AB 747 (the SPARE Act): What California's New Process Server Requirements Mean for Your Case

Assembly Bill 747, the Service of Process Accountability, Reform and Equity (SPARE) Act, was signed on October 10, 2025 (Chapter 563, Statutes of 2025) and takes effect on January 1, 2027. It changes what a California proof of service has to contain and how hard it is to defend a weak one. From that date, a proof of personal service, substituted service, or service by posting must include a photograph of the site of every attempt, stamped automatically with the date, time, and GPS coordinates. "Reasonable diligence" before substituted service gets a fixed meaning: at least three attempts, on three different days, at three different times. And a defendant who swears they were never properly served can shift the burden back onto the party who served them.

If you file or defend civil cases in California, including evictions, small claims, collections, and family law, this changes how service has to be done and documented. Here is what the law requires, what it means in practice, and how Northbound Legal already meets it today.

sewer service

The bill targets what courts and consumer advocates call sewer service: papers reported as served that never reached the person being sued. A proof of service is sworn, and until now courts have presumed it accurate. When it is false, the defendant never learns about the case, misses the deadline to respond, and finds out only when a default judgment turns into a wage garnishment, a bank levy, or a lockout.

AB 747 attacks the problem from two directions. It makes a false proof harder to produce, by requiring objective, time-stamped evidence from the doorstep. And it makes a bad proof easier to undo, by changing who has to prove what when service is challenged. Both halves matter to anyone who relies on a proof of service to move a case forward.

the proof of service must include one or more photographs of the site of each effected or attempted service.

Under the amended Code of Civil Procedure section 417.10, when service is made by personal delivery (section 415.10), substituted service (section 415.20), or posting in an unlawful detainer case (section 415.45), the proof of service must include one or more photographs of the site of each effected or attempted service. Every attempt, not only the successful one.

Each photo must carry a readable stamp that automatically records the date, time, and GPS or equivalent coordinates. At a home or apartment, at least one photo must show the door, or the entrance if the door is not reasonably accessible. At a business, it must show the door or entrance of the specific office, not just the building. The photo has to be taken as close as practicable to the moment of the attempt.

There are two narrow exceptions. If there is no GPS or cellular signal, the server must give a detailed statement on or with the proof explaining why the stamp is missing. If taking a photo would compromise the server's safety, the photo can be skipped, but the attempt still has to be documented with a detailed statement of why. Neither exception excuses the documentation itself.

attempting personal delivery in good faith on at least three occasions, on three different days, at three different times.

Substituted service, leaving the papers with a competent adult at the home or workplace and mailing a copy, has always required "reasonable diligence" in attempting personal delivery first. The law never said how many tries that meant, and courts filled the gap case by case.

From 2027, sections 415.20 and 415.45 define it: attempting personal delivery in good faith on at least three occasions, on three different days, at three different times. In consumer debt cases, at least one of those attempts must be at the defendant's home. The same three-day standard applies before a court will authorize posting in an unlawful detainer case.

The practical consequence is timing. Substituted service can no longer be set up in one afternoon of back-to-back knocks. If personal service fails, the earliest you can move to substituted service is the third day of attempts, and substituted service is then complete 10 days after mailing. The mailing itself can now go by first-class mail, Priority Mail with tracking, or Certified Mail with return receipt requested. Build that time into any deadline before you order service.

Under the amended section 417.40, a registered process server's proof of service must show the registration number assigned by the county clerk under Business and Professions Code section 22355. From January 1, 2027, each county clerk's register of process servers must also be made publicly available.

In practice, anyone will be able to check that the server named on a proof is who the proof says they are. That is the simplest answer to the question of how to tell whether a process server is legitimate: look for the registration number and county on the proof, and confirm it with that county.

That evidence rebuts the usual presumption that the process server's return is accurate, and the party who obtained the default then has to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that service was lawful.

The documentation rules are the visible change. The enforcement rules are what give them teeth.

