Opinion
CIVIL PROCEDURAL RULES DOCKET NO. 701
12-18-2019
IN RE: ORDER AMENDING RULE 237.3 OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
ORDER
AND NOW, this 18th day of December, 2019, upon the recommendation of the Civil Procedural Rules Committee; the proposal having been published for public comment at 49 Pa.B. 274 (January 19, 2019):
It is Ordered pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that Rule 237.3 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure is amended in the attached form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective April 1, 2020. Additions to the rule are shown in bold and are underlined.
Deletions from the rule are shown in bold and brackets. Rule 237.3. Relief from Judgment of Non Pros or by Default.
(a) A petition for relief from a judgment of non pros or [of] by default entered pursuant to Rule 237.1 shall have attached thereto a copy of the complaint, preliminary objections, and /or answer which the petitioner seeks leave to file. All grounds for relief shall be raised in a single petition.
(b)(1) If the petition is filed within ten days after the entry of a judgment of non pros on the docket, the court shall open the judgment if the proposed complaint states a meritorious cause of action.
(2) If the petition is filed within ten days after the entry of a default judgment on the docket, the court shall open the judgment if one or more of the proposed preliminary objections has merit or the proposed answer states a meritorious defense.
Note: Rule 236 requires the prothonotary to give notice of the entry of any judgment and to note in the docket the giving of the notice.
The petitioner must act with reasonable diligence to see that the petition is promptly presented to the court if required by local practice.
See Schultz v. Erie Insurance Exchange, 477 A.2d 471 (Pa. 1984) for the requirements for opening a judgment by default and Rule 3051 as to a judgment of non pros. Rule 237.3 does not change the law of opening judgments. Rather, the rule supplies two of the three requisites for opening such judgments by presupposing that a petition filed as provided by the rule is timely and with reasonable explanation or legitimate excuse for the inactivity or delay resulting in the entry of the judgment. The requirement of this rule for proceeding within ten days is not intended to set a standard for timeliness in circumstances outside this rule.
See Rules 206.1 through 206.7 governing petition practice.
Explanatory Comment
In 2016, Rule 237.3 was amended by adding preliminary objections as a type of pleading that may be attached to a petition for relief from a default judgment. By allowing the use of preliminary objections, the 2016 amendment was intended to give a defendant the same right to file a responsive pleading after the entry of a default judgment that is afforded to him or her prior to entry of a default judgment. In practice, however, litigants have interpreted this provision to permit the filing of a petition for relief with proposed preliminary objections attached, and then, when that petition is denied, to then file an additional petition for relief by attaching the proposed answer, notwithstanding the requirement that a petition for relief must be filed within 10 days of the entry of a default judgment. To promote procedural efficiency, Rule 237.3 has been amended to require a litigant to raise all grounds for relief in a single petition.
By the Civil Procedural
Rules Committee
John J. Hare
Chair