Koster v. Sullivan
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant. Defendant did not file an answer or other responsive pleadings and failed to appear at the hearing on Plaintiff’s motion for final default. Defendant later moved to set aside the default and final default judgment entered against him and to quash service of process on the bases that service was defective and that the return of service was defective on its face. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that the return of service was not facially defective and that Plaintiff failed to rebut the presumption that service was proper. The Second District Court of Appeal concluded that a strict construction of Fla. Stat. 48.21, defining valid return of service, does not require express reference to Fla. Stat. 48.031(1)(a), listing the factors defining the “manner of service.” The Second District then certified conflict with three decisions from the Third District Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court granted review and answered that a facially valid return of service is not required to expressly list the factors defining the “manner of service” contained in section 48.031(1)(a), which are not included in the requirements of section 48.21.
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