Florida Association of Professional Process Servers

CHAPTER 655.0201
Service of process, notice, or demand on financial institutions

(1) Process against any financial institution authorized by federal or state law to transact business in this state may be served in accordance with chapter 48, chapter 49, chapter 605, or part I of chapter 607, as appropriate.

(2) Any financial institution authorized by federal or state law to transact business in this state may designate a registered agent as the financial institution’s agent for service of process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the financial institution. If the financial institution has no registered agent, or its registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, service may be made to any executive officer of the financial institution at its principal place of business in this state.

(3) If service cannot be made in accordance with subsection (2), service may be made to any officer, director, or business agent of the financial institution at its principal place of business or at any other branch, office, or place of business in the state.

(4) This section does not prescribe the only means, or necessarily the required means, of serving notice or demand on a financial institution.

History.—s. 2, ch. 2005-181; s. 59, ch. 2014-209; s. 34, ch. 2015-148.

1Note.—Section 34, ch. 2015-148, amended subsection (1) “[e]ffective upon this act becoming a law and operating retroactively to January 1, 2015.”

 

NEW FLORIDA STATUTE – 48.092

New legislation was passed that is effective January 1, 2017 pertaining to service on financial institutions. We recommend you read the documents in their entirety. A brief summary is as follows:

48.092 has been created to address service upon a financial institution.

  1. If a bank doesn’t want legal documents to go to a branch, it must designate an R/A with Sunbiz and if one is designated, service must be made to the designated R/A or R/A Company, who must be available Mon-Fri 9 to 5. If the bank is in compliance, no other service will be deemed valid and can be quashed.
  2. If the bank fails to comply with those hours, or fails to designate an R/A, then all service reverts back to serving at any branch by serving the branch President or Vice-President or other officer titled employee, pursuant to F.S. 655.0201. A Teller, Account Rep, or employee who doesn’t hold an officer title will not suffice and service may be quashed.
  3. If the Office of Financial Regulation wishes to have something served upon a bank, they can do it either way without recourse.

Click Here to download the Service on Financial Institution document (PDF).