Travelodge Hotels, Inc. v. Taurus Hotels Corp.

179 F.R.D. 569, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5863, 1998 WL 204726
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 22, 1998
DocketNo. 97-3320
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 179 F.R.D. 569 (Travelodge Hotels, Inc. v. Taurus Hotels Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Travelodge Hotels, Inc. v. Taurus Hotels Corp., 179 F.R.D. 569, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5863, 1998 WL 204726 (C.D. Ill. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

MILLS, District Judge.

Mr. Vakharia — despite receipt of the Complaint, all motions and all Orders — failed to answer the Complaint.

Default judgment was entered.

He filed a motion to vacate.

Does Vakharia show good cause?

No.

I. BACKGROUND

This action arises out of License Agreement between Travelodge Hotel, Inc.’s (“Travelodge”) predecessor in interest and Defendant Taurus Hotel Corporation (“Taurus”). Ramesh N. Vakharia (“Vakharia”) is the president of Taurus and guarantor of Taurus’ obligations under the License Agreement.

The Complaint in this case was filed on August 12, 1997. On October 30, 1997, the process server left a copy of the Summons and Complaint with Vakharia’s wife and mailed a copy to Vakharia on October 31. Vakharia filed an entry of appearance on December 1, 1997, but did not answer the Complaint.

On December 12, 1997, Travelodge filed a Motion for Entry of Default and served notice on Vakharia. The motion was granted on December 24, 1997. On January 2, 1998, Travelodge filed a motion to extend time in which to file its Motion for Entry of Default Judgment. Travelodge was given until January 20 to file the motion. Again, notice was served upon Vakharia.

[571]*571On January 13, 1998, Travelodge filed the Motion for Entry of Default Judgment and duly served notice on Vakharia. There was no response from Vakharia. On January 27, 1998, this Court entered judgment for Travelodge and against Defendants, jointly and severally, for $82,429.14.

On February 2, 1998, Vakharia filed, pro se, a motion to vacate the default judgment. It appears that the motion only seeks to vacate the default judgment against Vakharia and not Taurus.

II. ANALYSIS

Vakharia brings this motion under Rule 60(b), which provides:

On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or a party’s legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b); (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.

To set aside a default judgment, a defendant must show: 1) good cause for the default; 2) quick action to correct the default; and 3) a meritorious defense to the complaint. Zuelzke Tool & Eng’g Co., Inc. v. Anderson Die Castings, Inc., 925 F.2d 226, 229 (7th Cir.1991). While the test is identical under either Rule 55(c) (motion to vacate an entry of default) or Rule 60(b) (motion to vacate a default judgment), the test under Rule 60(b) is much more limited and stringent. Jones v. Phipps, 39 F.3d 158, 162 (7th Cir.1994). Moreover, the Seventh Circuit has “long since moved away from the position of disfavoring default judgments----” Pretzel & Stouffer v. Imperial Adjusters, Inc., 28 F.3d 42, 47 (7th Cir.1994).

Vakharia attempts to establish good cause in a number of ways.

Vakharia first asserts that the judgment rendered against him resulted from mistake and excusable neglect because he mistakenly believed that his pro se entry of appearance would prevent a judgment from being issued against him. He claims that he is a not an original native of this country and is not familiar with the workings of its justice system.

However, “[e]ven uneounseled litigants must act within the time provided by statute and rules. ‘[W]e have never suggested that procedural rules in ordinary civil litigation should be interpreted so as to excuse mistakes by those who proceed without counsel.’ ” Williams-Guice v. Board of Educ. of the City of Chicago, 45 F.3d 161, 164 (7th Cir.1995)(quoting McNeil v. United States, 508 U.S. 106, 113, 113 S.Ct. 1980, 1984, 124 L.Ed.2d 21 (1993)).

Vakharia next points out that when he was served with the Complaint, he immediately contacted his older brother who said he would contact some attorneys in Illinois to try and obtain an attorney for him. Vakharia was put in contact with an attorney and as a result of the conversations with the attorney, he believed that, pending some research the attorney was doing with respect to jurisdiction, he could protect his interest by filing a pro se entry of appearance. The attorney to whom he spoke offered to, and filed, the entry of appearance for Vakharia pro se, which reinforced Vakharia’s belief that he had protected himself. Vakharia wanted the opportunity to personally interview the Illinois attorney and agree upon terms of representation before hiring him and also needed time to raise funds to engage an attorney for his defense.

To the extent Vakharia attempts to blame the unnamed (and unretained) attorney for the failure to properly respond to the Complaint, that does not excuse Vakharia’s failure to answer the Complaint. See Hough v. Local 134, Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 867 [572]*572F.2d 1018, 1022 (7th Cir.l989)(noting that “although relief may be granted from judgment for excusable neglect of a party or its counsel such as the failure to receive notice of a judgment, neither ignorance nor carelessness on the part of any attorney will provide grounds for relief under FRCP 60(b).”). Additionally, any difficulty and expense of obtaining counsel does not constitute good cause for default, especially in light of the fact that Vakharia did not make any effort to explain his situation to the Court or to opposing counsel. See Original Appalachian Artworks v. Yuil Int'l Trading Corp., 105 F.R.D. 113, 116 (S.D.N.Y.1985)(holding that while “[a] bona fide effort to find counsel is certainly relevant to the willfulness of a party’s default[ ] ... where a party is notified that he is in default and he apparently makes no effort to appear pro se or to explain his situation to the opposing party and the court, such neglect is inexcusable.”).

Vakharia’s second argument is that he was not given proper notice regarding the process of this litigation. Vakharia claims that the Motion for Entry of Default was executed on December 9 but not mailed until December 16. Because of that, and because of the delay in the mails, the document was not received until Friday, December 19.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Herman v. Miller
63 F. Supp. 2d 918 (C.D. Illinois, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
179 F.R.D. 569, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5863, 1998 WL 204726, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travelodge-hotels-inc-v-taurus-hotels-corp-ilcd-1998.