(a) By the Clerk. When a party against whom affirmative relief is sought has failed to file or serve any paper in the action, the party seeking relief may have the clerk enter a default against the party failing to serve or file such paper.
(b) By the Court. When a party against whom affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defend as provided by these rules or any applicable statute or any order of court, the court may enter a default against such party; provided that if such party has filed or served any paper in the action, that party shall be served with notice of the application for default.
(c) Right to Plead. A party may plead or otherwise defend at any time before default is entered. If a party in default files any paper after the default is entered, the clerk shall notify the party of the entry of the default. The clerk shall make an entry on the progress docket showing the notification.
(d) Setting aside Default. The court may set aside a default, and if a final judgment consequent thereon has been entered, the court may set it aside in accordance with rule 1.540(b).
(e) Final Judgment. Final judgments after default may be entered by the court at any time, but no judgment may be entered against an infant or incompetent person unless represented in the action by a general guardian, committee, conservator, or other representative who has appeared in it or unless the court has made an order under rule 1.210(b) providing that no representative is necessary for the infant or incompetent. If it is necessary to take an account or to determine the amount of damages or to establish the truth of any averment by evidence or to make an investigation of any other matter to enable the court to enter judgment or to effectuate it, the court may receive affidavits, make references, or conduct hearings as it deems necessary and shall accord a right of trial by jury to the parties when required by the Constitution or any statute.
3 Case Citation(s)
Listed below are cases cited in the Florida Rules Decisions Reporter and other blog posts that reference Rule 1.500 Defaults and Final Judgments Thereon.
In this case, a defendant filed a motion in 2007 to set aside a default judgment that had been entered and recorded in 1993. He claimed that he never received pleadings in the case or the judgments themselves. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's finding that excusable neglect had not been established, because the appellant "advanced no reason for simply ignoring, for so many years, a lawsuit he knew had been filed and served upon him in 1990." Read More
A motion for clerk's default should be set aside where plaintiff's counsel, as a result of related litigation, had reason to know that defendant wished to respond to lawsuit As such, defendant was not required to show meritorious defense or excusable neglect. Read More
Entry of default constitutes an admission of only the well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint and a complaint that does not state a cause of action cannot form the basis of a final judgment. As such, the Fourth DCA upheld trial court's decision granting a defendant's Motion to Dismiss for failure to state a cause of action where the defendant already had default entered against it in the case. Read More
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