?
Call (386) 569-8475 or
Email josh@accurateservedaytonabeach.com

April 2019 Job Count – 4,561

Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* – 4.53

*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.

Recent FAPPS Convention & Learning Opportunities

The Florida Association of Professional Process Servers (FAPPS) recently held their annual convention in Lake Mary, FL. The convention was well attended by the Accurate Serve family. Friday night’s reception leads in to the poker tournament where Team Member Josh Kes, from our Daytona Beach office, placed third. He has finished in the top 3, 2 of the past 3 years. Saturday’s events include educational classes, a luncheon and an awards ceremony concludes the evening. Congrats to Team Member Kevin Fedotov, from our Orlando and Ocala offices, who was elected to the Board of Directors. Way to go Kevin!!

The FAPPS weekend wraps up with a continuing education class, the AFPS class – Accredited FAPPS Process Server. It’s a designation our association awards to those who have demonstrated mastery of FL Statutes and Civil Procedure, the parts that are specifically pertain to process serving. Of the 25 attendees at the AFPS class, 9 of them were Accurate Serve representatives. Awesome work Team!!

As a transition to the above, we would like to let you know that we have partnered with Paralegal Association of Florida (PAF) as one of their Associate Sponsors. As part of our sponsorship, we will be creating 3 CLE opportunities for their state association. These will be hour long sessions that will be submitted to the Florida Bar for approval and then presented as a live or taped video and will be available to the entire paralegal association to earn CLEs.

Lastly – Wish us luck at next month’s NAPPS Convention – our AS team has entered a foursome in the golf tournament. We will update you on how we do next month.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

Walt Disney once said, “The more you are like yourself, the less you are like anyone else which makes you unique.”  At Accurate Serve of Pensacola, we pride ourselves on striving to provide the best quality of service in the business. We are in a special position that few other process servers can boast. We’re nestled right on the border of Florida and Alabama, allowing us to affect service in the greater Mobile, AL area in addition to our ability to serve the Emerald Coast of the Florida Panhandle. We’ve had the fortune of gaining the business of many wonderful clients in these areas, and their continued loyalty in business has allowed us to be prosperous and keep growing in our abilities to serve them. We work closely with our clients to ensure that they are satisfied beyond what is expected.

As 2019 marches on, we hope and plan to continue our growth in service ability and knowledge. So far this year we’ve already seen new highs for our office and worked harder than ever to ensure that we’re more than prepared to take on any challenges that may rear their heads on the day-to-day basis.

While we highlight our service in the Panhandle, our service abilities know no borders or bounds. We routinely affect service nationwide and will go above and beyond to keep our clients satisfied. We look forward to continued growth and prosperity through the remainder of 2019 and on.

– Brennan Fogarty

Need our help?
Call (850) 264-2917 or
Email brennan@accurateservepensacola.com

It’s Official!

We have exciting news, Accurate Serve of Gainesville will be open for business April 1, 2019. New Owner/Operator, Jared Williams, is currently attending franchise training. Jared is a great addition to the Accurate Serve family and we are happy to have him on board.

Accurate Serve of Gainesville will cover the entire 8th Circuit, and Putnam County, for the AS team. So, if you are an Attorney in one of these counties: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, Union or Putnam – starting April 1, 2019 – Jared will be your point of contact with Accurate Serve. If you are an Atty in another county, nothing changes with your point of contact – just know that you will be getting an upgrade in service in that area as we can ensure papers are served the Accurate Serve way.

Once again, to ensure your office is directed to the correct contact person at Accurate Serve, please visit our franchise website and below:

• If you are an attorney in Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas or Polk County, please contact Beau with the Tampa/Lakeland/St. Petersburg/New Port Richey offices.
• If you are an attorney in Duval, Clay, Nassau or St. John’s County please contact Brennan with the Jacksonville/Orange Park/St. Augustine offices.
• If you are an attorney in Leon, Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Liberty or Wakulla County please contact Brennan with the Tallahassee office.
• If you are an attorney in Orange, Osceola or Seminole County please contact Kevin with the Orlando/Kissimmee/Lake Mary offices.
• If you are an attorney in Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, Glades or Lee County please contact Brandon with the Fort Myers/Labelle/Naples/Port Charlotte offices.
• If you are an attorney in Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe or Palm Beach County please contact Josh with the Plantation/Miami/West Palm Beach/Key West offices.
• If you are an attorney in Manatee, DeSoto or Sarasota County, please contact Brennan with the Bradenton/Sarasota offices.
• If you are an attorney in Escambia, Okaloosa or Santa Rosa County (or Mobile, AL) please contact Brennan with the Pensacola/Milton/Mobile/Fort Walton Beach offices.
• If you are an attorney in Brevard, Flagler or Volusia County please contact Josh with the Daytona Beach/Titusville/Palm Coast offices.
• If you are an attorney in Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion or Sumter County please contact Kevin with the Ocala/Clermont/Inverness/The Villages/Spring Hill offices.
• If you are an attorney in St Lucie, Okeechobee, Martin or Indian River County, please contact Brandon with the Port St Lucie/Stuart/Vero Beach/Okeechobee offices.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

