What is Waiting on the Other Side of that Door?

By Kim Letus

Problem is, you never know.

When you walk up to a strange place and knock on a door, you just don’t know what you’re going to encounter. I’ve had even the most seasoned servers express to me that they are more cautious than they used to be and don’t feel quite as safe as they did a few years ago.  The state of the world in general and the effect the economy has had on so many people is making those we serve, as a group, more on edge–more frustrated and angry; and, according to my servers, it is evident in their encounters on the road. This is not a job for the faint hearted.  My servers in the past year have been punched, had things thrown at them, had their vehicles damaged, and have been threatened with vicious dogs and guns. This, of course, is in addition to the usual verbal abuse and name calling that every process server encounters from time to time. Incidents of aggression aimed at my process servers have occurred sporadically over the years I’ve run this business. Now, though, they occur much more frequently. Oddly enough, these confrontations often take place with people and locations with which you would not expect to encounter problems.

Keeping My Process Servers Safe at All Times

I infrequently serve papers these days; only in a pinch as a fill-in server. I spend most of my time in the office. Although technology in this business can be challenging, I take comfort in knowing that my location is documented when I’m out there alone. Some of the locations in my service area are very rural. It is not unusual to knock on the door of a house that is completely hidden from the road and any other houses.

In the interest of safety, my standing instructions to the servers doing work for me are as follows:

• Document your location when arriving at the address by geotag photo and sending my office the photo and file number for the job, so that we know your location if there is a problem.
• Observe your surroundings carefully upon arrival. Park your vehicle, whenever possible, in a spot where you can get into the car quickly if need be.
• Do not respond in kind to antagonistic behavior-do not engage. Get the job done, get into your vehicle and leave.
• Without being rude, do not engage in extensive conversation with servees.
• If you feel threatened, leave and notify the office.
• If you are assaulted, pull away from the premises and call the police.

Take care all of my fellow NYSPPSA members, stay aware of your surroundings, and be safe.

Problem is, you never know.

When you walk up to a strange place and knock on a door, you just don’t know what you’re going to encounter.    I’ve had even the most seasoned servers express to me that they are more cautious than they used to be and don’t feel quite as safe as they did a few years ago.  The state of the world in general and the economy and the effects it has had on so many people is making those we serve, as a group, more on edge; and, according to my servers, it is evident in their encounters with servees.  This is not a job for the faint hearted.  My servers in the past year have been punched, had things thrown at them, had their vehicles damaged by servees, and have been threatened with vicious dogs and guns.  Oddly enough, this seems to happen with people and locations where it would be least expected.

I only serve papers in a pinch these days as a fill-in server, very infrequently.  I spend most of my time in the office.  Although technology in this business can be challenging, I take comfort in knowing that my location is documented when I’m out there alone. Some of the places we serve in our area are very rural.  It is not unusual to knock on the door of a house that is completely hidden from the road and any other houses.

Staying Safe While Serving Papers

In the interest of safety, my standing instructions to the servers doing work for me are as follows:

• Document your location when arriving at the address by geotag photo and sending my office the photo and file number for the job, so that we know your location if there is a problem.
• Observe your surroundings carefully upon arrival.  Park your vehicle, whenever possible, in a spot where you can get into the car quickly if need be.
•  Do not respond in kind to antagonistic behavior-do not engage.  Get the job done, get into your vehicle and leave.
• Without being rude, do not engage in extensive conversation with servees.
• If you feel threatened, leave and notify the office.
•  If you are assaulted, pull away from the premises and call the police.

Take care all of my fellow NYSPPSA members, and be safe.

I’ve Kissed A lot of Frogs

By: Kim Letus

As process servers go, I have definitely kissed a lot of frogs. Only problem is, hardly any of them have turned into a prince!

When you operate a process serving agency, there will, of course, be times when you need to foster relationships with new process servers.  It can be difficult to find experienced servers.  Even when you do, many of them have developed bad habits or have a lackadaisical mindset that just doesn’t work for me.

A good process server is a rare breed.

I’m often contacted by individuals who have had either very limited exposure to process serving work or none at all, but having watched Pineapple Express or served two subpoenas per month for a local attorney, are convinced it would be the perfect job for them. They initially have very little idea of the actuality of process serving, and go into it with wide-eyed enthusiasm. More often than not, I find myself having to correct the notion that the best way to serve a paper is to dress like a pizza delivery person and put the paper in a pizza box. I have, on occasion, and lacking better options, decided to give several of the more promising of these prospects a shot. Most of the time they end up running screaming from the building after getting a taste of the reality of process serving (or occasionally after only riding around with a server observing actual process serving), burning rubber as they pull away from the curb in a profuse sweat and breathing a sigh of relief a block down the street.

