Solarcity Corporation v. Girma
Filing
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ORDER denying ECF No. 21 Defendant's Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment. Signed by Judge Miranda M. Du on 10/24/2017. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - KW)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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***
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SOLARCITY CORPORATION, a
Delaware corporation,
Case No. 2:17-cv-00464-MMD-VCF
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ORDER
Plaintiff,
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v.
FETEHE GIRMA, an individual,
Defendants.
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The Court granted Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment and entered default
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judgment against Defendant Fetehe Girma on August 1, 2017. (ECF Nos. 17, 18.) Before
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the Court is Defendant’s motion to set aside default judgment (“Motion”). (ECF No. 21.)
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Plaintiff opposes the motion (ECF No. 21) and Defendant has failed to timely reply. For
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the reasons discussed below, Defendant’s Motion is denied.
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c) provides that the court may set aside a final default judgment
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under Rule 60(b). Rule 60(b), in turn, provides that a court may relieve a party from a final
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judgment only in the following circumstances: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or
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excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence; (3) fraud; (4) the judgment is void; (5)
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the judgment has been satisfied; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the
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judgment. Stewart v. Dupnik, 243 F.3d 549, 549 (9th Cir. 2000). See also De Saracho v.
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Custom Food Mach., Inc., 206 F.3d 874, 880 (9th Cir. 2000) (noting that the district court’s
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denial of a Rule 60(b) motion is reviewed for an abuse of discretion). Moreover, in
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determining whether good cause exists to set aside default judgment, a court considers
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three factors: “‘(1) whether the plaintiff will be prejudiced, (2) whether the defendant has
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a meritorious defense, and (3) whether culpable conduct of the defendant led to the
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default.’” Brandt v. Am. Bankers Ins. Co. of Fla., 653 F.3d 1108, 1111 (9th Cir. 2011)
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(quoting Falk v. Allen, 739 F.2d 461, 463 (9th Cir. 1984)). “These factors . . . are
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disjunctive.” Brandt, 653 F.3d at 1111 (quoting Falk, 739 F.2d at 463)). Thus, the court
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may refuse to set aside default if it holds any one of the three factors is true. U.S. v.
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Signed Pers. Check No. 730 of Yubran S. Mesle, 615 F.3d 1085, 1091 (9th Cir. 2010).
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However, strong policy in the Ninth Circuit is to decide cases on their merits.
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“‘[J]udgment by default is a drastic step appropriate only in extreme circumstances; a
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case should, whenever possible, be decided on the merits.’” Mesle, 615 F.3d at 1091
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(quoting Falk, 739 F.2d at 463) (alternation in original). The Falk factors are more liberally
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applied in the context of a clerk's entry of default than in the default judgment context.
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Mesle, 615 F.3d at 1091 n.1 (quoting Cracco v. Vitran Exp., Inc., 559 F.3d 625, 631 (7th
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Cir. 2009)); see also Haw. Carpenter's Trust v. Stone, 794 F.2d 508, 513 (9th Cir. 1986).
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The Court agrees with Plaintiff that Defendant has not offered any valid reason to
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set aside the default judgment. Defendant contends that “the clerk” told him he had sixty
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days from when he sought an extension in March 2017 to seek legal counsel. (ECF No.
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21 at 1.) The docket reflects that Defendant’s request for an extension of time to respond
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to the complaint was granted, giving Defendant until April 15, 2017 to respond. (ECF No.
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8.) Defendant did not respond or otherwise appear until he filed the Motion. Defendant
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offered no explanation for such failure to appear. Defendant claims that he moved to a
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new address on April 1, 2017. (ECF No. 21 at 1.) However, Defendant knew of the April
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15, 2017, deadline for him to respond because the order granting his requested for
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extension was issued on March 21, 2017. (ECF No. 8.) A change in address does not
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explain or excuse Defendant’s failure to timely respond to the complaint. In fact,
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Defendant has a duty to notify the Court of any change in his mailing address. See LR IA
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3-1. Moreover, Defendant does not address the merits of his defense, offer facts for the
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Court to find that the default judgment was not a result of his culpable conduct, or any
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other reason justifying relief from default judgment.
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It is therefore ordered that Defendant’s motion to set aside default judgment (ECF
No. 21) is denied.
DATED THIS 24th day of October 2017.
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MIRANDA M. DU
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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