APRIL 18, 2009-
(REDACTION: SEE "REDACTION" BELOW JUNE 8, 2009)
TPSA LEADERS BUSTED AGAIN!
SECRET AGENDA TO LICENSE INDUSTRY EXPOSED...AGAIN!
The TPSA email many of you received yesterday is not only wrong, it's devious.
HB 1069 WILL NOT "take away statewide
certification."
TPSA leaders are purposely continuing this lie for one simple reason...
THEY ARE ATTEMPTING TO TRICK YOU INTO A
LICENSE WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
TPSA leaders will not admit it, but all the evidence supports this conclusion.
Here's the proof:
First, the lie about HB 1069 is designed to make you think that the bill will have an
effect on the currently optional Supreme Court certification. HB 1069 DOES NOT
affect certification. When HB 1069 becomes law, anyone wishing to remain or
become certified will still be able to do so. A provision in the bill prohibits the
court from writing any new rules that would conflict with the bill. However, this
provision has no effect on the currently optional certification program which will
remain unchanged when HB 1069 becomes law.
Second, TPSA leaders have purposely kept you in the dark about another bill that
is set to be heard in the same hearing next Wednesday; a bill they have already
vowed to oppose. HB 397 is a strict, burdensome and unnecessary LICENSING
BILL filed by Rep. Will Hartnett.
Third,
HB 397 WILL REMOVE YOUR STATEWIDE
CERTIFICATION AND MAKE IT A CRIME TO
SERVE PROCESS WITHOUT BEING LICENSED!
Fourth, HB 397 is almost the same bill, word for word, as other licensing bills TPSA
leaders have filed in the past.
Fifth, TPSA leaders have relied upon Rep. Hartnett to file or co-sponsor their
licensing bills in the past.
Sixth, TPSA leaders want to change the current three year training requirement to
YEARLY TRAINING with more hours of class time. HB 397 requires yearly training!
click here to read the letter of recommendation from the then TPSA president
Seventh, HB 1069 and HB 397 are diametrically opposed to one another. Both bills
cannot pass the committee. One or the other will pass or both will fail. TPSA
leaders know this. They know that if they trick you into killing HB 1069, their
licensing bill will pass! This is why they have not said one word to you about HB
397 being heard next week.
Eighth, in light of no. 6, compare this to what they have said about HB 397 and
licensing in general:
"Your Board continues to be committed to the belief that being certified by the Texas Supreme Court
is the best place for us. Our legislative efforts reflect this and our decisions will continue to support
these beliefs."
"[HB 397] would remove our authorization from the Court and place it in the Legislature."
"...we are far better remaining with the Court."
"Your board feels that our resources should be focused on preventing any bill from passing that
would remove our authorization from the Court."
HB 397 will absolutely "remove your authorization
from the Court" and they haven't said a word to
you about it. Instead, they have asked you to
oppose a different bill that WILL NOT remove your
authorization from the Court.
Ninth, now compare what they HAVE NOT said about HB 1069 to what the bill will
actually do for our industry:
The main objective of HB 1069 is:
a) to provide statutory authority to private process servers by making law what has been the rule for
the last 21 years.
HB 1069 will also:
b) open up probate process to our industry;
c) allow sub. service at a residence ON THE FIRST ATTEMPT WITHOUT A 106 ORDER;
d) allow service on a corporate entity to any officer or manager ON THE FIRST ATTEMPT; This
provision also provides a fix for the registered agent problem in the Reed/Elseiver case.
e) allow returns to be signed WITHOUT verification (notary) OR a perjury statement just like subpoena
returns and just like sheriffs and constables;
f) remove the need to have the server's name printed on a criminal subpoena (a relatively unknown,
but necessary change.)
This bill was designed to ease burdens on process servers, help save time and gasoline, and speed
up the service of process generally.
THE CLAIM THAT HB 1069 WILL CAUSE A FLOOD
OF PROCESS SERVERS TO OUR INDUSTRY IS A
LIE! HB 1069 DOES WHAT A MAJORITY OF
OTHER STATES HAVE DONE FOR DECADES AND
NONE OF THOSE STATES ARE SUFFERING
FROM RUNAWAY COMPETITION, PRICE DROPS
OR CRIMINALS IN THE INDUSTRY!
This is just one more lie perpetrated by TPSA leaders in an effort to kill the one and only bill that would
prevent their secret goal of full-blown industry licensing. They are purposely avoiding the benefits of
this bill and attempting to manipulate your focus by misrepresenting one single provision. The TPSA
has misrepresented the nature of the written order of the court. The order from the court has
NOTHING to do with qualifications.
The same qualifications that have been in place in
Texas since 1988 will remain UNCHANGED.
The provisions in HB 1069 that allow sub. service at a residence and service to the person in charge at
a business means no more going back time and time again to effect service. This will result in a huge
savings of time and gasoline for all process servers in addition to freeing up more time to serve other
papers.
Additionally, the bill allows sheriffs and constables to retain their exclusive right to serve Forcible
Entry and Detainer citations. It also maintains the current requirement prohibiting private servers
from serving process that requires the taking possession of a person, place or thing or process that
requires an enforcement action by the person delivering the process. It also leaves Rules
106(b)(1)&(2) & 536(c)(1)&(2) in place for other alternate methods of service like affixing to the door.
The bill also makes one very important change to Rule 176.5(a) [the subpoena rule]; in addition to
being a non-party over 18, it will require the server of subpoenas to also be DISINTERESTED. This will
prevent law firms from serving their own subpoenas and will increase revenue for process servers.
Lastly, yesterday's TPSA email allegedly came from "Lauren" at
tpsaoffice@gmail.com. I personally spoke with Lauren Oakley yesterday and she
had not even seen the email sent to Austin area process servers and asked me to
forward her a copy. Her email address is oakleylauren4@gmail.com. The email
used Lauren's name without her permission or knowledge. Whoever sent that
email on behalf of the TPSA lacks the courage and integrity to use their own name.
The reason this is happening is because TPSA leaders want to reserve the ability
to disclaim the email message if it becomes necessary. This is exactly what
happened with the last email Lauren sent out at the instruction of one or more
TPSA leaders. After TPSA leaders were busted filing a different licensing bill
behind the backs of their members, they did a 180 and claimed Lauren's email was
erroneous. Lauren's email WAS NOT erroneous! It is just one more piece of
evidence that supports the contention that
TPSA LEADERS HAVE NEVER GIVEN UP ON
THEIR GOAL OF FULL-BLOWN INDUSTRY
REGULATION!
REDACTION: After this story was posted, Lauren Oakley posted to her personal blog a denial
of some of the information I reported. I spoke with Ms. Oakley regarding this matter and offered
to post this redaction. Accordingly, while she did ask me to forward a copy of the
aforementioned email to her, I may have misunderstood whether or not she was aware of the
email and/or whether or not her name was used without her permission. While these issues
remain unclear, the remainder of the article, to my knowledge, is factual. The bottom line is...
Ms. Oakley never was, nor is she now a target of my investigation. She has always been
viewed as a person who was simply assisting opponents of HB 1069 to get their political
message out. I openly apologize to Ms. Oakley if I caused her any embarrassment. I am happy
to report that this matter has resulted in our departing as friends.
Story by:
Tod E. Pendergrass
Editor, Texas Process Watch
processwatch1@yahoo.com