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.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Jeff. I appreciate your willingness to engage in an honest conversation about the future of service of process and I agree that any reforms should be fair and workable for everyone involved.
You’re right that most process servers do their jobs with integrity, and that a few bad actors shouldn’t define an entire industry. My use of the verb “plagued” is not meant to suggest that every process server is corrupt, but rather to highlight a persistent and well-documented vulnerability in the eviction process that has serious consequences for tenants, especially those with limited resources to defend themselves.
The problem of “sewer service” isn’t just anecdotal. As the Los Angeles Times has reported, complaints about fraudulent or negligent service number in the thousands, and judges like Robert L. Hess (Ret.) have described regularly encountering such cases in court. The challenge is that courts do not systematically track these incidents, so the true scope is hard to quantify-but the impact on those affected is severe, with families sometimes losing their homes without ever knowing they were sued. This is especially concerning for low-income tenants, where tenants often lack the legal support to contest improper service.
I agree with you that accountability and transparency are needed across the legal system, including among attorneys. But the unique position of process servers- as the gatekeepers of due process -means that even a small number of failures can have outsized consequences for people’s lives. That’s why reforms like better documentation, online registries, and meaningful penalties for fraudulent service are so important – not to scapegoat process servers, but to protect everyone’s right to a fair hearing.
Ultimately, I think we share the same goal: A system where service of process is reliable, verifiable, and above reproach.
Thanks again for raising these important points and helping move the conversation forward.
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 it’s 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.
David, thank you for pointing this out. I hadn’t really considered how automatic my use of “community” had become in these contexts. You’re right, not every group described by circumstance or demographic is truly a community in the sense of shared bonds or mutual support. I’m going to start policing myself on this and be more precise with my language going forward. Thanks for the nudge to think more critically about the words I use.
Well, it’s not your fault. It’s become almost axiomatic in media circles that a collection of people with a shared trait forms some sort of a community.
When put in perspective, my gripe is pretty insignificant.
Or “time and time again…” like a BDP song. Was this attorney alive in 1988?
https://youtu.be/q20s1DlMJXc
She has been an attorney for 4 years Vern. How many times has she fought and won a sewer service story. I know a real good way to fight sewer service. You use straw man as your client at the hearings and then you cause the process server to identify them as the person they served. Then you inform the court that the person is not your client and you produce your client. It’s real simple.
“FFFF community”: It isn’t what it is, is it?
George Bushala is a hometown hero for speaking truth to power. Mujajajaja!
Icymi. https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/dennis-block-chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-ai-eviction-court-los-angeles-lawyer-sanction-housing-tenant-landlord