Action Subpoena News

Department Of Consumer Affairs Holds Public Hearing To Investigate Unscrupulous Practices Of The Process Server Industry In New York City

Taken from a press release dated: June 13th,2008

"The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) held a public hearing today, gathering crucial testimony from judges, industry representatives, consumers and consumer advocates to determine the extent of abuses within the process server industry and assess what steps need to be taken to improve the administration of existing laws.

The proper service of a court summons or other judicial document is an activity regulated by DCA. It is the critical first step in the initiation of a lawsuit for businesses and individuals. Non-compliance often called “sewer service,” when such documents are fraudulently thrown away rather than properly served, can deprive City residents of notice when businesses, such as debt collectors or landlords, take legal action that will affect their homes, earnings or savings. Inadequate notice to those people can lead to homelessness, loss of income and other serious forms of displacement, especially among those who have little or no access to legal representation.

“New Yorkers have a right to expect that any legal papers sent to them by courts actually get to them,” said Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz. “The proper service of process, as that’s called, is too often unreliable, leading to serious consequences. I called this hearing to get to the bottom of both the problems and the solutions.”