Court Opinion

ID: 9534260
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:38:03.541442+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:58.477797
License: Public Domain

HESTER, Judge,
dissenting:
I dissent. One critical procedural fact was omitted by the majority.
Appellees promptly filed motions to open and strike the default judgment. Without addressing the petition to open, the lower court struck the default judgment.
In striking the default judgment, the lower court noted that snap judgments are not favored. It further noted that the 20-day response period for the filing of pleadings is permissive and not mandatory. Finally, the court found that appellant suffered no prejudice from the filing of the answer and counterclaim one day beyond the ten-day grace period.
I agree with the lower court that the entry of snap judgments is met with disapproval by our courts. Brooks v. Surman Dental Lab, Inc., 262 Pa.Super. 369, 396 A.2d 799 (1979); Silverman v. Polis, 230 Pa.Super. 366, 326 A.2d 452 (1974). For this reason, Pa.R.C.P. No. 237.1 became effective on February 1, 1980. This rule provides for a ten-day written notice of intention to file a praecipe for entry of a default judgment. Any time during this ten-day period, which commences after the 20-day initial response period, the party upon whom the notice is served may file a responsive pleading. In this way, the entry of snap judgments is restricted.
Further protection against the entry of snap judgments is provided by equity principles underlying petitions to open and strike default judgments. For example, should the ten-day grace period go unheeded, the default judgment shall be opened should the petitioner prove that (1) his petition to open was promptly filed; (2) he had a meritorious defense to the underlying cause of action; and (3) his *576failure to file a pleading was excusable. Balk v. Ford Motor Co., 446 Pa. 137, 285 A.2d 128 (1971); Quaker Transit Co. v. Jack W. Blumenfeld and Co., 277 Pa.Super. 393, 419 A.2d 1202 (1980). Appellees filed a petition to open which included allegations of each of these three elements. Nevertheless, the lower court did not address appellees’ petition to open; instead, its holding resulted solely from a review of the motion to strike.
A motion to strike, another mechanism which limits the entry of snap judgments, shall be granted where there is an irregularity on the face of the record. Johnson v. Moore Motors, Inc., 285 Pa.Super. 237, 427 A.2d 200 (1981); Advance Building Services Co. v. F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Co., 252 Pa.Super. 579, 384 A.2d 931 (1978). In their petition to strike the judgment, appellees alleged that the judgment was improperly entered due to the fact that they filed their answer and counterclaim prior to the filing of the praecipe for entry of default judgment.
The lower court erred in striking the default judgment on grounds that appellant suffered no prejudice. Its further observation that snap judgments are not favored by the law is similarly not adequate grounds for striking a judgment. I disagree with the majority and with this court’s opinion in Gee v. Caffarella, 300 Pa.Super. 480, 446 A.2d 956 (1982), that the entry of a default judgment, where an answer precedes the praecipe for entry of default judgment, is an error on the face of the record. Therefore, the court did not strike the judgment due to fatal errors on the face of the record. For that matter, appellees’ motion to strike does not include any allegations of errors on the face of the record.
I would reverse the lower court for its improper disposition of the motion to strike. However, I would remand for further proceedings on the petition to open. Appellees’ petition to open contained allegations, which if proven, would be sufficient to open the default judgment. Since the lower court failed to address the petition to open, I would remand.