We love to get a chance to interact with our clients! 

Once a month, the daily hustle and bustle of working in a law firm – quick updates, voice mail messages and phone calls get replaced with a casual chat about family, vacations, or sometimes we’re still talking about work because we get to do what we love! In Sarasota, we sponsor and attend the monthly dinner for the local PAF Suncoast Chapter. There is a chance you know us from those meetings. If you are reading this you have been a client of Accurate Serve at least once before; you may have found us online, you may have heard about us from a work colleague, or maybe you met us when we walked into your office to introduce ourselves! 

When we attend these dinners and luncheons, we get to sit in on the CLE classes and broaden our understanding of the legal industry, as well as get a deeper understanding of the type of day to day challenges our clients face. This will allow us to make business decisions that are in line with what our clients need. In the long-term, our business goals must be the same as our clients. We strive to delight our clients each and every day, with each and every service of process.

The Suncoast Chapter has lively meetings on the 2nd floor of Marina Jacks each month. Last November, it was a Trivia Night theme where the room was split into teams and the attorney who was the speaker/emcee for the event would ask questions and then explain the answers when it was time for me (the scorekeeper) to tally up the scores. Certainly this was more entertaining than a dissertation on the subject matter would have been. 

More recently, the Suncoast Chapter showed up on the Sarasota County Bar Association’s newsletter, “The Docket”, for their seminar ” Be a CSI for a day and Help Determine if Goldilocks was Guilty of Eating Baby Bears Porridge”. With Chief Judge of the 12th Circuit Charles Williams as the emcee, this event took an in-depth view of the various technologies, and procedures throughout the criminal proceedings. This included a mock trial with an jury bringing back a verdict of NOT GUILTY. 

If you are a paralegal without a certification and you have been doing it for years and are essentially self taught, there are still benefits to coming out and socializing with your professional peers. Good food and good friends is always a great deal!

Accurate Serve has decided to take it a step further and sponsor PAF on the Statewide level. We look forward to being a supporting cast for paralegals around the state.

– Brennan Fogarty

Need our help?
Call (941) 586-7897 or
Email serve@accurateservesarasota.com

The Groundhog Results

Every February 2, the world turns to the groundhog to predict the weather and either gives us good news or bad. Luckily for us, this year, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow. Great news one and all, an early spring is in store for us.

What does that mean for the process serving industry? Well, in FL, not much. But for our colleagues in the northern states, this is great news.  Some states like Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. have days where they can’t even open their doors. If you can’t get outside of your house due to snow, blizzard, or other elements, then it’s real tough to get process served.

Whether it’s snow, rain, hail, hurricanes, etc., just know, we are open for business and are always serving papers. We encourage all of our process servers to drive and be safe on the roads, safety is always the number one concern.  And the number two concern is serving your papers as quickly and accurately as possible. Our organization is like no other process serving company out there. Our team is dedicated to the profession and we thank you for the continued trust you place in us to serve your papers.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

