American Modern Home Insurance Company v. Thomas et al

Filing 22

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, for good cause shown, the clerk's entries of default against defendant Aaron Thomas 11 and defendant Aimee Thomas 8 are set aside. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff American Modern Hom e's motions for default judgment against Aaron Thomas 12 and against Aimee Thomas 13 are denied. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, not later than June 3, 2016, defendant Aimee Thomas shall file a written memorandum informing the clerk of court of her address, which will then be entered upon the docket. The clerk shall mail a copy of this Order to Aimee Thomas at the address averred by plaintiff American Modern Home to be her last known address: 1703 Stoney Terrace Drive, Ballwin, MO 63021 . (See Kraushaar Affid., ECF 19.) This matter will be set for a Rule 16 conference upon defendant Thiemann Real Estate, LLC's entry of appearance. Signed by District Judge Catherine D. Perry on 5/25/16. (Copy of this Order mailed to defendant Aimee Thomas at the instructed address). (EAB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
AMERICAN MODERN HOME
INSURANCE COMPANY,
Plaintiff,
v.
AARON THOMAS, et al.,
Defendants.

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No. 4:16CV215 CDP

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
After being served with process, defendants Aaron and Aimee Thomas failed to
timely answer or otherwise respond to plaintiff American Modern Home Insurance
Company’s complaint, and the clerk of court entered default against them. American
Modern Home has since moved for default judgment against these defendants, and
those motions are pending before me. The Thomases have now responded to the
allegations raised in the complaint and they request that the case be allowed to
proceed.1 (See ECF 20, ECF 21.) I will construe these responses as the Thomases’
answers to the complaint and will grant leave for them to be filed out of time. Upon
review of the proceedings and the representations made by the Thomases in their
answers, I find good cause to set aside the clerk’s entries of default in this matter. Fed.
R. Civ. P. 55(c). American Modern Home’s motions for default judgment will
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I note that these defendants are both proceeding pro se and that they have attempted to secure
counsel to represent them in this matter.

therefore be denied.
Further review of the file shows the remaining defendant in this case, Thiemann
Real Estate, LLC, to have recently waived service of process. No attorney has yet
entered an appearance on behalf of Thiemann and no answer or other responsive
pleading has been filed on its behalf. Once an attorney enters an appearance on behalf
of Thiemann, I will set the matter for a Rule 16 conference.
Finally, the record shows that despite defendant Aimee Thomas having now
entered and filed a document with the Court, she has not provided an address at which
she can be served papers relating to this case or orders issued by the Court. Since I am
permitting this case to proceed, various papers, orders, and other filings will be filed in
this case and it will be necessary for each defendant to be served with these papers and
other documents. Service upon one defendant is not sufficient to constitute service
upon another. I will give Aimee Thomas additional time to file a written
memorandum informing the clerk of her address, which will then be entered upon the
docket. In addition, all parties are advised of Rule 11(a), Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, which provides in relevant part that “[e]very pleading, written motion, and
other paper must be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney’s name – or
by a party personally if the party is unrepresented. The paper must state the signer’s
address, e-mail address, and telephone number.”
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the responsive documents filed at ECF 20 and
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ECF 21 shall be considered to be defendants Aaron Thomas’s and Aimee Thomas’s
answers to the complaint in this action, respectively, and defendants Aaron Thomas
and Aimee Thomas are granted leave to file these answers out of time.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, for good cause shown, the clerk’s entries of
default against defendant Aaron Thomas [11] and defendant Aimee Thomas [8] are set
aside.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff American Modern Home’s
motions for default judgment against Aaron Thomas [12] and against Aimee Thomas
[13] are denied.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, not later than June 3, 2016, defendant
Aimee Thomas shall file a written memorandum informing the clerk of court of her
address, which will then be entered upon the docket. The clerk shall mail a copy of
this Order to Aimee Thomas at the address averred by plaintiff American Modern
Home to be her last known address: 1703 Stoney Terrace Drive, Ballwin, MO 63021.
(See Kraushaar Affid., ECF 19.)
This matter will be set for a Rule 16 conference upon defendant Thiemann Real
Estate, LLC’s entry of appearance.

___________________________________
CATHERINE D. PERRY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated this 25th day of May, 2016.
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