Green Acres Rehabilitation & Nursing Center v. Sullivan

113 A.3d 1261, 2015 Pa. Super. 73, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 175, 2015 WL 1612075
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 13, 2015
Docket2084 EDA 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by87 cases

This text of 113 A.3d 1261 (Green Acres Rehabilitation & Nursing Center v. Sullivan) 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
Green Acres Rehabilitation & Nursing Center v. Sullivan, 113 A.3d 1261, 2015 Pa. Super. 73, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 175, 2015 WL 1612075 (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION BY

GANTMAN, P.J.:

Appellant, Henrietta Sullivan, appeals from the order entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, which denied her petition to strike a default judgment entered in favor of Appellee, *1265 Green Acres Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (“Green Acres”), in this breach of contract case. We affirm.

The relevant facts and procedural history of this appeal are as follows. Appellant’s father, Henry Sullivan, became a resident at Green Acres on January 21, 2005. 1 Mr. Sullivan executed a power of attorney (“POA”) agreement, designating Appellant as his agent, on April 28, 2005. On March 18, 2007, Green Acres filed a complaint against Mr. Sullivan and Appellant, seeking $114,497.13 in damages based on allegations that Mr. Sullivan had failed to pay for nursing home services provided by Green Acres. The complaint included counts of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and quantum meruit against Mr. Sullivan and Appellant, and one count of breach of fiduciary duty against Appellant. In the following months, the complaint was reinstated several times to allow for service. With respect to Appellant, Green Acres served the complaint on September 22, 2007, at Appellant’s residence on an adult relative who refused to give her name to the process server. Appellant did not file an answer.

On December 12, 2007, Green Acres sent to Appellant’s address via certified mail a ten-day notice of intent to file a praecipe for entry of default judgment. The notice stated in relevant part:

To: Henrietta Sullivan
Date: October 24, 2007
IMPORTANT NOTICE 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. UNLESS YOU ACT WITHIN TEN DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED AGAINST YOU WITHOUT A HEARING AND YOU MAY LOSE YOUR PROPERTY . OR OTHER IMPORTANT RIGHTS. YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS NOTICE TO A LAWYER AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A LAWYER OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE FOLLOWING OFFICE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP:
Philadelphia Bar Association Lawyer Referral and Information Service
1101 Market Street, 11th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 288-6800

(See Petition to Strike Judgment, Exhibit F; R.R. at 78a). Fourteen days later, on December 26, 2007, Green Acres filed a praecipe for entry of default judgment against Appellant. Green Acres attached to the praecipe to enter default judgment a copy of the notice of intent to file the praecipe and a certification Green Acres had sent the notice to Appellant. The certification stated in relevant part: “Pursuant to R 4:43-1, the Motion for Final Judgment by Default has been sent by first class U.S. Postal Mail and Certified Mail, return receipt requested to [Appellant], Henrietta Sullivan_” (See Petition to Strike Judgment, Exhibit G; R.R. at 81a). Judgment by default was entered against Appellant in the amount of *1266 $114,497.13. 2

Appellant took no further action in this case until April 10, 2014, when she filed a petition to strike the default judgment on, inter alia, the following grounds: (1) the trial division of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas lacked subject matter jurisdiction over this case; (2) the judgment was improperly entered against Appellant in her individual, rather than representative, capacity; and (3) Green Acres attached to the praecipe to enter default judgment a fatally defective certification that it had sent Appellant notice of its intent to file the praecipe to enter default judgment. 3 The trial court denied the petition on June 13, 2014. Appellant filed a motion for reconsideration and a timely notice of appeal on July 8, 2014. On July 9, 2014, the court ordered Appellant to file & concise statement of errors complained of on appeal, per Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b), which Appellant timely filed on July 22, 2014. The court denied Appellant’s motion for reconsideration on July 30, 2014.

Appellant raises the following issues for our review:

WHETHER THE- TRIAL COURT COMMITTED AN ERROR OF LAW WHEN IT FAILED TO STRIKE (EITHER UPON [APPELLANT’S PETITION] TO STRIKE OR ITS OWN [MOTION]) THE DEFAULT JUDGMENT ENTERED AGAINST [APPELLANT], REGARDLESS OF THE PASSAGE OF TIME, AS VOID DUE TO LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION IN THE TRIAL DIVISION WHEN ALL ALLEGATIONS OF WRONGDOING AND PRAYERS FOR RELIEF AVERRED IN THE COMPLAINT AGAINST [APPELLANT] ARE AGAINST HER IN HER REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY AS AGENT FOR HER FATHER, HENRY SULLIVAN, UNDER A FINANCIAL POWER OF ATTORNEY?
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED AN ERROR OF LAW WHEN IT FAILED TO STRIKE (EITHER UPON [APPELLANT’S PETITION] TO STRIKE OR ITS OWN [MOTION]) THE DEFAULT JUDGMENT ENTERED AGAINST [APPELLANT] IN HER INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, REGARDLESS OF THE PASSAGE OF TIME, AS VOID FOR FAILURE TO SUE [APPELLANT] IN THE CORRECT CAPACITY, WHEN THE FACE OF THE COMPLAINT FAILS TO CONTAIN ANY ALLEGATIONS OF WRONGDOING OR ANY CLAIM AGAINST [APPELLANT] IN HER INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BOTH OF WHICH ARE NECESSARY TO SUPPORT A DEFAULT JUDGMENT AGAINST HER IN THAT CAPACITY?
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED AN ERROR OF LAW WHEN IT FAILED TO STRIKE (EITHER UPON [APPELLANT’S PETITION] TO STRIKE OR ITS OWN [MOTION]) THE DEFAULT JUDGMENT ENTERED AGAINST [APPELLANT], REGARDLESS OF THE PASSAGE OF TIME, AS VOID DUE TO A DEFECTIVE PROOF OF SERVICE OF THE NOTICE OF INTENT TO TAKE A DEFAULT JUDGMENT WHICH (A) FAILS TO CERTIFY
*1267 THAT A WRITTEN NOTICE OF PRAECIPE TO ENTER JUDGMENT WAS MAILED OR DELIVERED AS REQUIRED BY [PAR.C.P.] 237.1(A)(2), BUT RATHER CITES TO A NEW JERSEY RULE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, WHICH IS OF NO EFFECT IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA AND (B) REFERENCES THE SERVICE OF A “MOTION FOR FINAL JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT” AND NOT A NOTICE OF PRAECIPE TO ENTER DEFAULT JUDGMENT AS REQUIRED BY THE RULE; BOTH OF WHICH REMOVED THE PROTHO-NOTARYS AUTHORITY TO ENTER SUCH A DEFAULT JUDGMENT?

(Appellant’s Brief at 4). 4

In her first issue, Appellant argues all allegations against her in Green Acres’ complaint concern Appellant’s alleged wrongdoing in her capacity as Mr. Sullivan’s POA. Appellant asserts all prayers for relief in the complaint likewise refer to her as “Power of Attorney, Henrietta Sullivan.” Appellant contends the trial division lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the claims against her because the Orphans’ Court Division has “mandatory” jurisdiction over matters pertaining to an agent’s actions under a POA.

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Bluebook (online)
113 A.3d 1261, 2015 Pa. Super. 73, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 175, 2015 WL 1612075, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-acres-rehabilitation-nursing-center-v-sullivan-pasuperct-2015.