Summit County (Akron), Ohio, enacted a local rule, which is now in effect, requiring that service of the summons upon defendants who reside within Summit County be attempted by the Summit County Sheriff before any other methods may be utilized. 

Previously, in an effort to expedite the foreclosure cases, we were getting excellent results by using a private process server, Provest, to deliver the complaint to the court for filing, obtain the summons from the Clerk of Courts, and immediately attempt service of the summons by personal or residence service on the primary defendants. Simultaneously, we would file instructions for the Clerk of Courts to issue service of the summons on the defendants by certified mail.  If Provest was successful in serving the summons, completion of the service by certified mail became unnecessary.  If Provest was unable to perfect service of the summons and the certified mail service was completed, service would be deemed complete, unless the certified mail was returned marked “unclaimed” or “refused,” at which point service of the summons could be reissued by ordinary mail.  If the whereabouts of a defendant could not be found, service of the summons by publication was authorized.

Under the new rule, the court will not allow simultaneous attempts at service through two or more methods.  The Clerk of Courts will issue the summons to the Sheriff’s Department for service upon any defendant with an address in Summit County.  According to the rule, the Sheriff is to make at least three attempts of service upon those designated defendants.  In addition, the rule requires that the Sheriff leave “door hangers” with information as to how to contact the Sheriff should personal service fail.  If the Sheriff is unsuccessful after three attempts, we will then be authorized to immediately employ one of the other methods for service. 

We expect that the application of this rule will result in significantly longer time frames for service of the summons in Summit County, as the Sheriff’s office will undoubtedly not be staffed or motivated like a private process server.  In order to expedite the commencement of the case as much as possible, we will still use Provest to deliver and process the complaint through the Clerk of Court’s office.  The Sheriff’s fees for service of the summons will be taxed by the Clerk of Courts as court costs in the case.  We will include in our invoice to our clients, the $75.00 out-of-pocket cost for Provest’s expedited delivery and processing of the complaint for filing.

If you should have any questions, please contact Larry Rothenberg at 216-685-1135 or lrothenberg@weltman.com. Larry is the partner-in-charge of the Cleveland real estate and foreclosure department of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A. He is the author of the Ohio Jurisdictional Section contained within the treatise, "The Law of Distressed Real Estate", published by The West Group. The firm handles foreclosures and related litigation throughout Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan.