JOHN GREEN CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
MILAGROS COELLO, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS THE PARENT AND NATURAL GUARDIAN OF JUAN BRUNO BRITO, A MINOR, APPELLEE
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John Green Corporation appealed a trial court's denial of its motion to quash service of process. The appellate court reversed, holding that the two-month delay in mailing notice of service and the four-month delay in filing the affidavit of compliance violated Florida's statutory requirements for serving nonresident defendants through the Secretary of State.
The court held that the time delays involved—approximately two months before mailing notice and four months before filing the affidavit—exceeded statutory requirements and did not comply with Florida law, requiring the quashing of service of process.
[1] Service of process on a nonresident by serving the Secretary of State requires the plaintiff to forthwith send notice of service and a copy of the process to the defendan…
[2] A delay of approximately two months in mailing notice of service and a copy of the process to a defendant is excessive and does not comply with statutory requirements.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“Notice of service and a copy of the process shall be sent forthwith by registered or certified mail by the plaintiff or his attorney to the defendant, and the defendant's return receipt and the affidavit of the plaintiff or his attorney of compliance shall be filed on or before the return day of the process or within such time as the court allows....”
Establishes the statutory requirement for prompt notice of service on nonresident defendants
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiffs sought to serve John Green Corporation, a nonresident defendant, by serving the Secretary of State under Florida law on November 5, 1992. H…
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COPE, Judge.
Appellant John Green Corporation appeals a non-final order denying its motion to quash service of process.* We reverse.
The plaintiffs-appellees sought to serve process on defendant John Green Corporation, a nonresident, by serving the Secretary of State pursuant to section 48.161, Florida Statutes (1991). On November 5, 1992 the Secretary of State accepted process. Once that step was accomplished, the statute provides (insofar as pertinent here):
Notice of service and a copy of the process shall be sent forthwith by registered or certified mail by the plaintiff or his attorney to the defendant, and the defendant’s return receipt and the affidavit of the plaintiff or his attorney of compliance shall be filed on or before the return day of the process or within such time as the court allows....
Id. § 48.161(1).
In the present case approximately two months elapsed before the plaintiffs sent notice of service and a copy of the process to the defendant. Another four months expired before the filing of the return receipt and affidavit of the plaintiffs.
This court held in Parish Mortgage Corp. v. Davis, 251 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert, denied, 254 So. 2d 789 (Fla.1971), that a delay of 37 days in mailing notice of service and a copy of the process is excessive and does not comply with the statute. Id. at 343; see also Arison v. Offer, 626 So. 2d 1039,1040 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). See generally Logan v. Mora, 555 So. 2d 1267, 1268 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989).
As the time delay involved here exceeds that which occurred in Parish Mortgage Corp., we are obliged to quash service of process. This ruling is, of course, “without prejudice to the plaintiffs to proceed to obtain service on the said defendant as and in the manner provided therefor by law.” 251 So. 2d at 344; accord Gloucester Engineering, Inc. v. Mendoza, 489 So. 2d 141,142 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). We need not reach appellant’s alternative argument on appeal.
Reversed and remanded with directions to quash service of process, and for further proceedings consistent herewith.
*
Appellant’s motion was a motion to dismiss, inter alia, for insufficiency of service of process. We treat it as a motion to quash service of process.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Linn v. Kidd, 714 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…whatever reason, the appropriate disposition is to quash the attempted service of process with leave to thereafter perfect service in any manner provided by law. Two of our sister courts have employed the same remedy in John Green Corp. v. Coello, 635 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), and Alan Restaurant Corp. v. Walder, 399 So. 2d 1128 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), although it is not clear whether the appropriateness of the remedy was an issue in those cases. Accordingly, we REVERSE the trial court’s order denying th…
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Kenrick v. Coleman, 679 So. 2d 865 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)…ice and a copy of the process shall be sent forthwith by registered or certified mail by the plaintiff or his attorney to the defendant.” This court has held that a delay of two months in sending that notice is excessive, John Green Corp. v. Coello, 635 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), and that even a shorter delay — thirty-seven days — is also excessive, and does not comply with the statute. Parish Mortgage Corp. v. Davis, 251 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 254 So. 2d 789 (Fla.1971). A delay of 150 da…
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Fonseca v. Regions Bank (Fla. 3d DCA 2023)…le of Civil Procedure 1.070(j)] but invalid for whatever reason, the appropriate disposition is to quash the attempted service of process with leave to thereafter perfect service in any manner provided by law.”); see also John Green Corp. v. Coello, 635 So. 2d 127, 128 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) (reversing and remanding with instructions to quash service of process but grant plaintiffs leave to perfect service in any manner provided by law); Par. Mortg. Corp. v. Davis, 251 So. 2d 342, 344 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971) (same).…
Authorities Cited
- Parish Mortg. Corp. v. Lowry W. Davis and Guion T. De Loach, 251 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971)
- Gloucester Eng'g, Inc. v. Mendoza, 489 So. 2d 141 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)
- Logan v. Vita Mora, 555 So. 2d 1267 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
- State v. Gustafson, 254 So. 2d 789 (Fla. 1971)
- McALLISTER v. State, 254 So. 2d 789 (Fla. 1971)
- Arison v. Offer, 626 So. 2d 1039 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)