But every so often, one clicks. The truth of the matter is that a good process server has to be willing to do what it takes to get the job done.

For a good process server this includes:

1. Fitting the odd schedule required of a process server into your life. Early mornings, late evenings and Saturdays are the norm, not the exception, not to mention changing your plans to accommodate a rush service.
2. Dealing with all types of people, including ones that are verbally abusive, and remaining calm, impartial and rational, even when those you’re interacting with are being anything but. This includes standing your ground and reasoning with folks who aren’t inclined to be particularly reasonable under the circum­stances. Eliciting enough co­opera­tion to serve or close out the paper will save a server a dreaded trip back to a problem address and further interaction with difficult persons there.
3. Traveling large distances to outlying areas only to find unnumbered addresses or addresses numbered out of sequence, or nobody at home after traveling 40 minutes straight up a mountain for a single paper. Part-time residences are in abundance in the counties I service, and most of those homes are in very rural areas, so this is a regular problem. Believe it or not, this is the primary complaint lodged by new servers in our rural area.  I have actually found servers with extensive experience in urban process serving who have not lasted serving in this area, citing the excessive travel.
4. Ability to drive in the snow and dark, often on unlit, winding, rural back roads.
5. Following instructions as to statutory requirements and service requirements.
6. Making good notes, paying attention to detail and adhering to time frames.
7. And, of late, being tech savvy and able to comply with clients’ technical requirements, such as GPS tracking and mobile apps. Of course, the technical aspect of the job is becoming more and more prevalent.

All of this makes me eternally grateful for the servers I’ve found that have stuck. Thank you, my princes. You know who you are. You are so appreciated.

And none of you remotely resembles a frog!

It’s True; You Get What You Pay For

By: Kim F. Letus

Do you, as business people, ever feel like you have to give away the store in order to attract new clients?

There are times when I find myself feeling that way. The pressure on process serving agencies to offer competitive pricing is enormous. It can be a major juggling act to keep pricing competitive without compromising quality. The problem is that some prospective clients are of the belief that ‘competitive’ pricing in our industry should be synonymous with ‘cheap’.

And as you all know folks, if you can provide quality process service cheap with gas being over $3.00 per gallon, new licensing requirements being implemented and the Attorney General on high alert for abuse and fraud, you’re accomplishing quite a feat. It’s an ongoing battle, and the sad truth of the matter is that many clients will still give a lot more weight to a cheap price than to exceptional service at a fair price.

I don’t understand it, especially with the climate that surrounds our industry today and the potential consequences to attorneys and process servers for lackluster practices.

The overhead for a business grows with the business.

Changes are required that cost money. There are more expenses that must be met. This can sometimes make it more difficult for mid-size businesses, which a good deal of process serving agencies are, to compete for jobs where the main objective of the prospect is a low price.

More than twenty years after my business was commenced, I find myself being a bit nostalgic for the simpler days, when the business was very small. In those days, it was about the doing the job well, not about managing employees and process servers, dealing with accountants and computer techs, analyzing expenses, etc.  Not that I’m not happy my business has grown, but it sometimes seems that the more experienced and proficient the business becomes, the more it is required to compromise to attract new clients. The expected price is not always commensurate with the experience and quality afforded the client.

I hope that the day comes when diligent and quality-conscious process serving agencies get the respect and credit that they deserve, and that it will be recognized at some point that “you get what you pay for“.

Why I Will Not Compromise Integrity & Jeopardize Business’s Reputation

By: Kim Letus

I have always insisted that process servers doing work for my business adhere to certain stan­dards of professionalism.  I’ve lost count of how many prospective servers I’ve interviewed over the years who have questioned me as to what disguises they should have available in order to be most effective in this job, where they should buy their empty pizza boxes or what ruses work the best. Television and movies have, for the most part, done a very poor job of portraying process servers realistically. I’ve seen very few depictions of process servers that are not highly fictionalized (“Serving Sara” and “Pineapple Express” come immediately to mind).

Maintaining credibility and professionalism in our industry is more challenging now than it has ever been.  The American Legal Services debacle and the resultant Attorney General involvement and criminal prosecutions, not to mention the 90,000+ judgments that were vacated as a result, have occasioned a great deal of negative publicity for our industry. It is truly a case of ‘one bad apple’; but we, as an industry, are currently being subjected to intense scrutiny, and it is our duty to perform in a way that removes the tarnish this situation has created.

