Courtyard Partners v. Tanner

Plaintiff, Courtyard Partners, brought this action to evict defendants, Pamela Tanner and John Doty, Sr., from federally assisted housing. Defendants, who were at the time pro se, failed to appear at trial because defendant Doty forgot about the hearing. Doty also alleged that he failed to employ a lawyer because he did not know that he had a defense to the action and thought he had to move to other housing. Eight days after the trial court issued an eviction order, defendants, now represented by a Vermont Legal Aid, Inc. attorney, moved to set aside the judgment under V.R.C.P. 60(b),…