THE COURTS
Title 231—RULES OF
CIVIL PROCEDURE
PART I. GENERAL
[ 231 PA. CODE CH. 200 ]
Order Amending Rules 206.1, 206.4 and 206.5 of the Rules of Civil Procedure; No. 588 Civil Procedural Rules Doc.
[43 Pa.B. 6648]
[Saturday, November 9, 2013]
Order Per Curiam
And Now, this 21st day of October, 2013, upon the recommendation of the Civil Procedural Rules Committee; the proposal having been published for public comment at 39 Pa.B. 7183 (December 26, 2009):
It Is Ordered pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that Rules 206.1, 206.4, and 206.5 are amended in the following form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective November 21, 2013.
Annex A
TITLE 231. RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
PART I. GENERAL
CHAPTER 200. BUSINESS OF COURTS Rule 206.1. Petition. Definition. Content. Form.
(a) As used in this chapter, ''petition'' means
(1) an application to strike and/or open a default judgment or a judgment of non pros, and
* * * * * (b) A petition shall specify the relief sought and state the material facts which constitute the grounds therefor. All grounds for relief, whether to strike or open a default judgment, shall be asserted in a single petition.
* * * * * Rule 206.4. Rule to Show Cause. Alternative Procedures. Exception.
(a)(1) [A] Except as provided by subparagraph (2), a petition shall proceed upon a rule to show cause, the issuance of which shall be discretionary with the court as provided by Rule 206.5 unless the court by local rule adopts the procedure of Rule 206.6 providing for issuance as of course.
Official Note: See Rule 440 requiring service of the petition upon every other party to the action.
(2) A judgment shall be stricken without the issuance of a rule to show cause when there is a defect on the face of the record that constitutes a ground for striking a default judgment.
(b) The procedure following issuance of the rule to show cause shall be in accordance with Rule 206.7.
Official Note: Subdivisions (b) through (e) of Rule 239.2 require every court to promulgate Local Rule 206.4(c) describing the court's procedures for the issuance of a rule to show cause. Local Rule 206.4(c) shall be published on the Pennsylvania Judiciary's Web Application Portal (http://ujsportal.pacourts.us).
Rule 206.5. Rule to Show Cause. Discretionary Issuance. Stay. Form of Order. Rule Inapplicable to Petition to Strike Default Judgment.
* * * * * (d) The form of order required by subdivision (b) shall be substantially in the following form:
* * * * * (e) A judgment shall be stricken without the issuance of a rule to show cause when there is a defect on the face of the record that constitutes a ground for striking a default judgment.
Explanatory Comment The amendment of Rule 206.1 governing petitions, and Rules 206.4 and 206.5 governing rules to show cause requires that all grounds for relief from a default judgment, whether to strike off or to open, be raised in a single petition. Under current case law, a judgment debtor is not required to raise all grounds for relief from a default judgment in a single petition. The amendment is intended to bring the practice involving default judgments in line with other areas of the rules of civil procedure in which all grounds must be raised at the same time, such as striking off or opening confessed judgments pursuant to Rule 2959(a) or raising all preliminary objections at the same time pursuant to Rule 1028(b).
By the Civil Procedural
Rules CommitteeDIANE W. PERER,
Chair
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 13-2100. Filed for public inspection November 8, 2013, 9:00 a.m.]
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