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A judge’s denial of a defendant’s motion to set aside a $2,685,250 default judgment has been reversed by the Court of Appeals in an unpublished decision.
On Feb. 2, 2024, the plaintiff filed a request for default against the defendant. That request was made through the State Court Administrative Office’s (SCAO) Standard Form MC 07a.
“On that form, plaintiff failed to fill in any information on the section for a certificate of mailing as required by MCR 2.603(A)(2) (‘If the defaulting party has not appeared, the notice to the defaulted party may be served by personal service, by ordinary first-class mail at his or her last known address or the place of service, or as otherwise directed by the court.’). This defect constituted good cause for purposes of setting aside the default judgment,” the Court of Appeals wrote in a per curiam opinion.
“Additionally, this request for entry of a default judgment did not comport with MCR 2.603(B)(1)(a)(ii). … The SCAO MC 07a form submitted by plaintiff sought an amount greater than the valuations presented in the complaint. Regardless of plaintiff’s characterization of the amount as a scrivener’s error, this requested amount in excess of the addition of the values set forth in the complaint triggered plaintiff’s obligation to provide notice, and it did not comply. Accordingly, this omission constituted a deprivation of due process that alleviated the defense requirement to present a meritorious defense. … Under the circumstances, the trial court’s denial of the motion to set aside the default judgment constituted an abuse of discretion,” the court stated.
“The trial court erred when it determined that plaintiff complied with the notice requirements, and therefore, the denial of the request to set aside the default constituted an abuse of discretion,” the court concluded.
The 10-page decision is 12Five Capital, LLC v. IMG Marine, LLC; MiLW No. 08-110429.
