Teledata World Services, Inc. v. Tele-Mart, Inc.
Teledata World Services, Inc. v. Tele-Mart, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
Teledata World Services, Inc. brought this breach of contract action against Tele-Mart, Inc., seeking damages and other relief. Teledata appeals the trial court’s grant of Tele-Mart’s motion to dismiss for insufficiency of service of process.
Tele-Mart is a Nevada corporation authorized by the Secretary of State to transact business in Georgia.
Georgia’s Long Arm Statute may be used to serve nonresident defendants.
If a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in this state has no registered agent or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the Georgia Business Corporation Code (OCGA § 14-2-504 (b)) states that the corporation may be served by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the secretary of the corporation at its principal office. Alternatively, the Civil Practice Act (OCGA § 9-11-4 (d) (1)) allows service on the president or other officer or agent, or on the Secretary of State if personal service on a corporate officer or agent cannot be had.
Here, Teledata has not shown that the unnamed individual who was served at the Staten Island office was an authorized officer or agent of Tele-Mart. Therefore, the court was authorized to find that service was not perfected under the Civil Practice Act. And although Teledata argues that there is substantial evidence that the Staten Island office was Tele-Mart’s principal place of business, its references to the record do not support that argument. Moreover, the purported service by registered mail was not addressed to the corporate secretary, either at the Staten Island or New York City office. Thus the court was authorized to find that service was not perfected under the Georgia Business Corporation Code either. Therefore, we affirm the court’s grant of Tele-Mart’s motion to dismiss. Remaining issues are moot.
Judgment affirmed.
See OCGA § 14-2-1501 (a).
See OCGA § 9-10-90.
Id.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.