Greetings to everyone who may be reading, I am Josh Wright. For those of you who don’t know, I operate the offices in South Florida, Accurate Serve of Plantation.  Accurate Serve of Plantation offices cover the Tri-County area in South Florida including Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade County. In addition, we have expanded our local areas in 2019 to Marathon county, serving the Florida Keys. From everyone here at Accurate Serve, we want to thank you for your continued loyalty to our company in 2018 and years prior. 
If the Plantation office is your point of contact, I ask that you visit the “Send Work” portal on our website. If you did not already know, we have a portal on our website where a representative from your firm can upload a new service request. We recommend using our portal because we can send the documents to our servers faster. When using this upload feature the documents are exported directly to our secure office database and sent to the server assigned in that area. An email will be sent to your firm, confirming your upload was successful. If you have any questions about using the portal, please give us a call or visit our website. 
In 2019, Accurate Serve of Plantation plans to expand our knowledge in the process serving industry, support our local legal community and continue to improve or communication and services utilizing technology. We are always striving to meet our promises and limit our complications that may occur from normal business operations.
In honor of Black History Month, I like to share with you a thought: Martin Luther King Jr is a legend. “I have a dream”, the famous speech spoken on August 28, 1963, rings familiar to just about everyone. It is important to step back and take a look at the bigger picture to remind yourself, we are all chasing our dreams. Although our roads may lead different paths, we are on this journey together and each of us bring different values to the table. These very values is why we all need to respect, admire and share with one another. 
We look forward to upcoming seasons and continuing to grow in 2019. Thank you for your time, have a great year everyone.

– Joshua Wright

Need our help?
Call (954) 770-9997 or
Email josh@accurateserveplantation.com

To the Power of 10

Happy New Year!!!! 2019 marks an important year for us here at Accurate Serve. Accurate Serve was founded in Lakeland, FL in 2009.  So, this is our 10th year in business, proudly serving the legal community. Accurate Serve has grown from a one man operation serving 624 papers in Year 1 to over 35 offices in FL (and 1 in AL) and 54,342 papers served in 2018. Our team of Owners/Operators are dedicated to the profession. We truly understand the role we play in the legal process and the importance of getting individuals and businesses served quickly and accurately.

The more offices we add, the better we can serve you.  In 2019, we have big plans on expansion. Firstly, our S FL offices have branched down into the Keys and should be opening a Monroe office shortly. We have 3 markets left in FL that we hope to open soon once we find the right Owner/Operators: Accurate Serve of Gainesville, Accurate Serve of Lake City and Accurate Serve of Panama City. After that, our next goal is Accurate Serve of Charlotte, NC, Accurate Serve of Atlanta, GA and Accurate Serve of Washington DC.

While not every serve is as easy as 1-2-3, since we have served so many papers over the years, we know how to respond in every situation. You can put your trust in us to serve your papers quickly and accurately. You can put your trust in us to always work hard to get the job done. We look forward to the continued opportunity to earn your business and the trust you have placed with us for your service needs.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

What a year 2018 was! Accurate Serve Fort Myers had its best year yet, serving a record number of jobs throughout the state & nation as well as creating new business relationships within our community and most importantly giving back to the community.
This month we want to remind you that we are not just here for your local services within the 20th circuit but we also specialize in Statewide, Nationwide and International Service. We have trusted servers throughout the nation who serve our documents to Florida Statutes, quickly and accurately. Using our office for nationwide service allows you to keep one contact for all of your serving needs and in doing so, you will be updated on all of our efforts as well as job completion. Just like serving within the state we will provide you with the return of service for e-filing once it is signed.
Our limitations of service do not stop at the national borders. Our office has served multiple individuals outside of the United States, both through the Hague Convention as well as through private process servers, so we can walk you through the steps and keep you informed on the process. When you have to serve someone internationally you can simply reach out to our office, or your local Accurate Serve Office, to provide us with the location of service and the document size so that we can give you an accurate quote. The location simply does not matter as we have successfully served multiple people throughout Canada, South America, Central America, Ireland, Germany, China, England and Japan. If we have to translate the documents to be served we can do that too, just get us the docs so we can get you a quote on translation! Do not let location of service stop you from contacting your local Accurate Serve office as we are always ready to help our clients complete a job no matter where the subject may be located.

One of the biggest accomplishments in 2018 for Owner Brandon Muscato was the amount of support that we received for the Hurricane Food Drive in which Accurate Serve teamed up with the Mid West Food Bank of SWFL. The drive started after Hurricane Florence devastated our neighbors in and around N.C. In a three week period our local clients in the 20th Circuit brought in more than $7500 of food and cleaning supplies to help those individuals. Our efforts were actually so persistent that when Hurricane Michael hit the Pan Handle we were able to reroute over $2k of those collected goods to people in need after Michael as well. Actions like this and being able to bring our community together to help others in need is what truly makes owning and operating a business worthwhile. Brandon will continue to be involved with the community through his Rotary Club, other non for profits and random acts of kindness. We are beyond thankful for the support we received in 2018 and look forward to what 2019 and the upcoming years have in store.

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