Default Judgment Requires Notice
Oklahoma law does not permit a tort action to state a claim for damages for a specific amount in excess of $10,000. Rather, such claims can only request damages in excess of $10,000. A default cannot be taken for more than the amount requested in the petition.
In Vannoy v. Earth Biofuels, Inc., the defendant was served through the Secretary of State, but failed to answer. Apparently, there had been some settlement negotiations. Plaintiffs got a default judgment against defendant for $1 million. The trial court refused to vacate the default judgment, and the defendant appealed.
The Court of Civil Appeals vacated the default, stating that the defendant was required to have notice of the amount claimed before default was entered against it. The trial court could not rely upon a district court rule says that no notice of default is required if no entry of appearance has been made, since the rule conflicted with the statute requiring notice of the amount claimed.
We believe this is a proper result. The statutes clearly state that a default cannot be different from the amount claimed in the petition, and also limits the amount that can be claimed in a petition. A separate notice should be given with the amount claimed before a default may be taken.
