Court Opinion

ID: 9712948
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:03:36.35443+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:15.392571
License: Public Domain

HOFFMAN, Judge,
dissenting:
Because I believe that the lower court abused its discretion in opening the two default judgments, I dissent. For the reasons which follow, I would reverse the order of the court below.
The majority concludes that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in opening the March 22, 1976, Allegheny County judgment. I disagree. First, I cannot agree with the majority that only after appellant instituted the action in Nevada to enforce the 1976 Allegheny County judgment did appellee fully understand that judgment. Although the majority correctly notes that the November 8, 1976, letter from appellant’s attorney did not indicate the basis for the judgment, the record clearly demonstrates that appellee was aware that this judgment emanated from the Allegheny County support action. In a deposition taken pursuant to his petition to open, appellee stated that when he left Pennsylvania in 1973, he knew that the Allegheny County support proceeding had been continued indefinitely. In February, 1976, the attorney who had been representing appellee in the Allegheny County action filed a motion to withdraw. Appellee stated in his deposition that he received a •copy of this motion.* On November 8, 1976, appellant’s attorney mailed a letter to appellee at his Nevada address stating:
This is to advise you that we have been retained by your former wife, Helene, to represent her to obtain satisfac*182tion of the judgment entered against you in the State of Pennsylvania in the amount of $15,500.00. Please contact this office to make arrangements for payment upon this judgment within ten days from the date of this letter. Your failure to make such arrangements for payment will result in our being forced to file suit against you to enforce the payment of the judgment in this state.
Any doubt that appellee was not aware that the $15,500.00 judgment emanated from the Allegheny County support action is dispelled by appellee’s concession in his deposition that he learned of the 1976 Allegheny County judgment when he received this letter. Additionally, appellee stated that upon receiving this letter, he gave it to his Nevada attorney. Thus, the delay from the time appellee discovered the default judgment until he filed a petition to open was more than ten months. The majority states that appellee acted reasonably in awaiting the decision of the Nevada court before attempting to open the judgment in Pennsylvania. Assuming, arguendo, that this course of action was reasonable, appellee has not explained why he did not file his petition during the more than three month interval from the time appellee received the letter from appellant’s attorney until he was served with the complaint in the Nevada action. Petitions to open default judgments filed less than three months after discovery of entry of the default often have been held to be untimely. See, e. g., McCoy v. Public Assistance Corp., 451 Pa. 495, 305 A.2d 698 (1973) (dictum) (17 days); Pappas v. Stefan, 451 Pa. 354, 304 A.2d 143 (1973) (55 days); Quatrochi v. Gaiters, 251 Pa.Super. 115, 380 A.2d 404 (1977) (63 days); Schutte v. Valley Bargain Center, Inc., 248 Pa.Super. 532, 375 A.2d 368 (1977) (47 days); Carducci v. Albright Galleries, Inc., 244 Pa.Super. 48, 366 A.2d 577 (1976) (54 days); Telles v. Rose-Tex, Inc., 233 Pa.Super. 181, 335 A.2d 440 (1975) (60 days). Accordingly, even without considering whether it was reasonable for appellee to await the decision of the Nevada court before attempting to open the judgment in Pennsylvania, the lower court clearly abused its discretion in opening the 1976 Allegheny County judgment.
*183Moreover, I cannot agree with the majority that appellee acted reasonably in waiting until the Nevada court reached its decision before seeking to open the 1976 Allegheny County judgment. Even if the Nevada court had refused to give full faith and credit to the Allegheny County judgment, that judgment would continue to remain valid in Pennsylvania. Thus, the decision of the Nevada court could not affect the necessity of filing a petition to open the 1976 Pennsylvania judgment. The majority states that “[t]he delay, attributable to the course of action selected by counsel, did not represent an affirmative decision by appellee to sleep on his rights, and he should not be charged with intentional delay as a result thereof.” At 355. Our cases, however, hold that the failure to file timely a petition to open a default judgment is not excused on the ground that the delay was caused by the conduct of petitioner’s attorney. See, e. g., Van Horn v. Alper, 253 Pa.Super. 524, 385 A.2d 462 (1978) (delay due to attorney’s procrastination, dilatoriness, and forgetfulness); Nevils v. Chernitsky, 244 Pa.Super. 501, 368 A.2d 1297 (1976) (delay due to advice of an attorney consulted by appellant). See also Smith v. Tonon, 231 Pa.Super. 539, 331 A.2d 662 (1974). There is, therefore, no support in our case law for the majority’s statement. Consequently, I would hold that because the delay from the time appellee learned of the 1976 Allegheny County judgment until he filed his petition to open was more than ten months, the petition was not timely filed, and the lower court abused its discretion in opening this judgment.
The majority also concludes that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in opening the April 5, 1977, judgment. I disagree. That judgment was entered while the Nevada action was pending. In his petition to open, appellee did not mention this judgment. Consequently, because appellee has offered no explanation for this default, thereby failing to satisfy one of the requirements for opening a default judgment, I must conclude that the lower court abused its discretion in opening this judgment.
Accordingly, I would reverse the lower court’s order opening the March 22, 1976, and April 5, 1977, judgments.

 The Allegheny County court subsequently granted the motion.