Grady, F. v. Nelson, B.

2022 Pa. Super. 186, 286 A.3d 259
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided October 21, 2022·No. 2115 EDA 2021·Published·Cited by 19 cases

Opinion

2022 PA Super 186

FLETCHER GRADY IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Appellee

v.

BRIAN NELSON AND LISA ANN NELSON

APPEAL OF: BRIAN NELSON Appellant No. 2115 EDA 2021

Appeal from the Order Entered September 10, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County Civil Division at No: 2017-09268

BEFORE: STABILE, J., DUBOW, J. and PELLEGRINI, J.* OPINION BY STABILE, J.: FILED OCTOBER 21, 2022 In this personal injury action, Appellant, Brian Nelson, appeals from an order denying a petition to strike and/or open a default judgment entered against him in the amount of $1,000,000.00. We conclude that Appellant was entitled to have the judgment stricken, as two fatal defects existed on the face of the record as of the date of judgment. There is conclusive evidence that Appellee, Fletcher Grady, served the complaint and judgment notices on a non-existent address, thus depriving Appellant of notice that this action was pending against him. Appellee’s ten-day notice of intent to enter a default judgment also did not substantially comply with the language required under

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

Pa.R.Civ.P. 237.5 and 237.1. Accordingly, we reverse the order denying Appellant’s petition to strike and remand for further proceedings.

This action rests upon the following allegations. James Cannavo was a lessee in a nonresidential property owned by Appellant in West Chester, Pennsylvania. On November 1, 2015, while inside the property, Cannavo shot Appellee, causing serious internal injuries. Cannavo was subsequently convicted of attempted murder and is serving a sentence of 25-50 years’ imprisonment. It does not appear that Appellant was at the property at the time of the shooting. Appellee alleges that Appellant was negligent for leasing the property to Cannavo, whom Appellant knew was a dangerous person who drank, abused substances, and engaged in unlawful activities.

The record, as of the date judgment was entered against Appellant, provides the following.

On September 28, 2017, Appellee commenced this action via a writ of summons against Appellant and his wife, Lisa Ann Nelson.1 The record includes a sheriff service form directing the Sheriff to serve Appellant and his wife with the writ of summons at “1075 Price Street” in West Chester. The form listed two alternate addresses in West Chester for service, 510 High Street and 1234 West Chester Pike (Appellant’s business address). On October 24, 2017, a deputy sheriff attempted to serve Appellant and his wife

at 1075 Price Street but was unable to make service. On the service form

1 Lisa Ann Nelson was later dismissed from this action.

relating to Appellant, the deputy sheriff wrote, “Price St. address does not exist.” On the service form relating to Appellant’s wife, the deputy wrote, “No such number on Price St. No such address found on Chescoviews. Better address needed.”

The deputy telephoned Appellant and left a voice message. The following day, the deputy served the writ of summons on Appellant at a different address, 706 East Gay Street in West Chester.2 On July 31, 2018, Appellee filed a complaint alleging that Cannavo shot Appellee at 1075 Price Street, and that Appellant was liable for negligence in leasing the premises at 1075 Price Street to Cannavo. The complaint alleged that Appellant resided at 1075 Price Street. The affidavit of service averred that counsel for Appellee served the complaint on Appellant by regular mail on July 31, 2018. Attached to the affidavit was a letter from counsel enclosing the complaint, endorsed with a notice to plead, and addressed to Appellant at 1075 Price Street.

On August 27, 2018, counsel for Appellee mailed Appellant a notice of intent to enter a default judgment in ten days due to Appellant’s failure to file an answer to the complaint. The address on the notice of intent was 1075 Price Street. The first sentence of the notice stated, “You are in default because you have failed to take action required of you in this case.” This

language was different from the text required by the applicable rule of civil

2 In his subsequent petition to strike the judgment, Appellant averred that this address was a Wawa convenience store in West Chester.

procedure that provides, “You are in default because you have failed to enter a written appearance personally or by attorney and file in writing with the court your defenses or objections to the claims set forth against you.” Pa.R.Civ.P. 237.5.

On September 7, 2018, Appellee filed a praecipe for entry of default judgment against Appellant. On the same date, Appellee filed a certification identifying Appellant’s address as 1075 Price Street. The prothonotary entered judgment in favor of Appellee and against Appellant and sent a Pa.R.Civ.P. 236 notice of the default judgment to 1075 Price Street. This notice, as well as all other notices sent by the prothonotary to the Price Street address, were returned to the prothonotary’s office as undeliverable. Following entry of judgment, the court scheduled an assessment of damages hearing for March 15, 2019. On March 22, 2019, the court entered a verdict for Appellee in the amount of $1,000,000.00.

Over two years later, on June 21, 2021, Appellee served Appellant with a notice of deposition in aid of execution of judgment for the first time at Appellant’s business address, 1234 West Chester Pike. Appellant retained counsel3 and filed a petition to strike or open judgment on July 21, 2021. Appellee filed a timely answer to the petition.

3 It does not appear from the record that Appellant retained counsel until this point in the case.

On September 10, 2021, the court entered an order denying Appellant’s petition to strike or open judgment. In relevant part, the order stated, “A petition to strike a default judgment will only be granted where there is a fatal defect that is apparent from the face of the record. . . . We find no such defect.” Order, 9/10/21 at n.1 (citation omitted). Appellant filed a motion for reconsideration, which the court denied on October 4, 2021.

On October 7, 2021, Appellant filed a timely appeal to this Court. Both Appellant and the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

Notably, the trial court stated in its Rule 1925 opinion:

Upon further examination, the trial Court believes it erred in not striking the judgement [sic]. The gist of [Appellant’s] Petition is that he did not receive service of the Complaint, notices for entry of default judgment or trial notices addressed to him at 1075 Price Street, West Chester, PA 19320. An examination of the record reflects that in an attempt to serve [Appellant], the Office of the Chester County Sheriff filed an Affidavit of Service Return on October 11, 2017 that the 1075 Price Street address does not exist and that alternative addresses for service on [Appellant] should be 510 South High Street, West Chester, PA or 1234 West Chester Pike, West Chester, PA. Nonetheless, counsel for [Appellee]

continued service of all documents on [Appellant] at the 1075 Price Street address.

In addition, all the trial notices sent by the trial Court to [Appellant] at the 1075 Price Street address were returned by the Post Office with the label “Return to Sender-No Such Number Unable to Forward.” As such, it appears that there is a fatal defect in all service on [Appellant] subsequent to the service of the initial Writ and associated documents.

Opinion, 12/6/21, at 2-3 (footnote omitted).

Appellant raises the following issues in this appeal:

1. Should the Court remand this matter to the trial court for entry of an amended order consistent with the trial court’s Rule 1925 opinion?

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Grady, F. v. Nelson, B., 2022 Pa. Super. 186, 286 A.3d 259 (Pa. Ct. App. 2022).

2022 Pa. Super. 186 (Grady, F. v. Nelson, B.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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