JANET MAURO AND DENNIS QUINN, APPELLANTS,
v.
WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., APPELLEE
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In a foreclosure case, the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's denial of defendants' motion to quash service of process, rejecting their arguments that service was invalid due to defects in the return of service and the server's failure to inform them of the lawsuit's contents.
Service of process was valid. The sworn returns of service, which were regular on their face and complied with statutory requirements, are presumptively valid and shift the burden to the challenging party to overcome the presumption with clear and convincing evidence, which the defendants failed to do. Additionally, the statute does not require a process server to inform a personally served defendant of the contents of the papers, and substitute service on a resident of the defendant's household requires only that the server inform the resident of the contents, which was satisfied here.
[1] A sworn return of service is the instrument a court relies on to determine whether jurisdiction over an individual has been established.
[2] A return of service is not subject to exclusion on hearsay grounds.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The return of service is the instrument a court relies on to determine whether jurisdiction over an individual has been established.”
Establishes that returns of service are the primary evidence of valid jurisdiction and service.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJanet Mauro and Dennis Quinn were defendants in a foreclosure action by Wells Fargo Bank. Mauro was served via substitute service on her husband Quinn…
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We affirm the circuit court’s order denying the defendants’ motion to quash service of process in the underlying foreclosure ease. This court has rejected the same or similar arguments in numerous other appeals. See Davidian v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, 178 So.3d 45, 47 n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015).
The defendants’ argument that the circuit court could not rely on the sworn returns of service is devoid of any arguable merit. The law is well-settled that “[t]he return of service is the instrument a court relies on to determine whether jurisdiction over an individual has been established.” Roster v. Sullivan, 160 So.3d 385, 388 (Fla.2015). As we recognized in Davidian and the cases cited therein, a return of service is not subject to exclusion on hearsay grounds. The circuit court properly relied on the returns in this case, which were sworn and contained *1085all the information which section 48.21(1), Florida Statutes (2012), requires:
Each person who effects service of process shall note on a return-of-service form attached thereto, the date and time when it comes to hand, the date and time when it is served, the manner of service, the name of the person on whom it was served and, if the person is served in a representative capacity, the position occupied by the person. The return-of-service form must be signed by the person who effects the service of process. However, a person employed by a sheriff who effects the service of process may sign the return-of-service form using an electronic signature certified by the sheriff.
§ 48.21(1), Fla. Stat. (2012).
The return of service is evidence of whether service validly was made, and where the return is regular on its face, service is presumed valid, and the challenging party must overcome the presumption with clear and convincing evidence. Bank of Am., N.A. v. Bornstein, 39 So.3d 500, 503 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (citation omitted). The defendants did not overcome the presumption in this case.
We also reject the defendants’ argument that service was invalid because the process server did not sufficiently inform them of the contents of the papers being served or who had filed the suit. Because this argument is treated slightly differently as to each of the two defendants, we address each defendant’s argument in turn.
First, as to defendant Quinn, who was served personally, the statute does not require the server to inform him of the contents. This requirement applies only where substitute service is made on another resident at the place of service:
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 ....
§ 48.031(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2012) (emphasis added).
Second, as to defendant Mauro, who was served via substitute service on defendant Quinn (her husband), the process server testified that, pursuant to his usual practice, he told Quinn he was serving a summons and complaint which needed to be responded to within twenty days. Section 48.031(l)(a) requires no further specificity.
Affirmed.
STEVENSON, TAYLOR and GERBER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Pace v. Bank OF NEW York Mellon Tr. Co. Nat'l Ass'n, 224 So. 3d 342 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017)…er leaves papers with another resident at party’s residence and is required to provide information about the contents of the papers, process server need only inform recipient that the papers contain a lawsuit (citing Mauro v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 180 So. 3d 1083, 1085 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015))). Although statements and acts that are not covered by absolute immunity under the litigation privilege may still be protected by qualified immunity under the litigation privilege if they are pertinent to the judicial pro…
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Matthews v. U.S. Bank, 197 So. 3d 1140 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016)…f .the “complaint, petition, or other initial pleading’’ requires nothing more than saying that the papers contain a lawsuit and not a microanalysis of the causes of action or other legal issues involved. See Mauro v. Wells Fargo [*1146] Bank, N.A., 180 So. 3d 1083, 1085 (Fla. 4th DCA2015). Affirmed. DAMOORGIAN and GERBER, JJ., concur.…
Authorities Cited
- Bank OF Am., N.A. v. Bornstein, 39 So. 3d 500 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
- Koster v. Sullivan, 160 So. 3d 385 (Fla. 2015)
- Davidian v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, 178 So. 3d 45 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)