EDWARD DILLON, APPELLANT,
v.
MACHINERY WHOLESALERS CORP., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1982-05-11
No. 82-116
Before HUBBART, C. j' DANIEL S. PEARSON, J., and EZELL, BOYCE F., Jr. (Ret.), Associate Judge.
414 So. 2d 1094 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1982) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases
Topics
Unliquidated Damages Meritorious Defense Excusable Neglect Default Judgment

Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Unliquidated Damages cases and more on FLexlaw

Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

[*1095] PER CURIAM.

The trial court’s order under review refusing to set aside a default and default judgment in the amount of $113,036.54 entered against Dillon, when examined in light of the rule that any reasonable doubt should be resolved in favor of allowing the cause to be heard on the merits, see, e.g., North Shore Hospital, Inc. v. Barber, 143 So. 2d 849 (Fla.1962), must be reversed as the record before us reveals that Dillon’s neglect in responding to the complaint was excusable, see Venusa Export & Import, Inc. v. Gavico Alamo Aircraft Sales, Inc., 361 So. 2d 820 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); see also Edwards v. City of Fort Walton Beach, 271 So. 2d 136 (Fla.1972), and his proposed defenses to the complaint were indisputably meritorious. Our holding moots Dillon’s equally persuasive contention that notwithstanding the entry of the default, he was entitled to a trial on the issue of damages where the damages sought were clearly an unliquidated amount. See, e.g., Tallman Pools of Georgia, Inc. v. Wood, 399 So. 2d 112 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); B/G Amusements, Inc. v. Mystery Fun House, Inc., 381 So. 2d 318 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980).

Reversed and remanded with directions to vacate the default and default judgment and for further proceedings.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

  • Reicheinbach v. Se. Bank, N.A., 462 So. 2d 611 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …n the merits. North Shore Hospital; Wien v. Quayside Realty, Inc., 462 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985); Perdue; American Republic Insurance Co. v. Westchester General Hospital; 414 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); Dillon v. Machinery Wholesalers Corp., 414 So. 2d 1094 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). We are aware that appellant has failed to demonstrate a meritorious defense in support of his motion to vacate; nevertheless, the erroneous entry of the default entitles him to relief. Chester, Blackburn & Roder, Inc. v. Marches…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw