September Newsletter 2021

Legislature Changes & Technological Advancements in Florida

In June 2019, Florida House Bill 91 was signed, sealed and delivered. One of the major changes in this Bill was the fact that process servers could now electronically sign their Returns of Service. This was a HUGE development. Prior to the signing of this Bill, only the Sheriff was allowed to electronically sign Returns, not private process servers (PPS).

Once this Bill was signed into effect, our software programmer went to work and built a feature into our software program and App which allowed Accurate Serve® Process Servers to update jobs and sign Returns using their Smartphones. They could serve a paper and within minutes be able to sign the Return of Service (ROS). This sure does beat the old way of doing things which would consist of printing the Return, waiting for Server to report to the office to sign Return, then scan it, save it and email it.

This new development/advancement has been great for us here at Accurate Serve® as well as our Clients. The quicker we can serve the paper and provide the ROS, then the happier our Clients will be. Well, what about an Affidavit of Service (AOS)? A notary can’t notarize a document when an electronic signature has been used, right? Well in June 2019, that was true. Fast forward 6 months, different story.

As of January 1, 2020, current Florida notaries have had the opportunity to add remote online notary (RON) duties to their current commission. In order to be approved, the following criteria must be met:

• Complete a course
• Obtain Bond
• Obtain Errors & Omissions insurance
• Select a RON Service Provider
• Complete a form
• Pay a Fee to the State

There are very specific duties that a RON Service Provider must undertake. The technology they utilize must meet requirements set forth in Chapter 117, Florida Statutes as well as Chapter 1N-7.001, Florida Administrative Code. Some duties include:

• Facilitating 2-way video conferencing for online notary and Affiant (record video and store for 10 years)
• Attach digital signatures/notary’s stamp and signature of Server

Well, just like building electronic signatures into our software program, our programmer stepped up to the cleanup spot this time and hit a grand slam. Our software program, Paper Tracker, applied to be a RON Service Provider in the State of Florida. After that, the RON process was built into our software and we have successfully electronically signed and notarized hundreds of Affidavits in our Tampa Bay offices over the past year.

Currently, our software allows RON via laptop or desktop computers. Guess what we have in progress? The RON feature will be able to be completed via cell phone to cell phone. That will make it ten times easier for us to turn around notarized Affidavits.

Have you seen one of our E-signed and E-notarized Affidavits of Service? Pretty fancy, check them out.

Warmest regards,
Beau Charlet
https://www.theaccurateservefranchise.com/

Here in Pensacola, there are quite a few firms who have satellite offices in Mobile Alabama; and so do we! In fact we have servers who can cover not only the entire panhandle from Panama City north to the Georgia border, and West all the way into Mobile County.

When you use Accurate Serve® for all your service of process, what you get is a team of tireless administrators who are working diligently with our servers in the field to get your process delivered.

No other firm in the state of Florida can boast having a server in every county, and an office in every major city.

You can rest assured that when you trust Accurate Serve® with your service of process needs you are delegating an important task for your firm, and freeing up your time to address your clients needs.

If you are reading this from the Panhandle of Florida, we are your point of contact for service of process. If you are reading this from somewhere else in the state… click this link below! You can find out who your local Accurate Serve® office is, and start delegating service of process tasks so you can better serve your clients.

https://www.accurateservepensacola.com/locations/

All the best,

Brennan Fogarty
Need our help?
Call (850) 914-9488
or
Email [email protected]

Are you a member of NALA?  Did you see this month’s newsletter?
Accurate Serve® has a nice looking Ad front and center.

August 2021 Job Count – 4,646
Average Number of Days from Receiving Paper to Paper Being Served* -6.17

*This includes jobs that may be on hold or waiting for new info. There is no way to take those jobs out of the calculation. So, if a job is placed on hold for 2 weeks, that’s 14 days on that job which factors in to this average. So, we’re even better than what the eyes see, LOL. Some papers get served same day, some next day and some take multiple attempts/addresses to effect service. All we do all day and every day is serve papers. We’re good at it and we love what we do. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to continue to serve your papers.