This is Us

People do business with people they Know, Like and Trust. This is a popular phrase in business groups, networking circles and amongst entrepreneurs. This is also a common phrase I use in the AS chat forum and on our monthly conference calls. Now, I would like to use it for this article in our Newsletter, so let’s take a look.

Get to Know Us (if you don’t already)

• Accurate Serve® was founded in 2009 in Lakeland, FL by Beau Charlet (that’s me)
• In 2012, we opened our first franchised office in Jacksonville, FL. The Tallahassee office opened a few months after the Jax office.
• Each franchisee is required to attend an extensive training program before they can open their office. During that time, every aspect of running an AS office is taught, re-taught and touched on time and time again. Our Owners are prepared when they open for business.
• We have 38 offices in FL and offices in 5 other states (AL, CO, MI, GA and TX).
• The AS team has served over 50,000 papers each year for 4 years in a row which makes us one of the largest process serving companies in the nation AND we are the only franchise based system in our industry (that I know of, LOL). So, although we are one large company, we are made up of several smaller companies, all locally owned and operated by someone in your community.

Do you Like Us?

• First off for social media purposes, please like/follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn. As for FaceBook, each AS office has their own page, so please visit your point of contact’s website and look in the upper right hand corner for the icon to link to their Biz FB page.
• Are you a new Client for AS?  Or, have you been with us for years? Have you had a chance to write a Google review? If so, thanks so much!! If not, we hope that we can deliver superior service to you day in and day out and maybe one day, you can hit us up with that Review.
• Speaking of Reviews, each AS website has a page of their reviews. If you have not had a chance to read those, please do so. This will tell you what other companies think about us and our service.

And you can definitely Trust Us:

• Know that all Returns/Affidavits are valid on their face. In FL, if a Process Server knowingly and willingly executes a false return, they can be banned from serving process forever. Just know that this will never be an issue with anyone working for an Accurate Serve® office.
• Each month we send out this Newsletter and publish our stats. Some months are stats are not as good as others (many factors can go into this) but we never fudge our numbers. We are transparent in everything that we do.
• You may be working directly with an AS Owner or you may be working with their office staff, office managers, etc.  There are checks and balances in place in all offices to make sure nothing is missed. From Servers to Employees to Managers to Owners, we all place our trust in each other to work hard every day getting your papers served and trust me, we get the job done!!

That’s all I have for now, take care.

Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

Accurate Serve® Atlanta is growing! Our Atlanta office has been open for over 1 year and has secured reliable servers through the state of GA. With contacts ready to go all over the state, we are able to complete your process needs diligently. As your offices start to re-open, we look forward to having in person meetings and getting to know the Paralegals and attorneys throughout the greater Atlanta area. If you have an event planned, let us know! We’d love to attend to get to know your team!

As always we are your one stop shop for any of your process needs nationwide! Our wealth of experience ensure quick handling of your professional casework. Don’t forget about our ever expanding Accurate Serve® office network that is constantly setting up shop in cities nationwide…We are here for you!

With focus on communication to our clients, we ensure they are up to date every step of the way on all services. If you have questions about your file, our team is available by phone or email to ensure your needs are being met. Our goal is to earn your business long term and give you peace of mind while becoming your one stop shop for professional process serving not only in Atlanta but anywhere our clients need. We look forward to hearing from you and happy New Year!

All the best,
Accurate Serve® of Atlanta

James Pantell
Need our help?
Call (404) 924-4838
or
Email jp@accurateserveatlanta.com

December 2021 Job Count – 4,046
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -6.3

*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.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

2021 is coming to a close but before it does we all benefit from the winter holidays and extra time off to spend with loved ones. If you stay local, enjoy your time in your home with family, friends and loved ones. If you are traveling this month, please be safe and return back rejuvenated and refreshed.

Everyone has their traditions and favorite things to do during the holidays. I want to know what those are. This Newsletter goes out to over 10,000 people plus viewed by many more via our social media channels. If 10% of you reply and share a slice of your life with me, I would feel most blessed.

Here are some things we like to do:

• Drive around and look at lights
• Decorate our home, tree, etc.
• Make yummy tasty goodies
• Watch holiday movies
• Find out where the Elf on the Shelf is every morning
• Play cards and board games
• Cook and eat – I know I mentioned goodies earlier but those are sweets, I like the nice hefty meals too and I LOVE to cook

Something new we did this year is we got an Advent calendar for our 3 kids. Our girls get a new bracelet, necklace, gem, bead, etc. each day. And our son gets a mini lego animal to put together.

