Peter Pan Seafoods, Inc. v. Stepanoff

OPINION

DIMOND, Senior Justice.

This appeal challenges the propriety of the trial court’s refusal to enter a default judgment in a quiet title action. The trial court’s refusal was apparently based on its finding that the defaulting defendant, Joyce Stepanoff, has never formally conveyed her property interest in the disputed parcel of land but instead retains a present ownership interest. We recognize that care must be taken to ensure that an absent defendant is not unjustly deprived of his or her rights and that the decision to enter a default judgment accordingly rests within the sound…