Court Opinion

ID: 9673865
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:19:39.148184+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:24.354309
License: Public Domain

Steele Hays, Justice, dissenting in part, concurring in part. While I concur in the result, I disagree with the majority that it is error for a trial court to vacate a default judgment against a garnishee who has demonstrated to that court’s satisfaction that the garnishee is not indebted to the judgment debtor. This court has said repeatedly that default judgments are not favored by the law. Tapp v. Fowler, 291 Ark. 309, 724 S.W.2d 176 (1987); Cammack v. Chalmers, 284 Ark. 161, 680 S.W.2d 689 (1984); Burns v. Madden, 271 Ark. 572, 609 S.W.2d 55 (1980); Winters v. Lewis, 260 Ark. 563, 542 S.W.2d 746 (1976). The granting of a default judgment is a harsh and drastic action and may deprive a party of substantial rights. Lambert Bros. Inc. v. Tri-City Construction Co., 514 S.W.2d 838 (Mo. App. 1974), cited in Winters v. Lewis, supra. They are to be avoided if fairly possible, A.O. Smith Harvester Products, Inc. v. Burnside, 282 Ark. 27, 665 S.W.2d 288 (1984); Sawyer v. Sawyer, 261 Iowa 112, 152 N.W.2d 605 (1967). Moreover, we have held that the granting or denial of a motion to set aside a default judgment is within the sound discretion of the trial court. Burns v. Shamrock Club, 271 Ark. 572, 609 S.W.2d 55 (1980); Renault Central v. International Imports, 266 Ark. 155, 583 S.W.2d 10 (1979). The trial court in this case exercised that discretion, soundly I believe, on behalf of a garnishee who had failed to answer a garnishment under a misapprehension that the garnishment applied to weekly deductions which were already being withheld from the wages of the judgment debtor by the garnishee. Nor does the appellant even contend that the garnishee-appellee was in fact indebted to the judgment debtor. If the trial court does indeed have discretion to vacate a default judgment I cannot agree that that discretion has been abused under the circumstances presented by this case.