Many of our servers have a background in the collection industry. Many of the papers we serve are collection papers but how can we be careful to not cross the line and become a collector yet still collect valuable information for the clients?
Here is a summary of some resent legal activity where process servers have crossed the line and are being caught in litigation over it.
FDCPA Lawsuits Against Process Servers in regard to Defendant Place of Employment Information
We have heard of a number of recent FDCPA lawsuits against process servers. The majority of these are in regard to process servers asking defendants for place of employment information on behalf of their debt collector clients. The FDCPA specifically excludes process servers when they act solely as process servers. Where the problem comes in is when a process server crosses the line and becomes a collector. By asking defendants for place of employment information and passing that along to their debt collector clients they are acting as a collector. When acting as a collector, the FDCPA requires the “mini-Miranda” to be read to the defendant so that they know that the disclosure of information may be used against them. FDCPA judgments can be very very expensive, particularly if they are class action situations. An added dimension for process servers who have been doing this sort of thing for their clients without the “mini-Miranda” is that they are typically being paid a bonus by their client for providing employment information further worsening the situation in the eyes of the court.
At Statewide we train our servers to collect visible data but not to ask any questions. If John Doe is wearing a Chevron shirt with his name on it and appears as if he just got home from work we will note that, if ABC Heating and Air has a van in the driveway that will be noted. In order to protect our servers, our company, and our clients we can not ask for information from the people we serve, just deliver papers and observe.
Thank you for trusting Statewide to handle your legal papers.