Case of the Day: Ace Antenna Co. v. Daeny Dayeong Sung, 2018 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 6334 (Cal. App. Sept. 17, 2018)

Summary:

Plaintiff filed a case in October 2015 against the defendant, who previously lived in California, then moved to South Korea. Plaintiff initially attempted to serve the defendant at the last known address in California, then heard that he had moved to Korea. Then the plaintiff attempted a Hague service to the defendant at the last known address, and failed to serve him. In April 2016, the court granted the plaintiff's motion to effect service by publication, then entered default judgment in August 2016. The defendant moved to vacate the default judgment in December 2016, claiming he was not properly served because the service by publication was improper.

The appellate court affirmed the district court's decision to uphold the default judgment, as the court found plaintiff took proper steps to effectuate service.

Takeaway:

Interesting wrinkle here is the fact that South Korea recently changed its postal code system, effectively giving two addresses for each location--the "old" address that people still casually use, and the "new" address that are used officially. Defendant attempted to claim the "new" address was different from the "old" address, and was rebuffed.