Opinion
Civil Action CV-2022-420
10-20-2023
SABRINA LORING, Plaintiff, v. DONALD ZAPPONE, Defendant.
ORDER
MaryGay Kennedy, Justice.
Before the Court are Plaintiff Sabrina Loring's ("Ms. Loring") Motion for Default Judgment and Motion for Judgment Charging Trustee as well as an untitled filing from Defendant Donald Zappone ("Mr. Zappone").
The default of Mr. Zappone was entered by the Clerk on March 1,2023, for failure to plead or otherwise defend. Mr. Zappone's most recent filing, docketed March 30,2023, explains that he has had difficulty obtaining counsel and that he has experienced some medical and personal hardships that have limited his ability to participate in this litigation. He also submitted several pages of narrative with exhibits. The Court gleans from his initial filing and his reply, docketed April 14, 2023, that his position is that the parties gifted and shared funds within the context of their relationship.
The Court scheduled a status conference regarding the pending motions on June 1, 2023, and the parties subsequently attended a settlement conference. The matter did not settle at the settlement conference.
The Court interprets the first page of Mr. Zappone's filing as a motion to set aside the entry of default. Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 55(c) provides that the court may set aside an entry of default for good cause, meaning "a good excuse for untimeliness and a meritorious defense," Town of Wiscasset v. Mason Station, LLC, 2015 ME 59, ¶ 6,116 A.3d 458 (quoting Richter v. Ercolini, 2010 ME 38, ¶ 15, 994 A.2d 404). Any doubts should be resolved in favor of proceeding to a trial on the merits. Michaud v. Mui. Fire, Marine & Inland Ins. Co., 505 A.2d 786, 791 (Me. 1986).
Mr. Zappone has alleged facts that would demonstrate a good excuse for untimeliness and the existence of a meritorious defense-i.e., that the parties shared the burden of household and personal expenses and made gifts, not loans, to each other. In; her response to Mr. Zappone's filing, Ms. Loring does not dispute Mr. Zappone's allegations regarding his financial and medical circumstances, Accordingly, the Court will set aside the entry of default against Mr. Zappone. However, the Court is unable to accept Mr. Zappone's filing as his answer, or response to Ms. Loring's Complaint, because it is unclear which of the allegations of Ms. Loring's Complaint he admits and which he denies. Mr. Zappone must submit a signed answer to Ms. Loring's Complaint within twenty days of the date of this order. That answer must comply with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure and indicate whether he admits or denies each of the allegations in Ms. Loring's Complaint in numbered paragraphs.
The entry is;
1. The default entered against Defendant Donald Zappone is SET ASIDE. Mr. Zappone is directed to file a responsive pleading that complies with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure within twenty days of the date of this Order;
2. Plaintiff Sabrina Loring's Motion for Default Judgment is DENIED AS MOOT; and
3. Ms. Loring's Motion for Judgment Charging Trustee is DENIED AS MOOT.
The Clerk is directed to incorporate this Order into the docket by reference pursuant to Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 79(a).