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a. As a condition of the issuance of a process server license, each applicant for such license or a renewal thereof shall furnish to the commissioner a surety bond executed by the applicant in the sum of ten thousand dollars, payable to the city of New York, and a surety approved by the commissioner. Such bond shall be conditioned upon the applicant's compliance with the provisions of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and upon the further condition that the applicant will pay (i) to the city any fine, penalty or other obligation the city imposes relating to a violation of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and (ii) to a plaintiff any final judgment recovered in an action arising out of the violation of any of the provisions of this subchapter within thirty days of its imposition. If an applicant is unable to obtain a surety bond as required by this section, and upon the provision of proof satisfactory to the commissioner of such inability, the individual applicant may, in lieu of furnishing such bond, deposit an amount of no less than one thousand dollars in a fund to be established by the commissioner to pay (i) to the city any fine, penalty or other obligation the city imposes relating to a violation of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and (ii) to a plaintiff any final judgment recovered in an action arising out of the violation of any of the provisions of this subchapter within thirty days of its imposition.
b. A process server licensed under this subchapter who engages in the business of serving process exclusively as an employee of a process serving agency licensed under this subchapter shall not be required to furnish a surety bond.
c. As a condition of the issuance of a process serving agency license, each applicant for such license or a renewal thereof shall furnish to the commissioner a surety bond in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars executed by the applicant payable to the city of New York, and a surety approved by the commissioner. Such bond shall be conditioned upon the applicant's compliance with the provisions of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and upon the further condition that the applicant will pay (i) to the city any fine, penalty or other obligation the city imposes relating to a violation of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and (ii) to a plaintiff any final judgment recovered in an action arising out of the violation of any of the provisions of this subchapter within thirty days of its imposition.
Every process serving agency licensed under this subchapter shall:
a. Comply with all applicable state and federal laws;
b. Be legally responsible for any failure to act in accordance with the laws and rules governing service of process by each process server to whom it has distributed, assigned or delivered process for service;
c. Provide to each process server employed by such agency a written statement indicating the rights of such employee and the obligations of the process serving agency under city, state and federal law. Such statement of rights and obligations shall include, but not be limited to, a general description of employee rights and employer obligations pursuant to laws regarding minimum wage, overtime and hours of work, record keeping, social security payments, unemployment insurance coverage, disability insurance coverage and workers' compensation;
d. Keep on file in its principal place of business for a period of three (3) years a statement for each employee, signed by such employee, indicating that the employee read and understood the statement of rights and obligations such employee received pursuant to subdivision (c) of this section.
a. Every process server and process serving agency licensed under this subchapter shall retain records in compliance with section 89-cc of the New York state general business law for no less than seven (7) years of each process served. Such records shall be retained in electronic form. Tampering with any such electronic records shall be prohibited.
b. A process server licensed under this subchapter who engages in the business of serving process exclusively as an employee of a process serving agency licensed under this subchapter shall not be subject to the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section, but shall be required to comply with all other applicable laws.
c. The commissioner shall conduct audits of the information required to be kept pursuant to subdivision a of this section in order to monitor compliance with this subchapter. The commissioner shall conduct annual audits, of the information required to be kept pursuant to subdivision a, for at least 20 percent of the licensed process servers who have certified, pursuant to subdivision d, having served at least one summons, subpoena, notice, citation or other process, directing an appearance or response to a legal action, legal proceeding or administrative proceeding that is subject to the provisions of section 110 of the civil court act.
d. By February 1, 2020 and every six months thereafter, each licensed process server shall submit electronically to the commissioner a certification, in a form to be determined by the commissioner, stating whether the licensed process server has served at least one summons, subpoena, notice, citation or other process, directing an appearance or response to a legal action, legal proceeding or administrative proceeding that is subject to the provisions of section 110 of the civil court act within the immediately prior semi-annual calendar year period.
(Am. L.L. 2019/112, 6/8/2019, eff. 10/6/2019)
The commissioner shall develop educational materials to be provided to all process servers and process serving agencies licensed under this subchapter. Such materials shall at a minimum identify the laws and regulations pertaining to service of process in the city of New York.
a. A license issued hereunder may be suspended or revoked or its renewal denied by the commissioner at any time for the failure of the licensee to comply with any rule, regulation or order promulgated by the commissioner. Where a license is suspended or revoked or its renewal denied for the reasons set forth in this section, where a penalty is issued pursuant to section 20-409.1 or where such license holder is otherwise disciplined by the commissioner, the commissioner shall post to the department's website and notify all process serving agencies of the suspension, revocation or denial of renewal of such license, the issuance of a penalty pursuant to section 20-409.1 and the reasons for such suspension, revocation or denial of renewal or issuance of such penalty. Such notification and posting shall occur no more than five days from the date the department has suspended, revoked or denied renewal of such license, or issued such penalty.
b. In addition to any of the powers that may be exercised by the commissioner pursuant to this subchapter and chapter one of this title, the commissioner, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, may refuse to issue or renew, or may suspend or revoke, a license required under this subchapter if the applicant or licensee, or any of its principals, officers or directors, or any of its stockholders owning more than ten percent of the outstanding stock of the corporation has been convicted of a crime which, in the judgment of the commissioner, has a direct relationship to such person's fitness or ability to perform any of the activities for which a license is required under this subchapter or has been convicted of any other crime which, in accordance with article twenty-three-a of the correction law, would provide a justification for the commissioner to refuse to issue or renew, or to suspend or revoke, such license.
c. Upon application for renewal of a license issued pursuant to this subchapter, applicants subject to subdivision (a) of section 20-406.3 of this subchapter shall certify in writing compliance with the record keeping provisions of such section.
(Am. L.L. 2019/112, 6/8/2019, eff. 10/6/2019)
Any person who, after notice and hearing shall be found guilty of violating any provision of this subchapter, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of chapter one of this title and shall be subject to a penalty of not less than seven hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars for each violation.
Any person injured by the failure of a process server to act in accordance with the laws and rules governing service of process in New York state, including this subchapter and regulations promulgated thereunder, shall have a cause of action against such process server and process serving agency, which distributed or assigned process for service, in any court of competent jurisdiction for any or all of the following relief:
a. compensatory and punitive damages, provided that punitive damages shall only be awarded in the case of willful failure to serve process;
b. injunctive and declaratory relief;
c. attorneys' fees and costs; and
d. such other relief as a court may deem appropriate.
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