Guest post from attorney Stephanie Germani’s linked-in.
California’s eviction process is still plagued by “sewer service”—the fraudulent or negligent failure to properly serve tenants with eviction papers. This practice leads to families losing their homes without even knowing they were sued, undermining due process and fueling homelessness.
Despite decades of warnings from judges and advocates, “sewer service” remains a widespread problem, especially in low-income and immigrant communities. Tenants often first learn about an eviction when the sheriff arrives, because a process server or landlord filed false proof of service. Courts rarely catch these abuses, and the burden falls on tenants—many of whom lack legal help—to prove they were never served.
👨⚖️ Judge Robert L. Hess (Ret.) of the Los Angeles Superior Court has long recognized the seriousness of this issue. He heard numerous “sewer service” cases in the 1990s and often referred problem process servers for discipline, grilling process servers under oath and even ordering attorneys to stop using servers with histories of complaints. As Judge Hess told the Los Angeles Times: “[Tenants] are entitled to an opportunity to be heard, and since they only have a limited time to respond, that makes the notice very critical.”
Recent legislative efforts like AB 2347 extended the time tenants have to respond to eviction lawsuits, but did not address the root problem: Lack of accountability for process servers. California still allows process servers to register in one county and serve papers anywhere in the state, making it nearly impossible for tenants or courts to verify their credentials—especially since some counties only provide written confirm of registration (or non-registration) in person.
Possible safeguards:
– Require process servers to be registered in the county where the tenant is being served 📍
– Make county process server registries accessible online for easy verification 💻
– Mandate robust documentation of service—such as time-stamped photos or GPS evidence—when notices are posted 📸
– Impose meaningful penalties for fraudulent service and make it easier for tenants to challenge improper service before a default judgment ⚖️
No one should lose their home because of a paperwork scam.
hashtag#SewerService hashtag#DueProcess hashtag#CaliforniaLaw hashtag#TenantRights
Stephanie S. Germani, Esq., “Balancing off the scales of justice.”
If you’re claiming there’s a “plague” of sewer service in California, then it’s reasonable to ask: where’s the evidence? A few bad actors do not justify labeling an entire industry as corrupt. If we’re going to talk about systemic issues, how about addressing the over 12,000 complaints filed against attorneys in California alone? Source: State Bar of California 2020 Discipline Report. – https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/reports/2020-Annual-Discipline-Report.pdf
If the goal is an honest conversation about the future of service of process, I’m all for it. Let’s talk about how we can modernize the rules to make service more accountable, transparent, and verifiable—not just scapegoat the process servers who operate under those very laws.
Blog editor here; I’ll get Stephanie to answer this, but I can get started:
1. Where’s the evidence? You’re asking if there are studies? I doubt it, it’s probably anecdotal, because Stephanie does this work, and she’s seen it a lot. I know she saw it in Anaheim, and got a renoviction overturned over faulty/lazy service (sewer service.) She was on her way to disproving the “substantial”ness of the renovation, but didn’t have to because of the sewer service.
2. There are lots of complaints against lawyers, in the US’ largest state? It would be a surprise if there weren’t 12,000 unhappy people complaining about lawyers. And it would be news if those 12,000 complaints were found to be justified.
3. I don’t think she is “scapegoating” process servers, but landlords, who don’t bother making sure their tenants are served.
I wish to God people would stop using the word “communities” to describe a group of separate, unrelated people.
“Low income” is not a community. “Immigrants” is not a community unless ethnicity is involved. My (least) favorite is “homeless community” where almost no sign of community is in evidence except temporary agglomeration.
“Temporarily Without Permanent Address Community?”
Well I don’t think you’re gonna stop it, it’s too common and standard by now. Plus only a fragment of one of Stephanie’s sentences.
There’s lots of things that irritate me. I wish people would stop saying “It is what it is.”
Kudos.
Spot on.
We are, like Buckley’s conservative, standing athwart history yelling STOP!
The history of language’s demise.
No, we stand athwart Stupid yelling stop.