Here is my Top 4 Holiday Movie List:

1. A Christmas Story
2. Elf
3. Home Alone
4. The Santa Clause

We hope you have enjoyed our service in 2021 and we look forward to being your service of process provider in 2022.  We are always working to do better and we never stop to rest.  You can rest assured we will always work hard to get the job done.

Warmest Wishes this Holiday Season….

Take Care,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

Happy Holidays to all! No matter what you celebrate we hope that you are enjoying time with family and friends as we come to a close in 2021. Hard to believe that this year is ending and in doing so we are putting a close to our first year of business as Accurate Serve® of Dallas. I appreciate all of the relationships that we have already made in this first year. We have great process servers on our team as well as some awesome clients who have been supporting us in this venture. Your support and business is what allows us to grow and become a better process serving company for clients and for our employees and process servers.

Process serving is a business of effort and knowledge. Naturally there will be people who avoid service, almost on a daily basis. Our team and our servers have the knowledge of statues and civil procedures to ensure that we take the steps necessary to get documents served in a fair, timely and lawful manner. Yes, people who avoid will generally take more time to get served but by making the continued effort  to prove they are being evasive it allows us to open up new avenues to get them served. For Texas the first method to fall back on is Rule 106. This requires the non serve affidavit with attempts to prove that we have attempted individual service a sufficient amount of times. Once the motion 106 is granted we can start working on service of the individual again but also have the ability to sub serve a co resident who is 16 or older.

https://twitter.com/ZTPetrizzo/status/1469083135728099336?s=20

We can also drop serve as you see in the video above. This is not the preferred method of service but for some individuals they do not give us any other options. As you can see in the video, the server identified the subject being served and informed him of the documents he was being served with. The two primary keys to successful service is successfully identifying the individual and verbally letting them know what they have been served with, summons, citation, etc. The individual being served can also ask for the process server to provide a licence for service at which time it is the process server’s responsibility to provide a license or show a motion in order granting that process server to complete service of the documents.

Our team is here to support you as your one stop shop for process serving around the nation and world. We have the resources to provide answers and successful service to individuals and companies no matter where they are located. Again, I thank you for your support in 2021 and look forward to working with you and new clients in 2022. Cheers!

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

November 2021 Job Count – 3,806
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.

This is how we do it!!

Last month, our team was able to get together for our annual franchise retreat. Our 2020 retreat was cancelled due to Covid-19. Our 2020 retreat was scheduled to be at the UF v. FSU football game but that game actually never was scheduled, due to Corona. So, 2021 same plan, just a different matchup.

The team traveled to Tallahassee, FL, minus the team members that work in that city, on a Friday afternoon/evening. We first all convened at a cool roof top bar and caught the sun as it set over the city.  It truly was a beautiful sight.

Caught an Uber to dinner, and feasted like champs.  Although, the restaurant was out of the 1st 3 items I tried to order, total bummer there but oh well.  After dinner, the highlight of the evening – riding electric scooters all over town. Such a fun time, those things are super cool.

Saturday was upon us and the day was all about the football game. As a UF alumni, I do not travel to Doak often but I will give them their props; there was a cool Champions club section in the stadium w/ unlimited food and drinks at the ready. FSU won the game AND covered the spread, LOL – we had a college football pool going for the Owners/Operators….I will brag real quick, I won, lol.

Our next annual franchise retreat is scheduled for Ft Myers, FL. Can’t wait to see what kind of craziness goes on there next year.

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

Who likes getting tattoos? Who wants to get a free tattoo and make money? If you get an Accurate Serve® tattoo and make a video of it and send it to us, we will reimburse you for the tattoo (max $150) AND send you an extra $100.

October 2021 Job Count – 4,388
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -5.7

*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.

Nothing Personal

So, some papers we serve, need to be served personally. While others can be substituted, when and why? Your papers were posted – are you asking yourself, “Is this good service?”

Let’s dive into this a tad further, shall we?

Personal Service:

Serving documents that originated in FL, see below Statutes that govern when personal service is required.

• 48.051 Service on state prisoners.—Process against a state prisoner shall be served on the prisoner.
• 63.088(3) LOCATION AND IDENTITY KNOWN. Before the court may determine that a minor is available for adoption, each person whose consent is required under s.63.062, who has not executed a consent for adoption or an affidavit of nonpaternity, and whose location and identity have been determined by compliance with the procedures in this section must be personally served, pursuant to Chapter 48, at least 20 days before the hearing with a copy of the petition to terminate parental rights pending adoption and with notice in substantially the following form …………….

