Sewer service
{{Short description|Fraudulent claim that a court process has been served properly}}
Sewer service is an epithet for the intentional failure to provide service of process on a named party in a lawsuit, in order to prevent the party from having a chance to respond. This practice usually involves filing a false affidavit claiming that the defendant had been properly served court papers; then, when the defendant fails to appear, the plaintiff then applies for and wins a default judgment due to the defendant's non-appearance.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/nyregion/31debt.html|title=Suit Claims Fraud by New York Debt Collectors|last=Rivera|first=Ray|date=2009-12-30|website=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-23}} The phrase refers to the figure of speech of throwing the documents into a sewer, and is considered a fraud upon the court.{{cite web|url=https://www.overlawyered.com/2010/01/sewer-service-alleged-against-new-york-debt-collectors|title="Sewer service" alleged against New York debt collectors|last=Olson|first=Walter|date=2010-01-05|website=Overlawyered.com|access-date=2019-12-23}}
It was referenced in a 2019 United States Supreme Court opinion, Rotkiske v. Klemm, which featured an allegation of a debt collector winning a default judgment against a debtor through sewer service.{{cite web|url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/justices-set-early-clock-for-debt-collection-cases|title=Justices Rule for Creditor in 'Sewer Service' Debt Dispute|date=2019-12-10|last1=Strawbridge|first1=Kimberly|last2=Rubin|first2=Jordan|last3=Saltz|first3=Heather|accessdate=2019-12-10}}
Further reading
- {{cite journal|last=Tuerkheimer|first=Frank M.|title=Service of process in New York City: A proposed end to unregulated criminality|year=1972|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/clr72&div=60&id=&page=|journal=Colum. L. Rev.|volume=72|issue=5|pages=847–872|doi=10.2307/1121426 |jstor=1121426 |url-access=subscription}}
- Press Release: {{cite news |title=The New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo Announces Guilty Plea Of Process Server Company Owner Who Denied Thousands Of New Yorkers Their Day In Court |url=https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2010/new-york-state-attorney-general-andrew-m-cuomo-announces-guilty-plea-process |accessdate=2019-10-06 |date=January 15, 2010 |quote=process servers and law firms that have made a mockery of our justice system by engaging in ‘sewer service.’ }}
- Shaun Ertischek, Esq. [http://www.lupoloverlaw.com/home/blog/146-debt-collection-through-sewer-service Debt Collection Through Sewer Service], 31 July 2010. (Archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20120324203653/http://lupoloverlaw.com/blog/2010/01/debt-collection-through-sewer-service/ here] by WebCite)