New section 473.2 lets a defendant move to set aside a default by offering sworn evidence that service was not lawfully made. That evidence rebuts the usual presumption that the process server's return is accurate, and the party who obtained the default then has to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that service was lawful. The court must take evidence and cannot deny a reasonable request for a hearing with live testimony. Amended section 473 also allows a motion to vacate a default judgment that is void for lack of proper service at any time after the judgment is entered.

For a plaintiff, landlord, or creditor, this means the proof of service is no longer a formality you file and forget. If it is ever challenged, the photos, GPS stamps, and attempt log are the evidence you will need, possibly months or years later. A proof without them can undo a judgment you thought was final.

the date, time, and location of service of the termination notice

Unlawful detainer cases get two specific changes. First, posting under section 415.45 now requires the same three-attempts-on-three-days diligence, with photo documentation of each attempt. Second, amended section 1166 requires the eviction complaint itself to state the date, time, and location of service of the termination notice, not just the method, either in the Judicial Council form or through an attached proof of service.

That pulls documentation forward to the very first step. How the 3-day or 30-day notice was served now has to be spelled out in the complaint, so a notice served without a clear record creates problems before the case is even filed. Landlords handling their own evictions should treat notice service with the same care as the summons.

The photo requirement is written into the proof of service rules for personal, substituted, and posted service, not only into the rules for registered process servers.

California lets any adult who is not a party to the case serve most papers, and self-represented litigants often ask a friend to do it. The photo requirement is written into the proof of service rules for personal, substituted, and posted service, not only into the rules for registered process servers. A proof filed after January 1, 2027 needs the stamped photos and the attempt detail no matter who did the serving.

A phone camera can take a photo, but the law asks for a readable stamp that records the date, time, and GPS coordinates automatically, a door or entrance in frame, one photo per attempt, and attempts spread across three days if substituted service may be needed. Missing any of that gives the other side an opening under section 473.2. For many people, the cost of a professional server is now smaller than the cost of having to serve twice.

Every attempt is photographed.

None of this is new to us. The documentation the SPARE Act will require is already how Northbound Legal records every serve today.

Every attempt is photographed. Our servers take a photo at every attempt, successful or not, with the date, time, and GPS coordinates stamped automatically at the moment it is taken, framed on the door or entrance.

Every attempt is GPS-logged and timestamped. The attempt log records where the server was and when, and what they observed: no answer, a vehicle present, a neighbor's account. You see each entry the day it happens.

Attempts are spread across days and times. Standard service includes up to three attempts at varied times on different days, the pattern the new diligence standard requires before substituted service.

Every proof carries the server's registration number. Our registered servers list their county registration number on each proof of service.

The proof arrives the day service completes. You receive a court-ready proof of service, POS-010 for civil cases, FL-115 for family law, SC-104 for small claims, with the photo and attempt record behind it. If you would rather not file it yourself, we can e-file it for $65 and return the conformed copy.

The result is a proof that already meets the 2027 standard, and a record that will hold up if a defendant ever claims they were not served.

Plan for three days.

Plan for three days. If there is any chance you will need substituted service or posting, count on at least three days of attempts plus the 10-day completion period for substituted service. Order service early rather than against the deadline.

Check your server's documentation now. Ask whether they photograph every attempt with an automatic GPS and time stamp, and whether their proof shows a registration number. If the answer is "we can start in January," that is a risk for any case that runs into next year.

Keep the record, not just the form. Hold on to the photos and attempt log with your case file. Under section 473.2 they may be the evidence you need long after the case seems closed.

Landlords: document the notice. From 2027 your complaint must state when and where the termination notice was served, so serve it in a way that produces that record.

The bill's transition language says proofs filed before January 1, 2027 without photos are not automatically treated as unlawful. There is still little reason to wait: the evidence is easy to create at the time of service and impossible to recreate afterward.

This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. Confirm how AB 747 applies to your case with the court's self-help center or an attorney.