Chisum v. Bingamon

The issue on this appeal is the validity of the default judgment entered against defendant after plaintiff served defendant by making substituted service on the Administrator of the Department of Motor Vehicles in this action for damages resulting from an automobile accident. We hold that the trial court did not have authority to grant plaintiff’s motion for default, or the resulting judgment entered thereon, and that defendant’s motion to set it aside should have been granted. We reverse and remand.

The facts and the procedural history of this case are not in dispute. In June, 1978, plaintiff…