Legal News

In Your Facebook; Aussie Court Approves Service Through Web Site

By Ashby Jones

Greg is putting groceries away. Pauline is a fan of I Love Libraries. Sid is deciding between the brown and gray sweaters.

Those are the kinds of riveting news dispatches we typically expect to read when we open our Facebook account. But judging from a story out of Australia today, we might someday be opening our account with a bit more urgency. Or nervousness. Or something.

Here’s the deal: A court in Australia has approved the use of Facebook to notify a couple that they lost their home after defaulting on a loan. The Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court last Friday approved lawyer Mark McCormack’s application to use Facebook to serve the legally binding documents after several failed attempts to contact the couple at the house and by e-mail. Here’s the AP story.

Australian courts have given permission in the past for people to be served via e-mail and text messages when it was not possible to serve them in person. “It’s somewhat novel, however we do see it as a valid method of bringing the matter to the attention of the defendant,” said McCormack, a lawyer for the lender. The documents were sent last Friday after weeks of failed attempts to contact two Canberra borrowers at their home and by e-mail.

In a statement, Facebook praised the ruling. “We’re pleased to see the Australian court validate Facebook as a reliable, secure and private medium for communication. The ruling is also an interesting indication of the increasing role that Facebook is playing in people’s lives,” it said. The company said it believed this was the first time it has been used to serve a foreclosure notice.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 16, 2008 (boomark / email).