Serving documents that originated in TX or MI, their Statutes/Laws require personal service only.

• When serving MI documents personally, the Server needs to ask the Servee to sign for the paperwork.  If the Servee refuses to sign for the paperwork, personal service is still good to go….we just call that signature, the icing on the cake.
• If serving TX documents personally proves to be challenging, a non service Affidavit can be submitted to the courts and then an order for substitute service can be filed and if approved, the papers can be served alternatively.

Substitute Service:
Serving documents that originated in FL, see a few selected Statutes below that explain when substitute service is permitted.

• 48.031 (1)(a) Service of original process is made by delivering a copy of it to the person to be served with a copy of the complaint, petition, or other initial pleading or paper or by leaving the copies at his or her usual place of abode with any person residing therein who is 15 years of age or older and informing the person of their contents. Minors who are or have been married shall be served as provided in this section. (Please note: if serving an individual away from the abode, personal (or spousal) service is required.)
• 48.031(2)(a) Substitute service may be made on the spouse of the person to be served at any place in the county, if the cause of action is not an adversary proceeding between the spouse and the person to be served, if the spouse requests such service, and if the spouse and person to be served are residing together in the same dwelling.
• 48.031(2)(b) Substitute service may be made on an individual doing business as a sole proprietorship at his or her place of business, during regular business hours, by serving the person in charge of the business at the time of service if two attempts to serve the owner have been made at the place of business.
• 48.031(6)(a) If the only address for a person to be served which is discoverable through public records is a private mailbox, a virtual office, or an executive office or mini suite, substitute service may be made by leaving a copy of the process with the person in charge of the private mailbox, virtual office, or executive office or mini suite, but only if the process server determines that the person to be served maintains a mailbox, a virtual office, or an executive office or mini suite at that location.

Serving documents that originated in CO, see below selected Statute in regards to substitute service.

• CO Rule of Civil Procedure 4(e)(1) Upon a natural person whose age is eighteen years or older by delivering a copy thereof to the person, or by leaving a copy thereof at the person’s usual place of abode, with any person whose age is eighteen years or older and who is a member of the person’s family, or at the person’s usual workplace, with the person’s supervisor, secretary, administrative assistant, bookkeeper, human resources representative or managing agent; or by delivering a copy to a person authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process.

A few differences between FL and CO for substitute service:

• In FL, 15 to sub serve, in CO – 18
• In FL, just needs to be a co-resident, in CO – must be a direct family member
• In FL, only spouse can accept away from the abode and in CO, you can serve an individual’s boss and that is good service.

Posted Service:

Serving documents that originated in FL, see below Statutes in reference to posting documents for service.

• 48.031(3)(b) A criminal witness subpoena commanding the witness to appear for a court appearance may be posted by a person authorized to serve process at the witness’s residence if three attempts to serve the subpoena, made at different times of the day or night on different dates, have failed. A criminal witness subpoena commanding the witness to appear for a deposition may be posted by a person authorized to serve process at the witness’s residence if one attempt to serve the subpoena has failed. The subpoena must be posted at least 5 days before the date of the witness’s required appearance.
• 48.183(1) In an action for possession of any residential premises, including those under chapters 83, 723, and 513, or nonresidential premises, if the tenant cannot be found in the county or there is no person 15 years of age or older residing at the tenant’s usual place of abode in the county after at least two attempts to obtain service as provided above in this subsection, summons may be served by attaching a copy to a conspicuous place on the property described in the complaint or summons. The minimum time delay between the two attempts to obtain service shall be 6 hours. Nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting service of process on a tenant as is otherwise provided on defendants in civil cases.

Other documents that can be generally posted are: Demand Notices, Notices to Terminate Lease, 3 Day Notice to Vacate, etc.

Let’s take a look at how they serve Evictions in GA:

O.C.G.A. 44-7-51 (2010)
44-7-51. Issuance of summons; service; time for answer; defenses and counterclaims

(a) When the affidavit provided for in Code Section 44-7-50 is made, the judge of the superior court, the state court, or any other court with jurisdiction over the subject matter or the judge, clerk, or deputy clerk of the magistrate court shall grant and issue a summons to the sheriff or his deputy or to any lawful constable of the county where the land is located. A copy of the summons and a copy of the affidavit shall be personally served upon the defendant. If the sheriff is unable to serve the defendant personally, service may be had by delivering the summons and the affidavit to any person who is sui juris residing on the premises or, if after reasonable effort no such person is found residing on the premises, by posting a copy of the summons and the affidavit on the door of the premises and, on the same day of such posting, by enclosing, directing, stamping, and mailing by first-class mail a copy of the summons and the affidavit to the defendant at his last known address, if any, and making an entry of this action on the affidavit filed in the case.