Increased effort is required on the part of principals of process serving businesses to maintain quality control as their businesses grow and process servers are added.  Servers who do work for my business are instructed before they serve a single paper that they must conduct themselves professionally, treat the persons they deal with in a courteous manner, and refrain from overtly deceptive practices. I also inform them that there is zero tolerance for embellishment or fabrication. This has, thus far, worked very well for me. Even so, checks and balances must be put into place. I trust my process servers. They would not be doing work for me if I didn’t. The fact remains, however, that when you entrust subcontracted process servers with work for your business, you need to monitor the work closely and proactively address questions and dis­crepancies. If it becomes apparent that the activities of a server do not comply with your standards or the requirements of the law, the situation should be immediately and conclusively addressed.

As most of us in this industry are aware, keeping a balance between high standards and profitable business operations can be a challenge. I understand bottom lines and business decisions and the need to negotiate and work with clients, but I came to the conclusion long ago that no amount of money is worth compromising my integrity and jeopardizing my reputation and that of my business.

How Low is Too Low?

By Kim Letus

There is a growing and increasingly disturbing trend polluting our industry.  I like to refer to it as ‘low balling’.

After speaking to colleagues in various parts of upstate New York, it is clear that this is not a problem that is on the rise in my area alone. It is industry-wide, at least in New York. I’ve been watching servers who practice ‘low balling’ come and go, one after another, for years, but from what I’m seeing, it’s becoming more prevalent of late.

What is “Low Balling” in Process Serving?

Low balling occurs when new or minimally experienced servers try to attract new business by offering such low pricing that it is difficult to fathom how they could possibly do the work that is required to do a clean service without losing money. And the truth of the matter is, they probably can’t, especially long-term. By engaging in this type of activity, they hugely undercut pricing in an area. Certainly, those of us with established businesses with overhead can’t compete with that type of pricing, nor would we compromise quality and our reputations in order to be able to.

The Long Term Issues with Low Balling the Competition

Ultimately, these bargain-priced servers usually find that they can’t do the required work efficiently for any significant period of time at such low prices. Once their insanely low prices continue to attract more and more business, it becomes increasingly impossible to accommodate the added work without taking on more help. When they need to start paying additional people to keep up with the increased volume, they find that the low prices can’t work any longer. It’s simple mathematics.

In the meantime, they have had an adverse affect on other businesses and overall pricing in their area, as well as on their own clients. Many times, they simply disappear from the process serving landscape after wreaking havoc on the businesses of those of us who are in it for the long haul. It’s amazing to me that clients fall for this and put themselves in the position of compromising the quality of the service to save what amounts to a small sum of money, considering a bad service can tank an entire case.

We live in a capitalist society, and fair competition is the name of the game. My personal belief is that low balling is not fair competition, as the server is committing to do a job that he or she can’t possibly do thoroughly at such low prices. This more often than not results in the server cutting corners to get the work done and still turn a profit.

And that, my friends, is, in large part, how process servers as a whole ended up with a bad rep. This practice, in the long run, has ramifications that affect all of us.

Often the First Line of Defense

By Kim Letus

As process servers, we often encounter disturbing situations during the performance of our jobs. We have to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether or not the issue at hand warrants any action by us. This would, more often than not, be limited to alerting the appropriate authorities.

On the rise, partially due to the mounting number of foreclosures and evictions, is the problem of abandoned pets. I am an animal lover, but even for those who aren’t, most would find it difficult to fathom how anyone could lock an animal in a cage or inside an empty house with limited or no food and water, take one last look, and close the door behind them and walk away. The motivation behind the act is irrelevant. Whether it be out of sheer desperation, malice or simple lack of compassion, the animal does not stand a chance of surviving unless someone happens to find it fairly quickly.

Process Serving = Default Animal Rescuer

I have found myself thrust into the role of animal rescuer repeatedly over my 25+ years in this business.  I will recount two of those occasions for you here.

I have three very fat spoiled cats living in my home right now that were rescued from abandon­ment situations encountered by my process servers.  One cat, Murdock, a beautiful gray Maine Coon cat, then a tiny kitten, was left behind with his mother, his litter mates and four other adult cats, by a tenant who had gone off to rehab and vacated her rented home in a wooded area. They were lined up staring at our process server through the window when he went to serve papers on the tenant. Through contact with the landlord, my server, George, was allowed to retrieve the animals. The landlord had not yet gone into the unit and was not aware the animals had been left. It is anyone’s guess how long it would have taken for the animals to be found had George not been inclined to help them. The cats appeared to have been eating, or trying to eat, the only thing left in the apartment – a bag of wood chips. The local shelter had a waiting list, so the landlord was glad to allow us to remove the cats, all of whom found good homes with people in our office and their families.

