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Strickland v. Leake

The plaintiff failed to prove the amount of her unliquidated damages arising out of an allegedly inadequate home inspection.

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Gene Strickland, d/b/a Ace Home Inspectors, appeals the entry of a default judgment in favor of Toni Leake. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the default judgment entered against him in the amount of $15,000. On September 8, 2008, Toni Leake filed a summons and pro se small claims complaint naming both Bob Jacobazzi, d/b/a Home Systems Inspections, and Glenn Strickland, d/b/a Ace Home Inspectors, as defendants. In the body of the complaint form, Leake named only Jacobazzi as the defendant but listed two separate addresses, the first of which is reflected on the summons for Jacobazzi and the second of which is the address listed for Strickland on a later summons. Leake’s handwritten statement of claim on the back of the form alleges that both Jacobazzi and Strickland conducted an inspection of a house Leake planned to purchase, and the resulting report apparently prepared by Jacobazzi failed to disclose that the wiring in the house was dangerous and not properly grounded. The summons filed with that complaint lists only Jacobazzi and reflects that he was personally served on September 12, 2008.

Jacobazzi filed a response on September 15, 2008, but the trial court subsequently issued a judgment against him in the amount of $15,000 after he apparently failed to appear at the scheduled trial. Jacobazzi immediately moved to set aside the judgment on the ground that he received no notice of the scheduled trial date, and the trial court later granted the motion.

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