{"id":2190,"date":"2018-04-07T09:08:12","date_gmt":"2018-04-07T17:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trainingpips.com\/?page_id=2190"},"modified":"2019-04-18T03:17:07","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T11:17:07","slug":"ps-102-chapter-2-article-3-abode-service-upheld-sheldon-v-fettig","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/ps-102-a-course-outline\/ps-102-understanding-case-summaries\/ps-102-chapter-2-an-introduction-to-abode-service\/ps-102-chapter-2-article-3-abode-service-upheld-sheldon-v-fettig\/","title":{"rendered":"PS 102 – Chapter 2 – Article 3 – Abode Service Upheld – Sheldon v Fettig"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY<\/strong><\/span>
\nSheldon v. Fettig, et al., 129 Wn.2d. 601 (1996)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Facts<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ms. Fettig and Ms. Sheldon were involved in a car accident in Washington State. Sheldon filed suit for damages and served process at the home of Fettig\u2019s parents in Seattle, where a copy of the summons and complaint was left with Fettig\u2019s brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight months before process was served, Fettig relocated to Chicago to attend a flight attendant program. Prior to moving, she had lived on her own for 2-3 years in Seattle and Renton. Immediately before leaving for Chicago she moved back into her parent\u2019s Seattle home for approximately 2 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fettig used her parent\u2019s address:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. As a place to be contacted before, during and after the 2 months she lived at her parent’s residence.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. As her address when registering as a Washington State voter.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. When she received a speeding ticket.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. As the address for her car’s registration, bill of sale, and on her car insurance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Upon completion of the flight attendant program in Chicago, Fettig leased an apartment for 13 months and had her mail sent to Chicago. She joined a health club and opened a checking account. Fettig kept her Washington State driver\u2019s license (with her Renton address) and remained registered to vote in Seattle.<\/span><\/p>\n

    As an on-call flight attendant she returned to her parent\u2019s home frequently when not in flight. During the month service was made, Fettig spent 4-5 days at her parent\u2019s home. Fettig was there when Sheldon\u2019s attorney called, and when Sheldon\u2019s attorney sent correspondence, a response was given immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Judicial History<\/strong><\/span>
    \nSuperior Court denied defendant\u2019s motion for summary judgment and rebuffed defense’s claim of improper service of process, holding that service at the defendant\u2019s parents\u2019 home where a copy of the summons and complaint was left with defendant\u2019s brother satisfied substitute service of process requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Court of Appeals affirmed trial court decision, holding that plaintiff had effected valid substitution of process. Supreme Court affirms the Court of Appeals and remands the case to the trial court.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Specific Issue:<\/span>
    \nIs the Fettig family home in Renton Fettig\u2019s house of usual abode for service of process pursuant to RCW 4.28.0080 (16). Yes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    Holdings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    House of usual abode in RCW 4.28.080(15) is to be liberally construed to effectuate service and uphold jurisdiction of the court.<\/span>
    \nThe underlying purpose of RCW 4.28.080(15) is to provide a means to serve defendants in a fashion reasonably calculated to accomplish notice.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The term \u201cusual place of abode\u201d must be taken to mean such center of one\u2019s domestic activity that service left with a family member is reasonably calculated to come to one\u2019s attention within the statutory period for the defendant to appear.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Indiciations of a center of domestic activity include where a person is registered to vote, the address given in registering an automobile, the address noted on a bill of sale, the address shown on a traffic citation, the address given to an automobile insurer, and where the defendant is frequently present.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In appropriate circumstances a defendant may maintain more than one house of usual abode if each is center of domestic activity where it would be most likely that defendant would promptly receive notice if the summons where left there.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Reasoning<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    Since Fettig used the family home for so many indications of a center of domestic activity, it is fair to conclude it is a center of her domestic activity. Also, the family home was the place where Fettig was most likely to receive notice of the pendency of a suit. Fettig, working as a flight attendant jetting across the country is a quintessential example of a highly mobile person splitting her time between two places. She maintained two places of usual abode.<\/span><\/p>\n

    There are fact patterns in which serving a defendant at her parent\u2019s home when she lives elsewhere would not constitute sufficient service of process. See Lepeska v. Parley, 67 Wn. App. 548, 838 P.2d 437 (1992); Thoenes v. Tatro, 270 Or. 775, 529 p.2d 912 (1974).<\/span><\/p>\n

    C4PSE Comment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    This is an interesting, though not uncommon, situation that process servers need to be aware of and ensure that their notes support their declaration\/affidavit. The details of the process server\u2019s conversation at the door with the defendant\u2019s brother would prove very important in maintaining the validity of the service.<\/span><\/p>\n

    When encountering a situation like this it is vital that the process server update the client with any details which would either support or threaten the service.<\/span><\/p>\n

    When determining whether or not a defendant has more than one center of domestic activity is highly dependent upon the exact circumstances. A minor change in the facts could force the court to invalidate a service instead of upholding it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SUMMARY Sheldon v. Fettig, et al., 129 Wn.2d. 601 (1996) Facts Ms. Fettig and Ms. Sheldon were involved in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":2178,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2190","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2190\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}