Staying Ahead of the Competition

What is a RON? 
RON = Remote Online Notary

As of January 1, 2020, current Florida notaries have had the opportunity to add remote online notary 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

When this add-on first became a possibility, we looked into it, but did not move forward. The real challenge was selecting a RON Service provider.

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 video conferencing for online notary (record video and store for 10 years)
• Attach digital signatures/notary’s stamp and signature

As we all know, our lives changed in early March. The pandemic hit hard and a lot of office staff started working from homes. Our Servers started printing more assignments from their home computers to lessen interaction and travel. Banks closed lobbies, so getting something notarized from your bank became almost impossible. That notary you knew in the office next to you is no longer there, working from their home.

We had to come up with a solution and quick. Luckily our software programmer stepped up to the plate and got to work!! For the past several months, our software programmer has been working on adding RON functionality for jobs we serve for your office.

All of our Servers in the field use an App on their smart phones or devices.  They serve a job and update the App.  You, the Client, get an email notification with the info. At this point, office staff will review info and send the Return of Service to Server to e-sign from the field. Most Servers do so fairly quickly.

Now, if an Affidavit of Service (needs a notary) is required over a Return of Service (no notary needed), we would print the Affidavit and then have the Server report to the office to sign, so the office staff can notarize. Well, soon, we will be able to send the Affidavit to Server via our App, and then they can calendar a time to video conference with an office worker, who has added their RON via the State, and digitally sign/notarize the Affidavit of Service.

I’m not sure if you can tell from my message but I am pretty excited about this new development! Staying ahead of the competition in regards to technology and offering better service to our clients is how we operate and that’s why we’re YOUR PROCESS SERVING COMPANY.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

Greetings from the Accurate Serve Ocala office. This time last year we talked about timeless classics and service in the Summer.  Well, as everyone knows by now, this summer will be unlike any we have ever seen before. Coming of the heels of sheltering in place during a global pandemic a few things will be different during the summer of 2020.

Places of Business

Some employers have elected to keep many of their staff in a work from home capacity indefinitely. Unfortunately, some business also may not recover from the shut down and may not re-open or re-hire an employee we are trying to serve.  We can locate these employees via Skip Trace and serve them home (where we can serve a co-resident) and not at their place of employment where Personal service is required.

Service at a Residence

As COVID-19 concerns have caused some summer school, summer camps to close this summer as well as the cancellation of some summer vacations ☹. Our odds increase on residential serves with co-residents over the age of 15 being home and able to accept service.

Foreclosures, Evictions post COVID Shut Down & Our old Friend Mother Nature

Many counties are slowly lifting some of their moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures while others are extending. Compounding this, June 1st marks the first day of Hurricane season which could also mean FEMA holds. Accurate serve offices check in with their local court clerks often with regards to these restrictions and will keep you informed if this would affect the service of your documents.

We are ready, willing, and able to address all the above and any additional process serving needs you may have.

– Your Accurate Serve Ocala Team

Need our help?
Call 352-278-2188
or
Email jared@accurateserveocala.com

May 2020 Job Count – 4,487
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* – 4.73

*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.

Opening Back Up

As a good chunk of Americans return to work this week, we all prepare for the unknown. As we prepare for life getting back to normal, we all need to adjust what our normal is. In the short term, that means to take extra precautions all the time, especially when in public. Wear masks, wash hands often, keep your distance, sanitize, wear gloves, etc. Now, no one wants to wear masks day in day out long term, but right now, it’s what we need to do to protect ourselves and others and slow the spread.

One thing we don’t want to slow is the spread of Accurate Serve because as I always say, the more locations we have, the better we can serve you and at a lower cost. A few months ago, I had a great article that needed to be scrapped or postponed due to Covid-19. We were set to open our newest location last month, Accurate Serve of Denver, but travel plans/office site selection, etc. has been postponed.  No fear though, we will get it up and running this year and we will be sure to let you know of the grand opening.

