Champion Contractors & Services-Commercial, LLC
v.
Dimensions Senior Living, d/b/a Village Place, LLC, Dimensions In Senior Living, d/b/a Village Ridge, LLC, Tapestry Senior Living of Marion, LLC, Village Place, LLC, Village Ridge, LLC and Ryan Burns
Appellant
Champion Contractors & Services-Commercial, LLC
Appellee
Dimensions Senior Living, d/b/a Village Place, LLC, Dimensions In Senior Living, d/b/a Village Ridge, LLC, Tapestry Senior Living of Marion, LLC, Village Place, LLC, Village Ridge, LLC and Ryan Burns
Attorney for the Appellant
John S. Cutler
Attorneys for the Appellee
Matthew B. Reilly (until withdrawal) and Raymond E. Walden (until withdrawal)
Connor W. Orr
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Elizabeth Dupuich, Judge. AFFIRMED AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS. Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ. Opinion by Greer, P.J. Dissent by Langholz, J. (20 pages)
Champion Contractors & Services-Commercial, LLC (Champion) brought suit against several defendants, claiming breach of contract. Champion successfully sought default judgment against the defendants. Later, the defendants moved to set aside the default and the default judgment, arguing Champion failed to file the notice of written intent to seek default at the time it served the defendants as required by Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.972(2). The district court granted the defendants’ motions to set aside, which Champion appeals. OPINION HOLDS: Using a strict application of rule 1.972, we affirm the district court’s ruling setting aside the default and the default judgments and remand for further proceedings. DISSENT ASSERTS: Because the defendants did not file a timely appeal of the default judgment or a timely posttrial motion to challenge Champion’s compliance with rule 1.972, the district court erred in setting aside that valid final judgment. And defendant Ryan Burns’s personal-jurisdiction challenge to the judgment fails because he waived any objection to personal jurisdiction by failing to bring the challenge within a reasonable time. I would thus reverse the district court’s order and remand for it to reinstate the final judgment against all the defendants.
