Firefly Legal

In remembrance of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which took place on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Conneticut, employees of Firefly Legal participated in the National Moment of Silence on Friday, December 21, 2012 at 9:30AM EST.

Twenty students between the ages of six and seven, as well as six adults were killed at the school. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with those touched by the shooting.

MEMORANDUM

Date:          December 21, 2012

To:              Firefly Legal Clients

From:       Firefly Legal Team

Re:              FedEx Delivery Delays

Please be advised that due to high shipping volume and the recent winter storms, Fed Ex deliveries have been delayed.  These delays have affected deliveries all over the country, beyond just the Midwest where the winter storms occurred. After speaking with a FedEx representative, we were informed that FedEx is doing their best to get packages to their destination as soon as possible. They did not have an estimated time as to when the delays would be resolved.

The Niche Report published an interesting article yesterday concerning  the foreclosure industry. Anyone involved in the industry is aware of the robo-signing scandal in which numerous foreclosure cases were authorized by individuals who were unaware of what they signed, signed documents without verifying information, forged signatures, or assumed fake titles in order to authorize legal documents that kept the foreclosure process moving. The whistle was blown in the Fall of 2010 and the term “robo-signing” was coined.

As a result, there have been serious repercussions, industry changes, and new regulations put in place to make sure that robo-signing is a thing of the past. But is it completely in our rear-view mirror? The Niche Report charges in the December 18th article, “From Robo-signers to Robo-witnesses: U.S. Foreclosures on the Wrong Track” that while robo-signing may be a thing of the past, robo-witnesses are here to take their place.  Rick Roque explains in the article that “These robo-witnesses are essentially trained actors who show up to court with a prepared script” and questions their knowledge by stating “They will swear on the authenticity of the filings and the bank’s right to foreclose, but what do they really know about the case in question?”

The wake of the robo-signing scandal left the mortgage and banking industry in a whirlwind. Since the dust has settled, more stringent mortgage policies have been put in place, new compliance protocols enacted, and additional regulations are on the books. From process servers to attorneys and mortgage servicers, everyone has felt the backlash. We would hope that something like this wouldn’t happen again, and it seems unlikely that another public embarrassment of this magnitude could actually happen again. But then again, we’re not Miss Cleo and we don’t have a crystal ball.

What do you think about the possibility of another crisis in the mortgage/banking industry with regard to foreclosures? Weigh in on the comments, we would love to hear your opinion.

A routine day of civil process service involves a lot of patience. Defendants occasionally avoid service. Some reluctantly take the papers. And some pull out guns.

Of course, it is the hope of every process server that they never have to deal with that. But the latter is exactly what happened to one of Firefly Legal’s process servers. Even when taking all precautions for personal safety, our process servers sometimes walk into situations not knowing the outcome.

In this case, our server walked up to the front door of a defendant’s home. Through the glass door, he could see that a woman was home. She saw the server and answered the door, whereupon the server identified himself and his purpose. But instead of accepting or even just refusing the papers, the woman pulled out her gun, aimed it at our server’s chest, and told him to leave.

Our server did leave and later returned with the sheriff to get the job done, but the bottom line is that these types of situations shouldn’t happen. If a process server clearly identifies him or herself and their purpose, making it clear that there is no intention of physical harm to the individual and that they are simply there as messengers of the court, the server should be respected. Their lives or personal safety should never be threatened.

But situations like this one are happening because the repercussions aren’t strong enough for those who choose to take that course of action. Adequate regulation is necessary to protect those within our industry.

The work that a process server does is not glamorous, and it’s difficult to do.  They face the unknown, but they do it bravely and without fear. They are trained to know how to handle unfavorable situations as they arise. They don’t just drop papers and run; they perform a service by delivering court documents properly, efficiently, and with appropriate documentation. Our servers have families, many of them have kids, and they have their own lives outside of their job. Appreciate the work that process servers do. Understand the difficulties that they face. And stand up for them.

This incident is just another reason to promote reform so that there are the laws on the books protecting our servers. Firefly Legal has always supported the reform of legislation with regard to server’s safety.  Firefly supported legislators such as IL State Representative Bill Cunningham who has helped to reform laws protecting process servers.  Illinois was the first state to make assaulting a process server is a felony, which went into effect January 1, 2012. Unfortunately, this type of legislation is not present throughout the US.  Do your part and make your voice heard so that we can promote legislative reform to protect process servers in every state, not just in Illinois.

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Firefly Legal, Inc. — Mokena, IL

We’re proud to publish our monthly average serve times for our process servers in our home states! Our process servers in Florida, process servers in Illinois, process servers in Ohio, and process servers in South Carolina have been working hard to make sure that our clients are getting quality serves– with efficiency and speed.

November 2012 Serve Times

• Florida – Average Serve Time 3.83 days
• Illinois – Average Serve Time 3.18 days
• Ohio – Average Serve Time 2.92 days
• South Carolina – Average Serve Time 3.30 days

Many associate legal services companies can offer civil process service.  Firefly offers smart civil process without forgetting about the importance of customer service and our clients’ deadlines.

Interested in civil process service or our other associate legal services? Contact Firefly Legal at (877) 963-3534. Be sure to check out our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for updates!

Firefly Legal – Nationwide Process Servers

As of Monday, December 3rd, Kendall & DeKalb Counties are now the 23rd Judicial Court and are no longer part of the 16th Judicial Court. What this means is that all paperwork for case filings will need to be changed to say Twenty Third Judicial Court. Paperwork that says Sixteenth Judicial Court in reference to Kendall & DeKalb counties will no longer be accepted. The Courier News published an article on the creation of the 23rd Judicial Court on Monday, December 3rd.

Additionally, the DeKalb County Recorder fees are going up as of January 1, 2013. Please see the fee schedule here: DeKalb County Recorder Fees – Effective Jan. 2013

Please be advised that the Kane County 16th Judicial Circuit Court has raised their fees for CHANCERY/FORECLOSURE new case filings. The new  fee established by the court is $326.00. This is an increase of $30.00 from $296.00.

At Firefly, our court filers in Chicago are aware of this, as our Illinois operations manager has coordinated an effort to make sure we are up to date with this new change.

At Firefly Legal, we want you to be informed of changes, delays, and other pertinent information that may affect how your business is done. Because that’s what trusted business partners do. Headquartered in Mokena, IL, Firefly Legal is a national associate legal services provider, offering process serving, skip tracing, court filing, document retrieval, and loss mitigation. To find out more about our process servers in Illinois, or any of our national associate legal services, contact us at 877.963.3534.