A Class Action lawsuit successfully overturned over $800 million of default judgments entered because of fraudulent affidavits of service. The victims won a $59 million settlement against debt collectors and process servers.
Attorneys take note! You can be held responsible if a process server handling your service files a false affidavit of service.
In addition to the monetary settlement and a major network of collectors being barred from continuing the practice, the process service company responsible for the fraudulent affidavits, Samserv Inc., has been ordered to pay process servers the same amount for unsuccessful attempts at service as they pay for a successful service.
The thought is that the unfair pay rates put pressure on the process servers to lie if the notice was actually served.
The court has recognized that if the company isn’t getting paid for a non-serve, then the process server isn’t either. The law firm which used SamServ was personally named as a defendant in the class-action lawsuit, holding them accountable for utilizing a process service company who engaged in false service.
The fraudulent affidavits involved individuals who hadn’t lived at a particular address for more than ten years, subjects who had been deceased for years and others who had been at work with viable alibis at the time of service.
So listen up you lawyers and firms alike– be careful when choosing a process server who doesn’t pay their process servers equal pay for served and non-served notices. The results of this practice in New York ignited a class-action lawsuit and a resulted in a $59 million settlement, a long list of compliance requirements for NYC process servers and overturned over 100,000 judgments.
Don’t take any chances with a process server of questionable reputation. Rather, call Nationwide Legal Investigations at (877) 493-3463 for your process serving needs.
