Opinion
No. CV-21-00088-TUC-RM
04-12-2021
Alfred Williams, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Safford RV LLC, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs' Ex Parte Motion for Alternative Service of Both Defendants. (Doc. 7.) For the following reasons, the Court will grant the Motion.
Doc. 6 and Doc. 7 are identical, but only Doc. 7 includes the referenced Exhibits as attachments.
Plaintiffs seek an Order permitting them to serve Defendants Safford RV LLC ("Safford RV") and Diane Nunez via alternative service. (Doc. 7.) Plaintiffs state that they hired Maricopa County Process Service, PLLC to serve Safford RV, and that the process server attempted service on the Statutory Agent of record at the Statutory Agent's address on file with the Arizona Corporation Commission, 6501 E. Greenway Parkway 103-402, Scottsdale, AZ 85254. (Id. at 1-2; see also Doc. 7-1 at 2-3.) The process server noted: "This address is a UPS Store. The UPS Store refused service and stated all documents must be mailed through USPS to be put in the box." (Doc. 7 at 1; see also Doc. 7-1 at 6, 8.)
Plaintiffs aver there is no "Entity Principal Office Address" on file with the Arizona Corporation Commission. (Id. at 1.)
Plaintiffs further state that they hired Loryn Moore, an independent process server in Graham County, to serve Defendants Diane Nunez and John Doe Nunez. (Doc. 7 at 2.) After researching Diane Nunez's location, the process server went to the Safford RV Resort Park located at 2075 W. Golf Course Road, Safford, AZ 85546, which is where Diane Nunez was previously employed and is the scene of the accident that resulted in the Complaint. (Id.) The process server was told by the park manager that Diane Nunez occupies a camp trailer at Space # 11 in the RV park, and the process server thereafter unsuccessfully attempted service at Space # 11 three times over the course of two days. (Id.) The process server noted that, on two of the occasions, a vehicle was in the parking spot and a dog barked from inside the trailer and was hushed. (Id.; see also Doc. 7-1 at 10, 13.)
Following these unsuccessful service attempts, Plaintiffs seek permission to serve Safford RV by the alternative method of certified mail to the address on file for the Statutory Agent (the UPS store with PO boxes), as well as by physical service of process to the property manager on duty at the Safford RV Resort Park located at 2075 W. Golf Course Road, Safford, AZ 85546. (Doc. 7 at 2-3.) Plaintiffs seek permission to serve Defendant Diane Nunez by the alternative method of taping a copy of the Summons and Complaint to the door of her known place of residence, the camp trailer at 2075 W. Golf Course Road Space #11, Safford, AZ 85546, and also by certified mail to Diane Nunez, Space #11 c/o Safford RV Resort, 2075 W. Golf Course Road Space #11, Safford, AZ 85546. (Id. at 3.)
Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, service on an individual located within a judicial district of the United States may be accomplished by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to the individual personally, by leaving a copy "at the individual's dwelling or usual place of abode with someone of suitable age and discretion who resides there," by delivering a copy to an agent authorized to receive service of process, or by "following state law for serving a summons in an action brought in courts of general jurisdiction in the state where the district court is located or where service is made." Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(e)(1)-(2). Service on a corporation in a judicial district of the United States may be accomplished by following state law for service or by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint "to an officer, a managing or general agent, or any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process." Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(h)(1). The Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure allow service by alternative means if a party shows that statutorily delineated means of service "are impracticable." Ariz. R. Civ. P. 4.1(k)(1). If the court allows alternative means of service, the serving party must mail a copy of the summons, complaint, and the order authorizing an alternative means of service "to the last-known business or residential address of the person being served." Ariz. R. Civ. P. 4.1(k)(2). To comply with due process, any alternative method of service "must be 'reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances, to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections.'" Rio Props., Inc. v. Rio Int'l Interlink, 284 F.3d 1007, 1016 (9th Cir. 2002) (quoting Mullane v. Cent. Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 314 (1950)).
Here, the Court finds good cause to grant the request for alternative service given Plaintiffs' multiple unsuccessful efforts to serve Defendants. The Court further finds that the requested alternative methods of service are consistent with due process and are reasonably calculated to apprise Defendants of the pendency of this action and afford them an opportunity to respond.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Alternative Service of Both Defendants (Doc. 7) is granted as follows:
(1) Plaintiffs may serve Defendant Safford RV, LLC by mailing a copy of the Summons, Complaint, and this Order by certified mail to the Statutory Agent's address on file with the Corporation Commission, 6501 E. Greenway Pkwy 103-402, Scottsdale, AZ 85254; by mailing a copy of the Summons, Complaint, and this Order by certified mail to Defendant's last-known business address, 2075 W. Golf Course Road, Safford, AZ 85546; and by physically
serving the property manager on duty at 2075 W. Golf Course Road, Safford, AZ 85546.
(2) Plaintiffs may serve Defendants Diane and John Doe Nunez by taping a copy of the Summons, Complaint, and this Order to the door of their known place of residence, the camp trailer at 2075 W. Golf Course Road Space #11, Safford, AZ 85546; and by mailing a copy of the Summons, Complaint, and this Order by certified mail to Diane Nunez, Space #11 c/o Safford RV Resort, 2075 W. Golf Course Road Space #11, Safford, AZ 85546.
Dated this 12th day of April, 2021.
/s/_________
Honorable Rosemary Márquez
United States District Judge