Default Judgment Properly Entered Against Tenant

After a tenant went out of business, the owner sued it for rent due. The tenant didn't respond to the lawsuit. Nearly a year later, the court entered a default judgment against the tenant and ordered it to pay the owner $47,381. Almost a year after the default judgment was entered against the tenant, it asked the court to set aside the judgment.

A West Virginia appeals court ruled that the default judgment had been properly entered against the tenant. The court said there was no evidence that the tenant didn't know about the lawsuit, yet the tenant didn't respond to it until approximately 22 months after it was filed. Also, the tenant had no excuse or explanation for its delay, the court noted. And the tenant didn't ask the court to set aside the default judgment within a reasonable time, as required by law, the court added [Realco LLC v. Apex Restaurants, Inc.].