Following an automobile accident, Monta Williams filed a personal injury action against Jerome Patterson. Patterson moved to dismiss the complaint based upon Williams’s failure to perfect service of process after the statute of limitations had run. The trial court granted the motion, and Williams appeals, arguing that the court erred i in finding that he failed to exercise due diligence in serving Patterson, ii in failing to allow him an additional 12 months in which to personally serve Patterson after serving him via publication pursuant to OCGA § 33-7-11 e, and iii in allegedly failing to allow him to proceed against his uninsured motorist “UM” carrier after Patterson consented to remain in the case as a nominal defendant. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. The record shows that on November 19, 2006, Williams was a passenger in an automobile that was involved in a collision with another automobile driven by Patterson. Williams filed a personal injury action against Patterson in April 2008, which was approximately six months before the expiration of the statute of limitations for his claim. See OCGA § 9-3-33. Over the course of the next 12 months, Williams allegedly made several unsuccessful attempts to serve Patterson but successfully served him on March 30, 2009.1 Nevertheless, Williams dismissed his original complaint on April 8, 2009. Although under OCGA § 9-2-61 a Williams had until October 6, 2009, to renew his lawsuit, he filed his renewal action on April 16, 2009.
On May 1, 2009, the sheriff’s deputy filed a non est return of service, indicating that he was unable to serve Patterson at 4887 Old Dixie Highway, Apartment 112, which was the address provided in Williams’s summons. On May 20, 2009, an answer was filed on behalf of Patterson that asserted, among other things, that Williams’s recovery was barred by lack of service of process and by the statute of limitations. In early June 2009, Williams hired a private investigator to locate Patterson, and on June 14, 2009, the investigator informed Williams that Patterson still resided at the Old Dixie Highway address. On July 1, 2009, Williams filed a motion for service by publication and a motion for appointment of a special process server, both of which the trial court granted. On several occasions in August and September 2009, the special process server attempted to serve Patterson at the Old Dixie Highway address. Although these attempts were unsuccessful, the special process server noted that during two of those attempts she was informed that Patterson was in the hospital and that during another attempt the apartment manager confirmed that Patterson did, in fact, still reside at that address. In October 2009, the six-month renewal period expired, and the special process server made two more unsuccessful attempts to serve Patterson, with the last one occurring on October 24, 2009.
