April 19, 1995. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Having exhausted all reasonable means of obtaining personal service, Manufacturers turned to service by first- class mail, but these attempts were equally unsuccessful. Because Ponsoldt was not served personally, the district court sua sponte dismissed Manufacturers' complaint without prejudice for failure to perfect service of process on the defendant.
Manufacturers now appeals.
Consequently, we vacate the district court's dismissal order and remand the case for further proceedings. The second permitted service by first- class mail. The district court relied upon this latter provision, and our supposed interpretation of it in Schnabel, to deny Manufacturers' attempt to serve Ponsoldt by substituted means. Many of these courts, however, have reversed course and have given a more equitable reading to the mail service provision. In reaching this conclusion, we emphasized the plaintiff's wholesale disregard for both the letter and spirit of Rule 4.