Adding to the above, Accurate Serve will be participating in a nationwide virtual franchise show this month. We hope to meet a few qualified individuals who embody the great work ethic that has been established across the boards at every Accurate serve location and maybe we will be able to plan a few more office openings later this year and beyond.

We are here for you during this crazy time, we did not shut down because we know the important role we play in the legal community. Our Servers are working tirelessly to ensure your documents are served quickly and accurately. Take the time to think of the challenges they face and the risk they are taking to keeping this process serving going and if there are any issues, delays, etc. due to pandemic, we apologize in advance but rest assured, our track record speaks for itself and just know every Owner/Operator is dedicated to the profession and serving their Clients.

Happy May and Have a Great Day!!

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet  

Greetings from our team here in Daytona, Palm Coast & Titusville!

We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe during these uncertain times. Our team here has been working remotely from home since this pandemic started and everything is running smoother than anticipated. Some of the things we did were purchase printers and reams of paper along with other office supplies and sent them out to our servers so they would not have to meet our offices daily. This saves our servers time and gas which also helps us practice social distancing. That being said, we recommend you e-mailing us all the documents for service instead of mailing us originals(unless you have to), to save us from coming into the office.

We also wanted to point out that since a majority of people right now are working from home, furloughed from work and home from school, this is the perfect time to take advantage and send those papers for service! I know it’s a bad thing to say but our servers have fully taken advantage of everybody being home and our success rates of going out and serving on the first, if not the second attempt have been remarkable.
Although we are unsure how long this pandemic is going to last and when things will be back to normal, we hope that you and your team, along with your family are doing well. Stay safe and let us know if you need anything!

– Accurate Serve Daytona/Palm Coast/Titusville

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

• Set a schedule and stick to it
• Designate an area as a workspace (if you have more than 1 child, make sure each has their own space)
• Take breaks
• Understand that each child processes info and learns differently, so be patient

April 2020 Job Count – 4,088
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* – 3.9

*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.

COVID-19 

Our world is currently dealing with a pandemic of epic proportions. We have been introduced to the term social distancing and have been asked to practice it to help curve the widespread corona virus.

At Accurate Serve, we are dedicated to serving our Clients through the good times and bad. We have remained open throughout this situation and plan to remain open going forward. We have stressed time and time again, that we know the role we play in the legal process and how essential our function is to the legal community.

Our Servers never come in to physical contact with anyone they serve. We hand the paper we are serving to the recipient and it’s usually a 1:1 scenario, never encountering large groups of people. Since it’s usually a tense situation serving Defendants, we don’t hang around for coffee talk, we are in and out pretty quick, as we always have been, for the safety of the Servers.

We have told our Servers to extend their arms fully when handing papers off to create as much distance between Server and subject. We have also told our Servers to sanitize their hands before and after each service attempt. Sanitize before and after filling up w/ gas and to use drive throughs when you need sustenance.

Most of our office staff have been working remotely from their homes and our Servers are printing a lot of service packets from their home offices as well to minimize travel and interaction. Most of the serves we receive are via email, so that helps too. Mailed services – office staff are instructed to wash their hands after each and every piece of mail they open.

We are great at what we do and we try not to let natural disasters, pandemics, etc. interrupt or slow us down much. Like I said earlier, we are dedicated to our clients and to the profession. We are an essential business, delivery services, courier services are in great demand right now.  Process Serving is essential to the court system, so as long as Clients send us work, we will serve it.

Locally – We do have to follow guidelines set in place by local courts, circuits, etc. We have told our team/servers that if the person in charge of your process server license sends out a memo saying to stop serving papers, you must stop serving papers.  The 19th Circuit placed a quick stay on process but it was misconstrued by the masses and the “stay” was lifted/corrected.  The 18th Circuit had placed a stay on Foreclosures and Evictions until April 15th.

Statewide – In the past few days, Governor DeSantis signed into effect several Orders. See Florida Executive Order link. As defined by these terms, it is in our opinion, that process servers are considered an essential business. Another thing to note on that link is that there is a stay on Foreclosures and Evictions for 45 days.

