Judge: Salvatore Sirna, Case: 22PSCV00501, Date: 2023-04-04 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22PSCV00501    Hearing Date: April 4, 2023    Dept: G

Defendant Ruben Bisuano’s Motion for Relief from Default and Default Judgment

Respondent: NO OPPOSITION

TENTATIVE RULING

Defendant Ruben Bisuano’s Motion for Relief from Default and Default Judgment is GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

This is a collections action arising from a credit card agreement. On January 3, 2020, Defendant Ruben Bisuano, also known as Ruben A. Bisuano, applied for a VISA credit card with Plaintiff Pasadena Federal Credit Union. Plaintiff approved Defendant’s application and granted Defendant a credit limit of $2,000. Following Defendant’s last payment of January 18, 2022, Defendant has failed to make any subsequent payments and owes a balance of $28,474.20.

On May 24, 2022, Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant and Does 1-10, alleging the following causes of action: (1) breach of contract, (2) money lent, and (3) account stated. On November 15, Plaintiff’s registered process server substitute served Defendant in Culver City.

On February 8, 2023, default was entered against Defendant. On February 16, Plaintiff submitted an application for default judgment. On February 23, the court denied Plaintiff’s application.

On February 28, 2023, Defendant filed the present motion. A hearing on the motion and OSC Re: Default/Default Judgment are set for April 4.

ANALYSIS

Defendant seeks to set aside default judgment on the grounds of mistake or excusable neglect. For the following reasons, the court GRANTS Defendant’s motion.

Legal Standard

Whenever an application for relief from default judgment is made no more than six months after entry of judgment, is in proper form, and is accompanied by the moving party’s sworn affidavit attesting to his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect, the court may vacate any (1) resulting default entered by the clerk against the moving party or (2) resulting default judgment or dismissal entered against the moving party, unless the court finds that the default or dismissal was not in fact caused by the moving party’s mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. (Code Civ. Proc., §473, subd. (b).) “The six-month time limit for granting statutory relief is jurisdictional and the court may not consider a motion for relief made after that period has elapsed.” (Manson, Iver & York v. Black (2009) 176 Cal.App.4th 36, 42.) That “six-month period runs from entry of default, not entry of judgment.” (Id.)

Courts liberally grant motions to vacate default judgments when relief is promptly sought and the opposing party is not prejudiced as the law strongly favors resolution on the merits. (Kramer v. Traditional Escrow, Inc. (2020) 56 Cal.App.5th 13, 28.) Courts only require “slight evidence” to support vacating a default and resolve all doubts in favor of the party seeking relief. (Ibid.) However, “[t]he only occasion for the application of section 473 is where a party is unexpectedly placed in a situation to his injury without fault or negligence of his own and against which ordinary prudence could not have guarded.” (Hearn v. Howard (2009) 177 Cal.App.4th 1193, 1206, quoting Elms v. Elms (1946) 72 Cal.App.2d 508, 513.)

Discussion

In this case, Defendant states Plaintiff’s process server had served Defendant’s landlord and that Defendant received the served documents a few days later. (Bisuano Decl., ¶ 4-5.) After heading out of town for a week, Defendant returned and attempted to retain counsel but was unsuccessful. (Bisuano Decl., ¶ 6-8.) In February 2023, Defendant learned from a friend that Defendant could utilize a legal document assistant at a lower cost but had already missed the deadline to file an answer. (Bisuano Decl., ¶ 9-11.) Accordingly, because the court finds Defendant’s declaration has established mistake or excusable neglect, Defendant’s motion is GRANTED.

CONCLUSION

Based on the foregoing, the court GRANTS Defendant’s motion to set aside default judgment. The proposed answer submitted with Defendant’s motion is deemed filed as of this date.