{"id":2241,"date":"2018-04-07T16:02:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trainingpips.com\/?page_id=2241"},"modified":"2019-04-18T03:15:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T11:15:38","slug":"ps-102-chapter-5-article-3-non-resident-motorist-act-martin-vs-triol","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/ps-102-a-course-outline\/ps-102-understanding-case-summaries\/ps-102-chapter-5-an-introduction-to-non-resident-motorist-act-case-law\/ps-102-chapter-5-article-3-non-resident-motorist-act-martin-vs-triol\/","title":{"rendered":"PS 102 – Chapter 5 – Article 3 – Non Resident Motorist Act – Martin vs Triol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary
\nMartin v. Triol, 121 Wn. 2d 135, P. 2d 471 (1993)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

Plaintiffs Martin filed a complaint against Defendants Triol for personal injuries arising from an automobile accident in Washington State. The filing of the complaint tolled the three (3) year statute of limitations and conferred jurisdiction on the court for 90 days until Plaintiffs complied with service of process requirements of\u00a0RCW 4.16.170<\/a>. Within the 90 day period, Plaintiffs attempted service on Defendants daily for five (5) days.\u00a0 At the time of attempted service, Defendants were out of state on a sailing trip in Canada.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unable to locate Defendants, Plaintiffs served process on the Washington Secretary of State, pursuant to\u00a0RCW 46.64.040<\/a>.\u00a0 Defendants entered a notice of appearance and moved for dismissal, claiming insufficient service of process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Defendants argued that\u00a0RCW 46.64.040<\/a>, limits substituted service of the Secretary of State to a period of three (3) years following the accident. They further argued that the tolling of the statute,\u00a0RCW 4.16.170<\/a>, did not extend the 3 year limitations period and that Plaintiff’s substituted service after 3 years from the date of the accident, was not timely.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plaintiff countered that the tolling statute,\u00a0RCW 4.16.170<\/a>, did in fact extend the time for substituted service beyond the 3-year limitations period and that the Defendants\u2019 absence from the state at the time service was attempted made substituted service appropriate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judicial History<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Trial court dismissed the case for lack of personal jurisdiction. Plaintiffs appealed. The appellate court took note that\u00a0RCW 4.16.170<\/a>\u00a0does extend the 3 year limitations period set forth in\u00a0RCW 4.64.040<\/a>. The court held that substituted service on the Secretary of State more than 3 years after the date of an accident may be accomplished if it falls within the 90-day extension permitted by\u00a0RCW 4.16.170<\/a>. The Court of Appeals then considered the requirement that a \u201cplaintiff utilizing substituted service of process must have a good faith belief that defendant has departed the state …. and with due diligence attempt to locate and serve defendants.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Appellate court remanded the case to trial court for a factual determination whether plaintiffs acted in \u201cgood faith\u201d and exercised \u201cdue diligence\u201d in attempting service of process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Specific Issue<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Does the 3-year time limit provided in\u00a0<\/span>RCW 46.64.040<\/a>\u00a0prohibit substituted service during the 90-day extension provided in\u00a0<\/span>RCW 4.16.170<\/a>?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>No<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Does substituted service on the Secretary of State meet the requirements of\u00a0RCW 4.16.170<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cpersonal service\u201d following filing of a complaint?\u00a0\u00a0Yes<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Does the Nonresident Motorist statute (RCW 46.64.040) require a finding of \u201cgood faith\u201d and \u201cdue diligence\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0Yes<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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

      \n
    1. A potential defendant\u2019s absence from the state does not toll the statute of limitations under\u00a0RCW 4.16.180<\/a>, when the plaintiff has a statutory right, pursuant to\u00a0RCW 46.64.040<\/a>, to serve that party through the Secretary of State. When a plaintiff commences suit by filing a complaint, it is logical to construe\u00a0RCW 4.16.170<\/a>\u00a0as extending by 90 days the time period for satisfying the provisions of\u00a0RCW 46.64.040<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Service of Process on the Secretary of State, pursuant to\u00a0RCW 46.64.040<\/a>\u00a0satisfies the requirement of\u00a0RCW 4.16.170<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cpersonal service\u201d of process.<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. \u201cDue diligence and good faith effort\u201d requires that plaintiff make a honest and reasonable effort to locate the defendant. Not all conceivable means need be employed, but, at least the accident report, if made, must be examined and the information in it investigated with reasonable effort.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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

      In this case, the Plaintiffs began a series of personal service attempts 5 days prior to expiration of the 90 day extension and within the statutory time limit. The process server located the Defendant\u2019s residence to which they had moved after the accident, and contacted neighbors who could provide no information.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Plaintiffs made a final attempt at service at the residence even after they had served the Secretary of State. Their inability to serve Defendants was not because of lack of \u201cdue diligence\u201d but was because Defendants were on a sailboat trip in Canada.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

      This is a landmark case in terms of the specific issues and holdings which are of preeminent importance to process servers. It affirms the extension of the statute of limitations for 90 days past the date of filing even if that date falls beyond what would have been the end of the three year statute. It affirms the application of the NonResident Motorist Act as a way to achieve service in auto tort cases. And it affirms the importance of due diligence as a requirement for the successful application of that statute.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Although the Nonresident Motorist Act has changed since this case was decided it still provides a number of useful lessons regarding the service of a summons and complaint.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Summary Martin v. Triol, 121 Wn. 2d 135, P. 2d 471 (1993) Facts Plaintiffs Martin filed a complaint against Defendants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":2235,"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-2241","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2241","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=2241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2241\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.trainingpips.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}