Checkerprop Utah v. Butcher
Checkerprop Utah v. Butcher, 2024 UT App 124 (Mortensen, J.)
Civil Procedure
Two women (Lessees) leased a commercial space to open a private fitness studio, but they failed to make payments on their lease when plans went awry. The Property Owner sued for breach of the lease. After the district court entered a default judgment against the Lessees, they argued in a motion that the default judgment should be set aside based on excusable neglect. The district court denied the motion. The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed, holding:
- The district court did not abuse its discretion because failure to include the cautionary language required by Utah Rules of Civil Procedure rule 8(a) does not result in an automatic invalidation of a complaint or prove fatal to any attempt to serve it on a party.
- Practice Tip: The appellate courts will not consider facts outside of the record. This includes googling an address to verify a party’s assertion of what exists at that location.
- Practice Tip: Even pro se parties must show some sort of diligence before successfully claiming excusable neglect.