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Default Cases (Administrative)

Administrative Process of Civil Cases in Default 

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Some civil lawsuits started in Minnesota District Courts end up in "default" and can be processed by the court administratively, i.e., without a judge. The circumstances of being in default are described in MN Rule of Civil Procedure 55. A civil case in default may be processed administratively only if the following requirements are met:

• the defendant(s) were served a Summons and Complaint;
• the time for defendant(s) to answer has passed;
• plaintiff(s) received no response from defendant(s); and
• the case involves one of the following types of actions:

What to File to Get a Civil Judgment by Default

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To ask that a judgment entered by default on an administrative basis, the following documents must be filed with the court along with the required filing fees:

• Summons and Complaint;
• Affidavit of Service of Summons and Complaint;
• Affidavit of No Answer, Non-Military Service, Identification, Amount Due and Costs and Disbursements (also known as a five-part affidavit);
• Supporting documents and exhibits to prove up your case; and
• Proof of service of the Notice and Request for Hearing to Determine Attorneys' Fee Award pursuant to MN Rules of Genr'l Practice 119, if applicable. NOTE: The Notice and Request for Hearing to Determine Attorneys' Fee Award can only be served AFTER the party has defaulted.

After these documents are filed, the court clerk will review the court file for documentation that supports the judgment amount requested, and for documentation that supports any requested attorney’s fees. If additional documentation or information is required, the court will notify the party who asked to finish the case by administrative default. Once everything is submitted and reviewed, judgment can be entered administratively, and the court will send a Notice of Entry and/or Docketing of Judgment to the parties.

IMPORTANT: Civil cases involving the following types of action cannot be finished by administrative default, and they will be randomly assigned to a judge who will handle the case:

If your case is assigned to a judge, the court will send a Notice of Judicial Assignment to all parties.

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