It has not happened (to our knowledge) in the United States, but in Australia, at least one couple has been served legally binding foreclosure documents via Facebook[1]. A Canberra couple defaulted on a “six-figure loan” and was untraceable via physical address or email. The lawyer for the lender was able to locate them on Facebook, however, and verify their identities through matching names, dates of birth and the fact that they listed each other as friends.
Thus far, the court has stated it needs to be satisfied on a case-by-case basis that there is a “reasonable prospect of success” before it will clear a lawyer to deliver papers via Facebook[2]. “In this case there was enough information for the court to be satisfied that the defendants [would get the papers],” explained Archie Tsirimokos, a partner at Meyer Vandenberg Lawyers in Canberra.
Do you think that this is just the wave of the future, or is delivering legal documents via Facebook – a service notorious for its lack of privacy and security – going over the line?
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[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/dec/16/facebook-repossession-australia
[2] http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2447627.htm
I do not see how this would satisfy most courts need for “proper notice”. It assumes the person being served actually checks Facebook. Some people create a profile and never check it.
I’m not sure if the privacy issue is relevant because the foreclosure process becomes public anyway.
Wow. However, I’m not surprised because Facebook is a platform designed for people to find other people. Should it be used for legal reasons? Probably not but since Facebook is an open public platform once anyone opens an account, it could be argued that they open the door to their own privacy unless they opened a fake account with fake info and then the lawyer would not have been able to reasonably verify any info thus not being able to “find” them.
People should sue the companies that try to sue them on Facebook.