Judge: Lee W. Tsao, Case: 22NWCV01504, Date: 2024-02-29 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22NWCV01504    Hearing Date: February 29, 2024    Dept: C

THORN v. PLONOWSKI

CASE NO.:  22NWCV01504

HEARING: 02/29/24

#5

Plaintiff’s unopposed Motion to Set Aside Default is GRANTED.  

Moving Party to give Notice.

Plaintiff’s Proposed First Amended Complaint attached as Exhibit A of the Declaration of Samantha Jones is not deemed served and filed. Plaintiff is ORDERED to file the Proposed First Amended Complaint within five court days of the Court’s issuance of this Order, and to serve the Proposed First Amended Complaint within 30 days of the date that the First Amended Complaint is filed.

Default was entered against Defendant Donald Alfred Plonowski, individually and as Trustee of the Donald and Carolyn Plonowski Family Trust on April 17, 2023.

Plaintiff now moves to set aside the default because, following entry of default, Plaintiff’s counsel discovered additional defendants that should have been named in the initial complaint. Plaintiff cannot file an amended complaint while the default is pending.

CCP § 473(b), states that “[t]he court may…relieve a party or his or her legal representative from a judgment, dismissal, order, or other proceeding taken against him or her through his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.”

The policy of hearing cases on their merits is well-established. (See, e.g., Berman v. Klassman (1971) 17 Cal.App.3d 900.) Given the liberality associated with Motions to Set Aside Defaults, the Court finds the Declaration of Samantha Jones sufficient to warrant to relief. The law favors trials on the merits. (Rappleyea v. Campbell (1994) 8 Cal.4th 975, 980.)

The Court finds adequate grounds to allow Plaintiff the opportunity to amend the pleading to add additional defendants to this action.

The Motion is GRANTED.