The Pennsylvania ten-day notice: what it means and the ten days that come after judgment

Pennsylvania puts two ten-day periods around a default judgment, on either side of the entry. They do different things, and the second one is the more valuable of the two.

Before judgment — the Rule 237.1 notice

Pa.R.C.P. 237.1(a)(2):

No judgment of non pros for failure to file a complaint or by default for failure to plead shall be entered by the prothonotary unless the praecipe for entry includes a certification that a written notice of intention to file the praecipe was mailed or delivered … in the case of a judgment by default, after the failure to plead to a complaint and at least ten days prior to the date of the filing of the praecipe to the party against whom judgment is to be entered and to the party's attorney of record, if any.

For a judgment of non pros, the parallel provision requires notice after the failure to file a complaint and at least ten days before filing the praecipe, to the party's attorney of record or to the party if unrepresented.

Three mechanics matter.

The notice comes after the default, not before. It has to be mailed or delivered after the failure to plead. A warning sent in advance of the deadline doesn't satisfy the rule.

Ten days counted forward. Rule 237.1(a)(2) states that the ten-day notice period "shall be calculated forward from the date of the mailing or delivery, in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. 107."

Proof is attached. Rule 237.1(a)(3): "A copy of the notice shall be attached to the praecipe."

The practical effect is that a Pennsylvania defendant who missed the 20-day deadline under Rule 1026 gets a second, separately noticed window before anything is entered. Rule 1037(b) authorizes the prothonotary to enter judgment on the plaintiff's praecipe; Rule 237.1 is what stands between the missed deadline and that praecipe.

What the notice looks like

Pa.R.C.P. 237.5 prescribes the form, and it is written to be understood:

IMPORTANT NOTICE — YOU ARE IN DEFAULT BECAUSE YOU HAVE FAILED TO ENTER A WRITTEN APPEARANCE PERSONALLY OR BY ATTORNEY AND FILE IN WRITING WITH THE COURT YOUR DEFENSES OR OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS SET FORTH AGAINST YOU. UNLESS YOU ACT WITHIN TEN DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED AGAINST YOU WITHOUT A HEARING AND YOU MAY LOSE YOUR PROPERTY OR OTHER IMPORTANT RIGHTS.

The form continues by directing the recipient to take the paper to a lawyer at once, and to a named office that can provide information about hiring one and about agencies offering legal services at reduced or no fee.

Two details in the form are easy to miss. The remedy it describes is filing "your defenses or objections" — an answer or preliminary objections, a court filing. And the ten days run "from the date of this notice."

Rule 237.5 requires the notice to be "substantially in the following form," so departures from it go to whether the notice was effective.

Curing it

The notice describes what has to happen: entering a written appearance and filing defenses or objections. Under Rule 1017(a), that means an answer complying with Rule 1029, or preliminary objections under Rule 1028.

A letter to opposing counsel is not a pleading. Neither is a phone call, and neither is a promise to respond. The rule contemplates something filed with the court within the ten days.

Agreements to extend. Pa.R.C.P. 237.6 supplies the form of an agreement under Rule 237.2 to extend the time to plead following a ten-day notice. The form grants an extension "through" a stated date and then says plainly: "After the above date, a judgment of non pros or by default, as may be appropriate, may be entered upon praecipe without further notice."

An extension consumes the second notice. Once the agreed date passes, judgment can be entered without another ten-day warning.

After judgment — the ten days that make relief mandatory

Pa.R.C.P. 237.3 is the provision worth acting on quickly, because inside its window the verb is shall.

Rule 237.3(a): a petition for relief from a judgment of non pros or by default entered under Rule 237.1 "shall have attached thereto a copy of the complaint, preliminary objections, and/or answer which the petitioner seeks leave to file. All grounds for relief shall be raised in a single petition."

Rule 237.3(b):

(1) If the petition is filed within ten days after the entry of a judgment of non pros on the docket, the court shall open the judgment if the proposed complaint states a meritorious cause of action.

(2) If the petition is filed within ten days after the entry of a default judgment on the docket, the court shall open the judgment if one or more of the proposed preliminary objections has merit or the proposed answer states a meritorious defense.

Inside ten days of entry, the showing is a single element: merit. The rule does not require an explanation for the default, a reasonable excuse, or a showing of promptness — those are supplied by the timing itself.

Outside those ten days, relief is governed by ordinary petition practice, where a court weighs whether the petition was promptly filed, whether the default is reasonably explained, and whether a meritorious defense is shown. That is the general Pennsylvania standard, developed in case law rather than stated in Rule 237.3, and this site publishes the rules rather than the decisions.

The gap between those two positions is the reason the ten days matters so much.

Two requirements inside Rule 237.3(a)

The proposed pleading must be attached. Not described, not summarized. A copy of the complaint, preliminary objections or answer the petitioner seeks leave to file goes on the petition. Without it the court has nothing against which to test merit.

One petition. "All grounds for relief shall be raised in a single petition." A petition raising one ground, denied, followed by a second petition raising another, runs into that sentence.

Counting the two windows

What "open" means

Opening a judgment lets the case proceed on the merits; the judgment is lifted so the defendant can defend. It is distinct from striking a judgment, which addresses a fatal defect apparent on the face of the record. Rule 237.3 speaks in terms of opening.

Where these rules live

• Pa.R.C.P. 237.1 — Notice of Praecipe to Enter Judgment
• Pa.R.C.P. 237.3 — Relief from Judgment of Non Pros or by Default
• Pa.R.C.P. 237.5 — Form of Notice of Intention to Enter Judgment
• Pa.R.C.P. 237.6 — Form of Agreement to Extend Time to Plead
• Pa.R.C.P. 1026 — Time for Filing; Notice to Plead
• Pa.R.C.P. 1028 — Preliminary Objections
• Pa.R.C.P. 1029 — Denials; Effect of Failure to Deny
• Pa.R.C.P. 1037 — Judgment Upon Default or Admission

The Pennsylvania courts publish self-help material at pacourts.us, and the notice form itself names a local office that can help you find a lawyer. This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice.