COLLEGE HEALTH II, GP, INC.
v.
VINCENZO DEPAU
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The appellate court affirmed the trial court's denial of a motion to vacate a default judgment. The court held that knowledge of a defendant's representation by counsel is insufficient to vacate a default; the plaintiff's counsel must also have actual knowledge that the defendant intends to defend the suit.
No, the trial court was not required to vacate the default judgment. Knowledge that a defaulting party is represented by counsel is insufficient; the plaintiff's counsel must also have actual knowledge that the defaulting party intends to defend the lawsuit.
[1] A default judgment must be vacated if the plaintiff's attorney has actual knowledge that the defaulting defendant is represented by counsel and intends to defend the laws…
[2] Actual knowledge that a defaulting party is represented by counsel is insufficient, on its own, to require vacating a default judgment; knowledge of the intent to defend…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a default must be lifted if the plaintiff's lawyer is aware that the defaulting defendant is represented by counsel”
This quote describes the legal principle College Health relied upon in its argument.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCollege Health II, GP, Inc. ("College Health") sought to vacate a default judgment entered against it in a foreclosure action. College Health argued t…
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PER CURIAM.
In this foreclosure action, the trial court denied appellant College Health II, GP, Inc.’s (“College Health”) motions seeking to vacate a court default and resulting final default judgment.1 Citing a line of cases holding that a default must be lifted if the plaintiff's lawyer is aware that the defaulting defendant is represented by counsel,2 College Health asserts that the trial court was required to vacate the default and default final judgment because appellee Vincenzo Depau’s counsel was aware, by virtue of a notice of appearance filed in a related, but different, foreclosure case, that College Health was represented by counsel in the instant case. This line of cases, however, requires not only "actual knowledge" that the defaulting party is represented by counsel, but also, "actual knowledge" that the defaulting party intends to defend against the lawsuit. See Lloyd, 981 So. 2d at 640;
McWilliams, 799 So. 2d at 380; Gulf Maintenance & Supply, 543 So. 2d at 816. On this record, we are unable to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion by determining that Depau’s counsel was not aware of College Health’s intention to defend against Depau’s foreclosure claim, and we are therefore compelled to affirm. Lloyd, 982 So. 2d 639 (recognizing that an order denying a motion to vacate a default is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard). Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Gulf Maint. & Supply, Inc. v. Barnett Bank OF Tallahassee, 543 So. 2d 813 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)
- U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Lloyd, 981 So. 2d 633 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
- Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, P.A. v. McWILLIAMS, 799 So. 2d 378 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)