Summons and complaints related to motor vehicle accidents

If an attorney is not able to locate a Massachusetts resident to deliver a summons for a civil court case involving a motor vehicle accident, they may present the summons and complaint to the RMV, where it will be sent to the address on record.

Overview

If the RMV does not have an address on record for the person and they are an out-of-state resident, we will then verify the defendant's address through the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) to obtain the defendant's mailing address from the motor vehicle administration for their state of residence. The requesting attorney must provide all important and necessary information on the defendant to ensure the RMV can locate the person's correct address.

There is a $10 fee for the processing of summons and complaints for a civil court case involving a motor vehicle accident.

Attorney process

As an attorney, you must mail, hand deliver, or have a deputy, sheriff, or constable hand deliver three copies of the summons and complaint (the original plus 2 duplicate copies) and the applicable fee to the Court Records Department. The Court Records Department will then:

1. Mail 1 copy to the defendant's last address on record and maintain 1 copy for the RMV's records
2. Mail the original copy of the summons and complaint and an affidavit stating that the RMV sent the summons and complaint to the person's address on record to the attorney

The mailing address for the Court Records Department at the RMV Haymarket Service Center is:

Driving Records/Court Records
Registry of Motor Vehicles
PO Box 55896
Boston, MA 02205

The RMV will not provide any personal information, including the person's mailing address, to you.

Pro se process

A pro se plaintiff may also submit a summons and complaint to the Registry. The summons and complaint must be stamped “PRO SE”. Also, they will need to provide an official letter proving that they are not represented by an attorney.

• If the plaintiff has never been represented by an attorney in this case, they must provide proof from the court by having the summons and complaint documents stamped "PRO SE." If the documents are not stamped “PRO SE” then the Registry will notify the plaintiff that he/she must have the court stamp the documents accordingly
• If the defendant is no longer represented by an attorney on this case, they must provide a letter from their previous attorney on official letterhead stating that the attorney is no longer representing them