A New York bill, A8559, has been introduced and could lead to licensing for all New York process servers in the state.
Sponsored by Assemblymembers Vivian Cook, Phillip Steck and Anthony D’Urso, this bill would require servers more than five papers a year in the state would need to become licensed for a fee of $500. Previously licensing has only been required in the five boroughs of New York City. This bill would extend the licensing requirement to include any process server within New York state. Both process servers and agencies would be licensed under the Secretary of State.
Under the bill, licenses would be valid for two years. All licensed process servers would then be listed on a published registry. Violations under the licensing range from $100 to $2,000 per instance of each violation. The bill notes the requirements wouldn’t go into effect until October 2020:
Process server, licensing, penalties. 1. Issuance, renewal, suspension and revocation of a license. On or after October first, two thousand twenty, no person shall act as a process server without first having obtained a license in accordance with the provisions of this article, and without first being in compliance with all other applicable laws, rules and regulations.
Potential Impact on Process Servers
Given the New York Professional Process Servers Associations (NYSPPSA) interactions with the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), the entity responsible for licensing process servers and its enforcement, there are many concerns as to the impact state-wide licensing would have. The high-costs associated with maintaining licenses and the supplemental requirements, such as log books and third-party GPS stamps, has led as much as a 60% drop in licensed process servers in the five boroughs. If expanded to the entire state, there could be a decline in process servers and a rise in charges associated with service to cover the increased overhead.
NYSPPSA has been in contact with the sponsors of the bill, focused on discussing the potential ramifications of this bill on the industry.
Currently, the bill has been referred to economic development.
For the full text of the bill, click here.