Hockey shut down and basketball too – no March Madness or now Wimbledon. Gyms, dining rooms at restaurants, bars/nightclubs – all closed. Amusement parks, nature preserves, no entry allowed. This truly is a hard time for all of us.

We want to wish you all the best and hope that everyone, and their loved ones, remain safe during this tough time. And let’s hope this ugly virus will dissipate in the upcoming weeks and we can all get our sanity back and return to the normal ins and outs of the daily grind.

Have hope, be optimistic, and instill resilience. All the best, take care please.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet  

Our servers are out on the street delivering your subpoenas and summons’ working diligently through this crazy time. Accurate Serve of Pensacola covers a huge area! It would take you 3 hours to cross all the counties that we cover, that is without any traffic! From Panama City to Mobile Alabama and all parts in between!

What about the panhandle areas where we need a motion and order? We have servers for those areas too! Motion and Order counties require you to file a motion and … you guessed it; an order to appoint us to serve your docs. It’s easy, and we actually will fill it out for you! When you send us docs that require motion and order, our staff will fill out the motion and the order and send it to you to file as we hold the docs until we get the order signed by the judge. We also will follow up with you to see/ remind you that we are waiting on this.

Your service of process needs are to important to leave in the hands of amateurs; we are statewide, we are efficient, and we are professionals. Your business is in good hands with Accurate Serve.

If you have any questions or inquiries please just send us an email or call us on the phone!

FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, WE ARE HAPPY TO ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS!

Payment

– Brennan Fogarty

Need our help?
Call 850-264-2917 or
Email Brennan@accurateservepensacola.com

February 2020 Job Count – 4,804
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* – 3.9

*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.

It’s almost that time of year again, time for our state association’s annual conference. The Florida Association of Professional Process Servers (FAPPS) annual conference/convention will take place in Orlando, FL, as it does each year. Orlando has been the host of the annual conference for as long as I can remember. Reason being is its central location for all members statewide to be able to travel easily.  A few years ago, the Board of Directors for FAPPS entertained the possibility of moving the annual convention to Tampa for a few years on a trial basis, that has yet to happen though.

Friday night starts with a reception party followed by either Bingo or poker. Accurate Serve team members, Josh Kes and Beau Charlet, have been known to frequent the final table at the poker tournament and even a few first place finishes. Saturday continues with several break out sessions and education classes. Saturday night ends with the awards ceremony and dinner. And Sunday morning wraps up the convention with the AFPS class. The AFPS class is a 4+ hour class going over Statutes, civil procedure, new legislation changes, etc. The AFPS class is recognized in many circuits as an approved course for process servers. Passing the test with a high enough score earns members their AFPS designation. At the 2019 Convention, more than 50% of the AFPS class attendees were Accurate Serve employees, Owners/Operators, Office Managers, or Servers.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

The Search is Over…

Greetings! If you need service of process in the Orlando area, the Orlando office covers Orange, Seminole and Oceola 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 professions 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.

– Jared Williams

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

On there, there is a red “Find Location” button currently floating in the Gulf of Mexico. Try out this cool feature. Also, you can scroll down and under each office in operation, there is a note on which office you should contact.

January 2020 Job Count – 4,915

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.

Duval & Palm Beach Counties 

So, there are  3 ways Private Process Servers can serve civil process in FL:

• Certified by courts in circuit they serve in
• Appointed by Sheriff in the county they serve in
• Approved by Motion & Order from the Judge presiding over case

Duval is located in the 4th Judicial Circuit of Florida, along with Clay and Nassau. Duval is a Sheriff appointed county. Nassau and Clay are Motion & Order, which means they do not have a private process server program in place either with the Courts or Sheriff.

For many years, the Duval Sheriff would outsource their civil process to a private process serving company. In 2016, the Duval Sheriff changed their policies in regards to private process servers.  They stopped sending their papers to private process servers to serve and started serving everything in house with their own Process Servers or Deputies.

No worries there, it is my understanding that this was the only county where that was the procedure. Where the worry does come in is that also at that time, the Sheriff stopped appointing NEW process servers. They have renewed process server licenses but have not appointed any new servers.