Less uplifting was an incident that occurred several years ago near Napanoch, New York, here in Ulster County, at an address where my office had served foreclosure papers at a home. Months later, we attended the foreclosure sale to submit a bid for the lender. After the sale, on the same date, I received a telephone call from the person who had purchased the home at the sale. When the buyer went to look at the house, which, of course, he would not take possession of for approximately thirty days, the house had been vacated. However, the owner had left three dogs inside the house, and they were gathered inside the sliding glass door at the back of the house when the buyer went there. The buyer, a regular at Ulster County foreclosure sales and an acquaintance of mine, was very shaken. There was no visible food or water, and the dogs were emaciated and desperately scratching at the door to be let out.  After notifying our client and the local SPCA and putting them in touch with one another, it took several days for the local SPCA to arrange access to retrieve the dogs. Sadly, by that time, one of the dogs had deteriorated to the point it had to be euthanized.

The Rising Problem of Pet Abandonment

Pet abandonment due to foreclosure is on the rise in this country. Realtors, property inspectors and cleaning crews regularly find abandoned animals locked or chained inside foreclosed homes. Some have already died of starvation because nobody knew they were there.  A process server will often be at the home far in advance of any of these people, so it is important that the process server be observant and report any pet abandonment to the proper authorities, including local animal control, the police and the SPCA.

The growing incidence of pet abandonment has become so significant that it has actually resulted in the inception of new rescue organizations specifically tailored to address the issue of foreclosure and pets. No Paws Left Behind , Foreclosed Upon Pets, Inc. and Lost Our Home Pet Foundation are just a few of those which assist people who have lost their homes with placing their pets in new homes, or sometimes even in foster homes until the pet owner can reclaim the pet. There are also numerous local non-profits and local shelters that may be able to assist. Unfortunately, there are owners who are so overwhelmed by their own situations they are not inclined to put very much effort into finding a safe place to surrender their pet. Municipal shelters are overcrowded and there are often waiting lists, and the owners experience difficulty in making arrangements for their pets through conventional means.

What You Can Do in Cases of Pet Abandonment

I urge all of you to keep the number of the local SPCA in your cell phone and immediately file a report if an abandoned pet is observed inside of a house where you’re serving.  Or, call your office and have them make the calls for you if you don’t have time to do it yourself. Find out about small local rescue organizations that may be more readily available and respond more quickly than larger shelters. Also check and find out if there are any rescue organizations in your area designed to deal with abandoned foreclosure pets. You may be the only chance this defenseless animal has to be rescued from an excruciating death from starvation and dehydration.

I shudder to think of what would have happened to my wonderful cat, Murdock, if my server had told himself those abandoned cats just weren’t his problem.

The LinkedIn Discussion the Made Me Go “Hmmmm…”

By Kim Letus

I don’t know how many of our members have a presence on LinkedIn and participate in LinkedIn groups, but I have found them to be a terrific source of information and a very positive way to interact with other process servers and those in related fields. Process servers exchange helpful tips and information, discuss procedures for various types of work and request input on a variety of issues. Most of the discussions I have participated in through LinkedIn were very positive. There was one several weeks ago, however, that left me shaking my head.

The discussion began with a process server basically seeking input on serving a real estate broker by tricking the broker into meeting him under the guise of looking at a house that the broker had listed for sale. My immediate thought was that the process server must be quite inex­perienced to believe that such an approach was the best way to proceed. What surprised me was how many of the other process servers in the discussion, some of whom seemed to be very experienced,  offered advice on how best to play out this deception. It was apparent to me the some of them routinely engage in this type of ruse.

I, of course, entered the discussion and stated that in the many years I have been in business I had not found the need to proceed in this manner, and that I believed the straightforward approach to be much more effective. Nobody likes to be deceived. This type of behavior creates an adversarial, confronta­tional situation that is unnecessary. It is disrespectful to the person being served, is unprofessional, and contributes to the negative impression of process servers that many people have. I was comforted, and my faith was somewhat restored, when some of the others in the discussion offered similar input.

If process servers wish to be taken seriously and respected as an integral part of the legal system, this type of behavior must stop. If we wish to be thought of as professionals, we must act the part.  When others in our industry engage in underhanded, dishonest practices, it reflects negatively on all of us.