Digital Communication v. Allen Investments

2019 Pa. Super. 341, 223 A.3d 278
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 15, 2019
Docket300 EDA 2018
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 2019 Pa. Super. 341 (Digital Communication v. Allen Investments) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Digital Communication v. Allen Investments, 2019 Pa. Super. 341, 223 A.3d 278 (Pa. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

J-A15012-19 J-A15013-19

2019 PA Super 341

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE SUPERIOR COURT WAREHOUSE, INC. AND STUART OF LACHEEN PENNSYLVANIA

v.

ALLEN INVESTMENTS, LLC AND ALLEN INVESTMENT PROPERTIES, LLC

WILLIAM ALLEN,

APPELLANT No. 300 EDA 2018

Appeal from the Order Entered December 26, 2017 in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at No(s): August, 2010 No. 02381

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE SUPERIOR COURT WAREHOUSE, INC., OF PENNSYLVANIA

Appellee

ALLEN INVESTMENTS, LLC,,

Appellant No. 2286 EDA 2018

Appeal from the Order Entered June 19, 2018 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at No(s): 100802381

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., GANTMAN, P.J.E. and COLINS, J.*

OPINION BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED NOVEMBER 15, 2019

*Retired Senior Judge Assigned to the Superior Court. J-A15012-19 J-A15013-19

Appellant, William Allen, intervener in the underlying proceeding,

appeals from the December 26, 2017 order,1 granting his motion to open the

October 10, 2010 default judgment entered against Allen Investments, LLC,

and Allen Investment Properties, LLC (collectively “Allen Investments”) and in

favor of Digital Communications Warehouse, Inc., et al. (“Digital”).

Additionally, Allen Investments appeals from the June 19, 2018 order denying

its petition to strike and/or open the default judgment entered against it.2

After careful review, we quash William Allen’s appeal at No. 300 EDA 2018;

we affirm in part and reverse in part the June 19, 2018 order underlying Allen

Investments’ appeal docketed at No. 2286 EDA 2018, and remand for further

proceedings.

The trial court has summarized the relevant facts and procedural history

of this matter as follows:

The underlying matter in this case stems from a breach of contract claim for the purchase of televisions. On February 17, 2009, [Digital] entered into a contract for the purchase of television monitors with [Allen Investments]. Under the contract, [Digital] agreed to pay [Allen Investments] … []$3,885,000.00[] for delivery of … []3,100[] television units, and [Allen Investments] warranted that it had legal title to the units as well as full authority to sell them to [Digital]. At the time of the contract’s signing, [Digital] agreed to a … []$5,000.00[] deposit and had already procured a buyer for the television units. Shortly thereafter, [Allen Investments] induced [Digital] to enter into a

____________________________________________

1 The order is dated December 22, 2017, but was not entered on the docket

until December 26, 2017.

2 For ease of disposition, we consolidate the appeals at Nos. 300 EDA 2018

and 2286 EDA 2018 sua sponte, due to the similarity of the issues involved.

-2- J-A15012-19 J-A15013-19

shipping contract in an effort to facilitate the product delivery, however, [Allen Investments] never delivered the television units, nor did [Allen Investments] ever actually have legal title or authority to the units.

[Digital] filed suit against [Allen Investments] in Pennsylvania on August 17, 2010, claiming damages [for] breach of contract, misrepresentation, and fraud. [Allen Investments] failed to respond to the complaint or enter an appearance, and on October 14, 2010, [a] default judgment was entered against [Allen Investments] in the amount of … []$14,601,000.00[].[3]

Trial Court Opinion (“TCO II”), 1/4/19, at 1-2 (unnecessary capitalization

omitted).

On June 8, 2017, William Allen petitioned to intervene and [to] strike and/or open the default judgment. Mr. Allen alleged that his son, Marc Gregory Allen, had created [Allen Investments, LLC and Allen Investment Properties, LLC]1 and had fraudulently assigned to Allen Investments, LLC ownership of multiple properties belonging to William Allen, including a Palm Harbor, Florida condominium complex. William Allen further alleged that Mr. Lacheen, who then held the judgment against [Allen Investments], was attempting to attach Mr. Allen’s properties to collect on the outstanding default judgment. 1 Digital [] avers in its compliant [sic] that [Allen Investments, LLC and Allen Investment Properties, LLC] were both incorporated in Florida.

On July 21, 2017, the court issued a rule to show cause why Mr. Allen’s petition to intervene should not be granted. After briefing, the court entered an order dated July 13, 2017, which granted the petition to intervene, added William Allen to the case as a party, and granted [him] 20 days to file “an appropriate petition or motion challenging the underlying judgment and/or execution.”

3 “Digital [] assigned the judgment to Jade Electronics Distributors, Inc. on September 15, 2011, which subsequently assigned the judgment to Stuart Lacheen on February 1, 2013.” Trial Court Opinion (“TCO I”), 7/31/18, at 1 (citation to record omitted).

-3- J-A15012-19 J-A15013-19

On August 1, 2017, Mr. Allen filed a petition to strike [the] default judgment and/or open [the] default judgment and/or stay execution pending final termination of an action pending in Florida. The court entered an order on September 7, 2017, allowing the parties 60 days to conduct discovery on the issues of service and timeliness of the motion, and 30 additional days for briefing. On December 14, 2017, an order was entered granting Mr. Allen’s petition to strike the default judgment as to damages only, and stating that an assessment of damages hearing would be scheduled forthwith. On December 21, 2017, [] Digital [] filed a motion for reconsideration of the December 14 order, asking that it be amended to make clear that the date of the judgment on liability remained October 10, 2010[,] and that the December 14 order only affected the damages award. On December 26, 2017, an order was entered granting the motion for reconsideration, vacating the December 14 order, and clarifying that the motion to strike was granted only as to damages. Mr. Allen timely filed a notice of appeal of the December 26 order on January 18, 2018.

TCO I at 2-3 (unnecessary capitalization and citations to record omitted).4, 5

Subsequently, on January 22, 2018, Allen Investments filed its own

petition to strike and/or open the remaining default judgment. The court

entered an order on June 19, 2018, which denied Allen Investments’ petition.

On July 10, 2018, Allen Investments filed a timely notice of appeal, followed

by a timely, court-ordered Rule 1925(b) statement of errors complained of on

appeal.

4 The trial court did not direct William Allen to file a concise statement of errors

complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b).

5 On April 5, 2018, this Court issued a rule to show cause as to why this appeal

should not be dismissed as premature, because the December 26, 2017 order specifically contemplates that the court will hold an assessment of damages hearing. William Allen filed a timely response on April 12, 2018. Accordingly, we discharged the April 5, 2018 show-cause order and referred the issue of appealability to the merits panel assigned to this case.

-4- J-A15012-19 J-A15013-19

William Allen now presents the following issues for our review:

A. Was there defective service so that the record for the 2010 default judgment contains a fatal error on its face requiring the default judgment to be stricken?

B. Did the [c]ourt lack power to enter the default judgment against [Allen Investments] because [Allen Investments was] not subject to general or specific jurisdiction in Pennsylvania and because proper service was never affected?

C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 Pa. Super. 341, 223 A.3d 278, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/digital-communication-v-allen-investments-pasuperct-2019.