Entry of Judgment Would Be Void In Light of Lack of Proper Service

In the case of Bradford Crossing Homeowners Assoc., Inc. v. DeSimone, No. 2023-05885-IR (C.P. Chest. Co. Nov. 22, 2023 Binder, J.), the court denied a Plaintiff’s homeowner’s association’s request for the entry of judgment against a Defendant after finding that service of process was not properly completed on that Defendant.

The court noted that any judgment is void when it is entered by a court lacking personal jurisdiction due to the failure of a plaintiff to obtain proper service of original process, or a waiver of original process, or consent by a defendant to the jurisdiction of the court. 

Here, the court noted that the record included a Sheriff’s return that indicated that the Complaint and the Petition at issue were served on a third party at the property in dispute. However, nothing in the record indicated that the Defendant at issue resided at that property.  Accordingly, the court found that the attempted service was outside the scope of the general rules governing original service of process.

The court additionally noted that there was no indication in the record that the Defendant had waived his right to proper service or had otherwise consented to the court’s jurisdiction.

As such, the court stated that it could not grant the Plaintiff’s motion against the Defendant because the court lacked personal jurisdiction over the Defendant and any judgment that would be entered in the Plaintiff’s favor would be void as a matter of law in any event.

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Source: The Legal Intelligencer Court of Common Pleas Case Alert at www.law.com (July 10, 2024).