Volume 215 — Kansas Reports

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 1. JUDGMENTS — <italic>Defaults Not Favored.</italic> Defaults are not favored in law but become necessary when the inaction of a party frustrates the orderly administration of justice. 2. SAME — <italic>Default Judgment — Judicial Discretion.</italic> The granting of relief from a default judgment rests in the sound discretion of the district court. 3. SAME — <italic>Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment — How Doubt</italic> <italic>Resolved.</italic> In determining whether to set aside a default judgment a court should resolve any doubt in favor of the motion so that cases may be decided on their merits. 4. SAME — <italic>When Motion to Set Aside Default May Be Granted.</italic> A motion to set aside a default may be granted whenever the court finds (1) that the nondefaulting party will not be prejudiced by the reopening, (2) that the defaulting party has a meritorious defense, and (3) that the default was not the result of inexcusable neglect or a willful act. 5. LANDLORD AND TENANT — <italic>Service Upon Resident Manager — Papers</italic> <italic>Misplaced — No Actual Notice Received by Owners — Default</italic> <italic>Judgment Set Aside.</italic> In a personal injury action by a tenant against her landlord, where service on the corporate defendant was made on the resident manager of its apartment complex who misplaced the papers, and no actual notice of the suit was ever received by any person having responsibility for defending such an action, the record is examined and it is <italic>held</italic> that under the circumstances set forth in the opinion the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to set aside a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff.