Summary
The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit affirmed dismissal without prejudice of Unity Village Homes, LLC's petition to annul a 2015 default judgment as abandoned under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 561. The court held that the relevant action was the nullity proceeding, not the separate litigation concerning Pinnacle's claims against the surety, and that more than three years elapsed without a step in prosecution or defense of the nullity proceeding. The court assessed appellate costs to Unity Village.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Unity Village's petition to annul the default judgment and related motions were abandoned under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 561 after more than three years without a step in their prosecution or defense.
- Whether a March 10, 2023 joint motion to continue a hearing concerning Pinnacle's separate litigation against Liberty Mutual constituted a step interrupting abandonment of Unity Village's annulment proceeding.
Holdings
- Unity Village's annulment proceeding was abandoned because the parties took no step in its prosecution or defense for more than three years between the last qualifying continuance-related filing concerning that proceeding and Unity Village's June 10, 2025 motion to refix.
- The March 10, 2023 joint motion did not interrupt abandonment of Unity Village's annulment proceeding because it concerned Pinnacle's separate, continuing litigation against Liberty Mutual over surety-bond proceeds, not the annulment action.
Key quotations
“[A]n “action … is abandoned when the parties fail to take any step in its prosecution or defense in the trial court for a period of three years.”” (at 8)
“Over the expanse of that period exceeding three years, the parties failed to take any “step” in the prosecution or defense of the action, thereby abandoning the action pursuant to La.Code Civ.P. art. 561.” (at 13)
Factual background
Pinnacle furnished labor and materials for homes in the Unity Village development and recorded a lien, while Liberty Mutual recorded a payment bond for the project. After Unity Village failed to answer, the trial court entered a March 31, 2015 default judgment against it for $198,000 plus legal interest. Unity Village filed a petition to annul that judgment in November 2015 and later filed related motions, but no party took a step in prosecuting or defending the annulment proceeding for more than three years after the last qualifying continuance-related filing.
Procedural history
Pinnacle filed a damages action in 2013 arising from construction work and obtained a March 31, 2015 default judgment against Unity Village. Unity Village later filed a petition to annul the judgment and related motions. After the last step concerning the annulment proceeding, the record reflected more than three years of inactivity before Unity Village sought to refix the matter. The trial court dismissed the annulment-related proceeding without prejudice under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 561, and the court of appeal affirmed.