private String createUser( final Map<String, String> propertiesReadFromClient, final String userName) { final String email = propertiesReadFromClient.get(EMAIL_KEY); final String hashedPassword = propertiesReadFromClient.get(HASHED_PASSWORD_KEY); final DBUserController controller = new DBUserController(); final String error = controller.validate(userName, email, hashedPassword); if (error != null) { return error; } try { controller.createUser(userName, email, hashedPassword, false); return null; } catch (final IllegalStateException ise) { return ise.getMessage(); } }