Burciaga v. AAJP 2 Inc

Opinion

1 2 3

4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT AT SEATTLE 7 JESSICA BURCIAGA, et al., CASE NO. C23-0981-KKE 8

Plaintiff(s), ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ 9 v. AMENDED MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT 10 AAJP 2, INC.,

11 Defendant(s).

12 Plaintiffs filed this action on June 30, 2023, and attempted service on August 25, 2023. 13 Dkt. Nos. 1, 10. The Clerk entered default on December 19, 2023. Dkt. No. 16. Plaintiffs then 14 moved for default judgment (Dkt. No. 17), which the Court denied without prejudice due to 15 insufficient service of process. Dkt. No. 18. In this order, the Court also vacated the entry of 16 default. Id. at 3. 17 Plaintiffs properly served Defendant with the complaint on February 15, 2024, but took no 18 further action for several months. Dkt. No. 21. After the Court ordered Plaintiffs to show cause 19 as to why this matter should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute (Dkt. No. 22), Plaintiffs 20 renewed their motion for default judgment. Dkt. No. 24. However, Plaintiffs have not moved to 21 reinstate the previous entry of default. Id. 22 “Obtaining a default judgment is a two-step process[,]” which begins with the clerk’s entry 23 of default. Oatway v. Experian Info. Sols., Inc., No. 2:24-cv-00523-LK, 2024 WL 4871381, at *2 24 1 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 22, 2024) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a)). In the first step, under Rule 55(a), the 2 plaintiff must ask the clerk or the court to enter a default against the defendant. Davis v. Burbank 3 Police Dep’t, No. 2:23-CV-05623-ODW-KES, 2023 WL 11814157, at *1 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 28,

4 2023). If a default under Rule 55(a) is granted, then the plaintiff may proceed to the second step 5 and ask the court to enter a default judgment under Rule 55(b)(2). Id. 6 This Court’s local rules likewise require entry of default before a motion for default judgment may 7 be filed. Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 55(b)(1) (“No motion for judgment by default should be 8 filed against any party unless the court has previously granted a motion for default against that 9 party pursuant to LCR 55(a) or unless default otherwise has been entered.”). Here, after Plaintiffs 10 perfected service, they never moved the clerk to enter default. 11 Accordingly, the Court DENIES without prejudice Plaintiffs’ amended motion for default 12 judgment (Dkt. No. 24). To the extent Plaintiffs wish to proceed with this action, they must request

13 entry of default pursuant to LCR 55(a) by no later than December 27, 2024. If default is entered, 14 Plaintiffs may then re-note their motion for default judgment consistent with LCR 7. 15 16 Dated this 12th day of December, 2024. 17 A 18 Kymberly K. Evanson 19 United States District Judge 20 21 22 23 24