Serving UPS BOX Florida

[lk917]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I am trying to sue someone in Small Claims Court for breach of a vacation rental contract. The address listed is a UPS store box and I do not have the permanent address. Is it possible to still file the case and serve the person at UPS store? If not do I have any legal options to obtain the permanent address?

Leslie

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I am trying to sue someone in Small Claims Court for breach of a vacation rental contract. The address listed is a UPS store box and I do not have the permanent address. Is it possible to still file the case and serve the person at UPS store? If not do I have any legal options to obtain the permanent address?

Leslie

Is it a business or individual?

 

[lk917]

Individual

 

[FlyingRon]

If it is a person, you can not serve him at the UPS store (I doubt he lives there).
Further, I doubt even if he was a business, that the mail box at the UPS store qualifies as a place of business, nor is anybody at the store a corporate agent that qualifies.

You can try to see if the UPS store will provide you with information on the box holder. If it is a corporation or LLC, you can look up the registered agent with the state to find who to serve.


It doesn't appear substitute service by publication is permitted in this situation.

 

[Ohiogal]

If it is a person, you can not serve him at the UPS store (I doubt he lives there).
Further, I doubt even if he was a business, that the mail box at the UPS store qualifies as a place of business, nor is anybody at the store a corporate agent that qualifies.

You can try to see if the UPS store will provide you with information on the box holder. If it is a corporation or LLC, you can look up the registered agent with the state to find who to serve.


It doesn't appear substitute service by publication is permitted in this situation.

If it is an individual, she can attempt residential service at his vacation home which he owns. She could also do a property search to see what else he owns.

 

[FlyingRon]

If it is an individual, she can attempt residential service at his vacation home which he owns. She could also do a property search to see what else he owns.

You can't serve someone just becaue they own a property. It needs to be their "abode." No nail and mail in Florida either.
Yes, digging through the land records may find a better address than the UPS box.

 

[Ohiogal]

You can't serve someone just becaue they own a property. It needs to be their "abode." No nail and mail in Florida either.
Yes, digging through the land records may find a better address than the UPS box.

I have served them at their address of record (i.e. the address of a place they own) if I had no other place to serve them. If they don't dispute it, the court has found it to be good service.

 

[FlyingRon]

I have served them at their address of record (i.e. the address of a place they own) if I had no other place to serve them. If they don't dispute it, the court has found it to be good service.

In Florida? Ohio has a much broader option for both personal and residential service than Florida does.

 

[bokaba]

When I rented a mailbox at the UPS Store in California, we had to sign an agreement to accept service of process at the address. I think the UPS Store uses standard forms in all its franchises. Though in California, you can serve a private mail box for anything unless personal service is needed. It looks like FL law allows substitute service to the clerk at the store where the mailbox is located, but you have to determine that no other addresses are discoverable first and know that the defendant rents a mailbox at the location in question.

 

[dcatz]

bokaba – The “agreement” that you refer to was a USPS 1583 form. A UPS Store is a CMRA (Commercial Mail Receiving Agency). Any CMRA must have a box holder’s current 1583 form on file. Individuals with uncollected judgments may find it useful to be familiar with the form and related Postal Code of Federal Regulations:
http://www.virtualpostmail.com/downloads/ps1583.pdf

Other than for that reason, I think you’ll find the form is of limited relevancy in a Small Claims forum. A minority of states permit substituted SC service, and I don’t know any that offers pre-filing SDTs (subpoena duces tecum- subpoena for documents). Unless a CMRA will just give you the data, that’s what you’d need to verify the residence service address. (I agree with FlyingRon and respectfully disagree with your interpretation of FSCP 48.31(6)).

But even if service can be obtained, the OP hasn’t begun to address the difficult and expensive issues of litigating cross-country and enforcing a potential judgment in at least two states. CA’s long-arm statue (CCP §410.10) appears inapplicable, so is she litigating in NV, FL or, as suggested by Dave1952, in HI? Is she enforcing in FL or domesticating in HI (where there’s real property) or trying in both states?

The OP’s claim of $1,200.00 (plus punitive damages if applicable) is not inconsequential but, as is common in Small Claims, the remedy is likely to be more costly than the right.