You can surmise that the total number of private process servers has steadily decreased in Duval County over the years. Servers retire, move away and attrition is natural everywhere, so unless the Duval Sheriff changes their policies again, as the years go on, the total number of servers will decline.

While our Jacksonville office has several servers, feel free to file a Motion & Order when filing your case. A benefit of filing a M&O for Duval, although it is not needed, is it will increase the number of servers we have available but are not appointed by Sheriff. Another benefit of filing a M&O when serving in Duval is let’s say we have a Defendant who works in Jacksonville but lives in Fernandina Beach, Nassau County. Subject could evade at POE and to serve at residence, we would need the M&O, so we would be ahead of the game at this point. We will attach a copy of our M&O at the bottom of this Newsletter as well as a list of counties that are M&O, so you know before filing your case.

Moving from Duval to Palm Beach County, which is located in the 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida. Palm Beach County is a certified circuit and very recently they stopped certifying new process servers. Similar to Duval, they will renew licenses of current process servers but will not certify new ones at the moment.

Luckily for us and our clients, Owner/Operator of our Plantation, West Palm Beach, Miami and Key West offices, Josh Wright, has his Palm Beach certification and will continue to renew it over the years and he also has several servers with current licenses as well.

While the Palm Beach development is rather new, the Duval issue has been going on for a few years. It is our hopes that these matters will work out and we know that our state association, FAPPS, and it’s membership will work with lawmakers, sheriffs, court systems, etc. to ensure that private process servers will be available and able to serve all non-enforceable civil process.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet

Skip Tracing for Process Serving

While preparing for trial, or deposition, or just finding a new address to facilitate service of process, one of the most handy and cost effective tools can be the skip trace. The better information we have about a subject the better service we can provide.

One time I was serving a summons on a woman at her home. Before I got up to the door I pulled up her Facebook page to remind myself what she looked like. As she answered the door I knew it was her, I said ” Good afternoon Jane, I have a summons and complaint here for you and you have 20 days to respond, have a great day”. As I was handing the docs to her she backed away and said “I’m not Jane, I don’t know what you are talking about”. I then pulled out my phone and showed her pics of herself and her friends having margaritas…. “Jane, I think this is you, here is your summons”. I was about to drop the summons at her feet when she sheepishly reached out and took it from me. Then her mumbles under her breath turned into unmistakable curse-words as I walked back to my vehicle.

The information that exists about people freely on the internet is vast, and valuable even if it was a free search I did on Facebook.

When we have exhausted the known addresses while attempting to affect service we can turn to using a skip trace to try and determine new possible addresses, and what the facts are in our investigation. From time to time we go to the correct address, and we make a note of the vehicles, and ask the people who answer the door what their names are, and people are quite possibly lying about who they are and what they know.

When you run a skip trace you can cut through all that and get right to the point by dealing with facts.

When we take down tag #’s during the service attempts we can run the plates for a small fee to see whose car is parked outside. This can be helpful when the person at the door is claiming no knowledge of the subject, even though their car is parked outside.

When we need more information on a person, we run a skip trace. With this we can see every address our subject has ever lived, and or had a bill sent to. Every phone number, landline or mobile phone number that might be associated with the individual. A skip trace reports also contains Voter registrations, professional licences, real estate holdings, liens, judgments, bankruptcies, alias’, known relatives and associates, current and past vehicle information, UCC filings, hunting permits, weapons permits, and more….

The criminal records may not be the most accurate part, but it will list every time our subject has been arrested, and what happened after that is in the docket.

My clients have used these skip traces in preparation for depositions. In one case the woman being deposed had a history of committing a certain type of fraud. My client was able to use the skip trace information in the deposition to get her on the record regarding facts of the case.

If you would like to look into a skip trace for one of your open jobs, or an upcoming job with Accurate Serve reach out to one of our many offices around the state.
Best Regards,

– Brennan Fogarty

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

December 2019 Job Count – 4, 189

Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* – 5.18

*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.