BRANDY MEAD, APPELLANT,
v.
HS76 MILTON, LLC, D/B/A REGGIE'S SEAFOOD & BAR-B-Q, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2012-11-26
No. 1D12-1797
DAVIS, and MARSTILLER, JJ„ concur.
102 So. 3d 682 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2012) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

This case addresses whether proper service of process was made on a limited liability company by serving its business manager after one unsuccessful attempt to locate the sole member. The court holds that service was proper under Florida's partnership service statute as applied to LLCs, and reverses the trial court's order vacating the default judgment.


Holding

Service was proper. An attempt to serve the sole member of an LLC (the equivalent of a partner in a partnership) counts as 'one attempt' under section 48.061(1), and service may then be made on the person in charge without a second visit. The trial court erred in requiring a second visit and in treating the member's unavailability as a failed attempt requiring another try.


Headnotes

[1] Service of process on a limited liability company may be made in accordance with statutory provisions for partnerships, treating the limited liability company as if it we…

[2] Service of process on a limited liability company may be made on the person in charge of the business during regular business hours after one attempt to serve a member ha…

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Key Quotes

“limited liability companies do not have partners and section 608.463(l)(a) allows service under section 48.061(1) 'as if the limited liability company were a partnership.' Limited liability companies have members rather than partners”

Establishes that members of an LLC are the statutory equivalent of partners for purposes of service of process

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant filed a lawsuit against appellee HS76 Milton, LLC, a limited liability company with sole member Mr. Yang. The process server visited the bus…

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Opinion of the Court
CLARK, J.

CLARK, J.

The appellant challenges an order by which the trial court vacated a default judgment, finding that service of process was not properly made. However, the court misconstrued the requirements of section 48.061(1), Florida Statutes, as they pertain to a limited liability company, and the default should not have been vacated as the appellant established proper service. We reverse.

The appellant filed a lawsuit against the appellee, a limited liability company for which service of process is authorized under section 608.463(l)(a), Florida Statutes, to be made “[i]n accordance with chapter 48 or 49, as if the limited liability company were a partnership.” The appellant made service pursuant to section 48.061(1), Florida Statutes, which states that:

Process against a partnership shall be served on any partner and is as valid as if served on each individual partner. If a partner is not available during regular business hours to accept service on behalf of the partnership, he or she may designate an employee to accept such service. After one attempt to serve a partner or designated employee has been made, process may be served on the person in charge of the partnership during regular business hours....

The process server went to the appellee’s place of business, during regular business hours, and asked for the owner, which everyone understood to mean Mr. Yang, who was the sole member of the limited liability company. Mr. Yang was not there, nor was there any designated employee for service, except for the business manager who was the person in charge. Process was served on the business manager, and after the appellee failed to file a responsive pleading in the lawsuit the clerk entered a default. After a January 2011 bench trial, the court entered judgment for the appellant. The appellee later moved to vacate that judgment, asserting that there was no proper service of process.

In granting the appellee’s motion and vacating the judgment, the court ruled that section 48.061(1) requires an attempt to serve a partner, and that the appellant’s attempt to serve Mr. Yang did not comply with that requirement. Although section 48.061(1) does refer to service on a partner, and statutes governing service of process are to be strictly construed, see York Communications, Inc. v. Furst Group, Inc., 724 So.2d 678 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), limited liability companies do not have partners and section 608.463(l)(a) allows service under section 48.061(1) “as if the limited liability company were a partnership.” Limited liability companies have members rather than partners, see section 608.402(21), Florida Statutes, and Mr. Yang was the sole member of the limited liability company in this case. The attempt to serve Mr. Yang complied with the requirements for service under sections 608.463(l)(a) and 48.061(1), “as if the limited liability company were a partnership.”

The trial court also ruled that section 48.061(1) requires a second visit to the *684place of business before serving “the person in charge.” The court found that proper service was therefore not made when process was served on the manager during the process server’s only visit, when Mr. Yang was unavailable. In construing the statute in that manner, the court read the language allowing service on the person in charge “[a]fter one attempt” to serve a partner (or here, a member) to mean that another attempt to serve Mr. Yang had to be made after Mr. Yang was first unavailable. That does not accord with the plain language of the statute, which does not require a second attempt and which allows service on the person in charge after one attempt to serve Mr. Yang, which was done in this case.

Because the appellant established proper service under sections 608.463(l)(a) and 48.061(1), the default judgment should not have been vacated and the appealed order is reversed.

DAVIS, and MARSTILLER, JJ„ concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Northfield Holding v. Yassa (15th Cir. Ct. App. Div. 2012)
    …charge of the partnership during regular business hours may be served. Id. Because limited liability companies do not have partners, members of limited liability companies are considered the individuals who must be served. Mead v. HS76 Milton, LLC, 102 So. 3d 682, 683 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012), reh'g denied (Dec. 27, 2012). As to service through Florida Window's registered agent, the registered office must be open and a registered agent must be at the office daily between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. except on Saturdays,…
  • …vice must be made on the president, mayor, chair, or head of the municipality. Id. § (1)(b). Since “statutes governing service of process are to be strictly construed," § 48.111 must be precisely followed for valid service. Mead v. HS76 Milton, LLC, 102 So. 3d 682, 683 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2012). Applying these rules here, Fleming did not correctly serve the Sheriff's Office. Service by certified mail does not fit the categories under Rule 4, nor Florida law. It is also insufficient to serve Officers Allen,…
  • Hoffman v. Jimenez (M.D. Fla. 2025)
    …ade on the president, mayor, chair, or head of the municipality. Id. § (1)(b). Since “statutes governing service of process are to be ---PAGE 3--- strictly construed,” § 48.111 must be precisely followed for valid service. Mead v. HS76 Milton, LLC, 102 So. 3d 682, 683 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2012). Applying these rules here, Hoffman did not correctly serve the City. The return shows that Sara Welsh accepted service as a “city clerk.” (Doc. 11.) City clerk does not fit the categories under Rule 4, nor Florida l…

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