Opinion ID: 15886
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: James Lange

Text: 18 Under the Texas Long Arm Statute, Leedo had to provide the Secretary of State with Lange's home address which was 17809 Park, Lansing, Illinois 60438. Lange was never served at this address. Leedo attempted service upon Lange, individually, by requesting the Texas Secretary of State to forward process to the James Sales location on North Lathrop in Harvey, Illinois. As a result of the James Sales bankruptcy, the Harvey location was vacated; thus, the Secretary of State's certification for Lange reflected the return receipt as having the notation, Forwarding Order Expired. 19 The law makes no presumptions in favor of valid issuance, service, and return of citation in a default judgment case. See Uvalde Country Club v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 690 S.W.2d 884, 885 (Tex.1985). Here, Leedo clearly failed to comply with the provisions of the long arm statute. The statute requires that Lange be served at his home address in Lansing, Illinois. Leedo admits it provided the Secretary of State with the Havey, Illinois address to serve Lange in his individual capacity. Unlike AKB's home office address, there is no question in the record as to Lange's home address throughout this period. Interestingly enough, attached as Exhibit E to Leedo's Response to the Motion to Vacate Default Judgment is a copy of the Illinois Secretary of State record obtained by Leedo's counsel prior to filing suit which was used by Leedo to show that AKB's address for service of process was the Sibley Blvd-Posen address. James Lange's home address also appears on that same document. There appears to be no reason why Lange should have been served at any address other than his home address in Lansing, Illinois. 20 Alternatively, Leedo argues that service on Lange was effective because it complied with Tex.R. Civ. P. 108 and 106(a)(2). Assuming compliance with these rules, Leedo fails to cite any case to support the proposition that a party's compliance with Texas Rules of Civil Procedure obviates the need to comply with the long arm statute's requirement to serve and provide to the Secretary of State the nonresident defendant's home address. Moreover, Leedo's argument is foreclosed by World Distributors, Inc. v. Knox, 968 S.W.2d 474, 479 (Tex.App.-El Paso 1998, no writ)(holding that Rule 108 authorizes service by any disinterested person competent to make oath of the fact, but that the Secretary of State is not authorized by law to serve process). 21 Under the Texas Long Arm Statute, process had to be forwarded by the Secretary of State to Lange's home address. Leedo failed to provide Lange's home address to the Texas Secretary of State, the return receipt had the notation Forwarding Order Expired, and Lange provided an affidavit attesting that he never personally received service. Under these circumstances, personal service cannot possibly have been effected. Accordingly, default judgment against Lange is reversed for failure to effect service of process, and the judgment with respect to Lange is vacated and the case is remanded to the district court.