New Hampshire § 421-B-6-611 - Section 421-B:6-611 Service of Process.

§ 421-B-6-611. Section 421-B:6-611 Service of Process.

(a) Signed consent to service of process. A consent to service of process required by this chapter must be signed and filed in the form required by the secretary of state. A consent appointing the secretary of state the person's agent for service of process in a noncriminal action or proceeding against the person, or the person's successor, or personal representative under this chapter or an order issued by the secretary of state under this chapter after the consent is filed, has the same force and validity as if the service were made personally on the person filing the consent. A person that has filed a consent complying with this subsection in connection with a previous application for registration or notice filing need not file an additional consent. (b) Conduct constituting appointment of agent for service. If a person, including a nonresident of this state, engages in an act, practice, or course of business prohibited or made actionable by this chapter or an order issued by the secretary of state under this chapter and the person has not filed a consent to service of process under subsection (a), that act, practice, or course of business constitutes the appointment of the secretary of state as the person's agent for service of process in a noncriminal action or proceeding against the person, the person's successor, or personal representative. (c) Procedure for service of process. Service under subsection (a) or (b) may be made by providing a copy of the process to the office of the secretary of state, but it is not effective unless: (1) the plaintiff, which may be the secretary of state, promptly sends notice of the service and a copy of the process, return receipt requested, to the defendant or respondent at the address set forth in the consent to service of process or, if a consent to service of process has not been filed, at the last known address, or takes other reasonable steps to give notice; and (2) the plaintiff files an affidavit of compliance with this subsection in the action or proceeding on or before the return day of the process, if any, or within the time that the court, or the secretary of state, in a proceeding before the secretary of state, allows. (d) Use in administrative proceedings. Service as provided in subsection (c) may be used in a proceeding before the secretary of state or by the secretary of state in a civil action in which the secretary of state is the moving party. (e) Provision of opportunity to defend. If the process is served under subsection (c), the court, or the secretary of state in a proceeding before the secretary of state, shall order continuances as are necessary or appropriate to afford the defendant or respondent reasonable opportunity to defend.