This ended up being a long article and for those of you who know me, I am generally short and to the point.  But we did cover a lot of material and crossed the border time and time again. If you are still with me, thanks for sticking it out.

We have our Annual Franchise Retreat this weekend, see next month’s article for pictures and details of the event.

Take Care,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

Happy October! I just wanted to keep this bit simple and sweet since Halloween is right around the corner. Fall decorations, people dressed up in costumes/makeup and walking door to door trick or treating. I just want to clarify a misconception out there; Ultimately, our job is to deliver court documents, and sometimes it may require us to get creative to reach evasive defendants. Keep in mind that being creative shouldn’t mean being deceptive by attempting service under false pretenses or violating state laws.

Thanks,

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

September 2021 Job Count – 4,128
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -5.57

*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.

Legislature Changes & Technological Advancements in Florida

In June 2019, Florida House Bill 91 was signed, sealed and delivered. One of the major changes in this Bill was the fact that process servers could now electronically sign their Returns of Service. This was a HUGE development. Prior to the signing of this Bill, only the Sheriff was allowed to electronically sign Returns, not private process servers (PPS).

Once this Bill was signed into effect, our software programmer went to work and built a feature into our software program and App which allowed Accurate Serve® Process Servers to update jobs and sign Returns using their Smartphones. They could serve a paper and within minutes be able to sign the Return of Service (ROS). This sure does beat the old way of doing things which would consist of printing the Return, waiting for Server to report to the office to sign Return, then scan it, save it and email it.

This new development/advancement has been great for us here at Accurate Serve® as well as our Clients. The quicker we can serve the paper and provide the ROS, then the happier our Clients will be. Well, what about an Affidavit of Service (AOS)? A notary can’t notarize a document when an electronic signature has been used, right? Well in June 2019, that was true. Fast forward 6 months, different story.

As of January 1, 2020, current Florida notaries have had the opportunity to add remote online notary (RON) duties to their current commission. In order to be approved, the following criteria must be met:

• Complete a course
• Obtain Bond
• Obtain Errors & Omissions insurance
• Select a RON Service Provider
• Complete a form
• Pay a Fee to the State

There are very specific duties that a RON Service Provider must undertake. The technology they utilize must meet requirements set forth in Chapter 117, Florida Statutes as well as Chapter 1N-7.001, Florida Administrative Code. Some duties include:

• Facilitating 2-way video conferencing for online notary and Affiant (record video and store for 10 years)
• Attach digital signatures/notary’s stamp and signature of Server

Well, just like building electronic signatures into our software program, our programmer stepped up to the cleanup spot this time and hit a grand slam. Our software program, Paper Tracker, applied to be a RON Service Provider in the State of Florida. After that, the RON process was built into our software and we have successfully electronically signed and notarized hundreds of Affidavits in our Tampa Bay offices over the past year.

Currently, our software allows RON via laptop or desktop computers. Guess what we have in progress? The RON feature will be able to be completed via cell phone to cell phone. That will make it ten times easier for us to turn around notarized Affidavits.

Have you seen one of our E-signed and E-notarized Affidavits of Service? Pretty fancy, check them out.

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

Here in Pensacola, there are quite a few firms who have satellite offices in Mobile Alabama; and so do we! In fact we have servers who can cover not only the entire panhandle from Panama City north to the Georgia border, and West all the way into Mobile County.

When you use Accurate Serve® for all your service of process, what you get is a team of tireless administrators who are working diligently with our servers in the field to get your process delivered.

No other firm in the state of Florida can boast having a server in every county, and an office in every major city.

You can rest assured that when you trust Accurate Serve® with your service of process needs you are delegating an important task for your firm, and freeing up your time to address your clients needs.

If you are reading this from the Panhandle of Florida, we are your point of contact for service of process. If you are reading this from somewhere else in the state… click this link below! You can find out who your local Accurate Serve® office is, and start delegating service of process tasks so you can better serve your clients.

https://www.accurateservepensacola.com/locations/

All the best,

Brennan Fogarty
Need our help?
Call (850) 914-9488
or
Email brennan@accurateservepensacola.com

Are you a member of NALA?  Did you see this month’s newsletter?
Accurate Serve® has a nice looking Ad front and center.

August 2021 Job Count – 4,646
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -6.17

*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.