Art. 4904.Default Judgment In Parish and City Courts

Article 4904 is the parish and city court counterpart to Book II's default judgment rules, adapted to move faster. A default judgment may be rendered when the defendant either fails to answer within the Article 4903 delay or fails to appear at trial, but only if the plaintiff also establishes a prima facie case through competent and admissible evidence. The defendant's silence or absence alone is not enough; the plaintiff still has to prove the claim.

For the kinds of claims that fill these courts' dockets most often — a sum due on an open account, a promissory note, a negotiable instrument, or another conventional obligation — Article 4904 lets the plaintiff prove that prima facie case by affidavit rather than live testimony, and dispenses entirely with proof of any signature on a note or negotiable instrument sued upon. Subsection C goes further still: for those same claims, no open-court hearing is required at all unless the judge chooses to hold one. The plaintiff submits the required proof along with an original and a copy of the proposed default judgment; within seventy-two hours of receiving that submission from the clerk, the judge either signs the judgment or orders a hearing. The clerk certifies that no answer or other pleading is on file, the minute clerk logs the dates the proof was received, reviewed, and the judgment rendered, and the clerk sends the plaintiff a certified copy along with notice of the judgment under Article 1913.

Subsection D adds a safeguard for a particular category of these claims: a debt acquired by assignment, such as an open account, note, or other negotiable instrument bought from the original creditor. If the pleadings or evidence show grounds suggesting the claim might be prescribed — too old to enforce — the court can raise that objection on its own, even without the defendant appearing to raise it. Once raised, the court cannot enter the default judgment unless the plaintiff comes forward with prima facie proof that prescription has not run, and the plaintiff can ask for a hearing to present that proof.