Startup Recruits Cash-strapped Process Servers to Help Landlords Evict Tenants

As reported by Vice this week, a company called Civvl says evicting people is the "FASTEST GROWING MONEY MAKING GIG DUE TO COVID-19."

During a time of great economic and general hardship, many people are struggling to make ends meet, while others are trying to monetize on their hardship. Due to high unemployment, closed businesses and economic uncertainty millions are struggling to pay their rent. Being part of the small business sector process service agencies and individual process servers have seen their volume of services diminish. When both sides of the economy are struggling, a new startup is enlisting cash-strapped gig workers like process servers to help landlords evict tenants who cannot make rent during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company, named Civvl, aims to be Uber for evicting people, and to make it easy for landlords to hire process servers and eviction agents as gig workers.  In addition to the ethical issues here, who is a startup like Civvl really helping?

It is not the first time that startups have tried to streamline service of process and make money off of process servers or streamline taxi service, making money off of drivers, as in the Uber case. Equipped with the right app building skills and an interested initial investor, a tech company can easily create an app overnight and throw money at it to market it. Similar to other apps, Civvl simply provides an online platform where during a time when there is a federal ban on evictions, the startup appears to pass all risk onto the companies using its platform. As the site states, it simply “provides lead generation to independent contractors," and does not actually carry out the work itself. Both landlords and process servers will be the ones responsible for the proper and legally correct service of notices to tenants, and they will be the ones carrying the ultimate burden while Civvl will monetize for using its app. A spokesman for the company, as reported by CBSNews, emphasized that Civvl is not actually carrying out evictions, but rather connecting independent junk haulers or process server contractors with opportunities to clear out property. "It's basically like a job center," the spokesman said. "This is no different than you going on Monster.com."

What are Civvl Craigslist Ads Looking for?
The listings in 17 cities, tracked by Princeton's Eviction Lab,  call for workers who are a minimum of 18 years old, and brags that it provides a “true flexible schedule” and a “minimal background check.” The average Civvl worker, the post says, completes six jobs a day. Workers hired through Civvl are classified as independent contractors and are required to have their own car and liability insurance, among other things. The terms also ask users to give up their rights to sue the company and agree to resolve any disputes in arbitration.

What the Startup Charges? 
The app charges workers $35 a month to use the service on top of a 30% cut of their earnings, according to its terms of service. 

Do Apps like Civvl Benefit Process servers and Clients? 
Let’s look at what legal professionals and process servers need in order to successfully complete the delivery of legal documents and let’s see to what extent this can be achieved by fast money-making apps like Civvl.

• Ease of Use to Find Process Servers?

This is perhaps the main purpose or goal tech companies see when they attempt to create an app. In Civvl’s own words, it simply “provides lead generation to independent contractors” and hopefully the easy to find process servers. However, an app is as good as the people who need it and use it. Are enough landlords going to sign up to use such an app in order to make it worthwhile for process servers to join? And would there be enough process servers who sign up for this gig work? Will there be at least one process server to cover every zip code? It could become very frustrating for a landlord, being the client in this case, to sign up for the app only to realize that there are just a handful of places covered by process servers.

• Ease of Use to Find Clients? 

​Process servers are already struggling by diminishing volumes and closed courts. The benefit for a server to use such an app would be to be able to market themselves and find new clients. However, startups do not guarantee new clients nor do they guarantee income. As Civvl’s spokesperson stated "It's basically like a job center. This is no different than you going on Monster.com."  What that means is that just because you submit a resume on Monster.com, it does not mean you will be hired for a job.

• Hands-off Management of Process Service?

Apps like Civvl aim to connect two sides in a business sector, in this case landlords and process servers or other gig workers. The main advantage of such a platform is to connect. However, this ease does not translate into a hands-off management in process service. Once the connection via the app is made, both process servers and clients must still continue to put in the work, effort and diligence in completing the service, verifying requirements and resolving any issues with the service or the person being served. Managing process servers, whether in-house or outsourced is always the most time-consuming factor in service of process and apps like Civvl do not help or resolve this.

• Guaranteed Quality of Process Service?

​While the ease to connect clients and process servers is provided by apps like Civvl, they do not guarantee the quality of service of process. As their site’s terms read users must give up their rights to sue the company and agree to resolve any disputes in arbitration. Although using their app, landlords and process servers may indeed find each other easily, the app cannot guarantee the service itself or the quality of process. It still remains up to the client to review, research and interview a process server before hiring him/her in order to ensure that court requirements are met and the legal documents properly served.

• Help with Court Requirements?

Apps like Civvl that aim to connect clients and gig workers do not usually provide help with finding, understanding or researching court requirements. Such apps are platforms that do not aim to address common challenges in services of process due to varying rules and regulations on the federal, state, county and even town level. In addition, legal documents within each court vary by type and that type may call for different methods or rules of service.
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• Any Financial Benefit?

While it is difficult to assess the financial benefit to process servers without the proper data, process service is a low-margin business and volume in a concentrated area is what helps process servers make money. Any potential financial benefit to sign up for apps like Civvl will greatly depend on the volume a process server gets each month and the consistency of this volume.  


While it is tempting for tech companies like Civvl to try and monetize on gig workers like process servers, service of process still remains “personal” and it is still the most reliable way to ensure compliance with constitutionally imposed due process of notice to a defendant and the opportunity to be heard. Without proper service of process a court has no jurisdiction over a defendant and may not proceed. While it may look easy to create an app and connect a process server with a client, the “personal” factor still remains a huge component in service of process. Quality is still very much dependent on the knowledge and professionalism of both clients and process servers, and human management remains a very important part of service of process, a part that new apps cannot resolve at this time.

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​Source: Vice   CBSNews