UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

DENNIS MAURER,

Plaintiff, No. 1:23-cv-02505 v.

BRIAD WENCO, L.L.C., ORDER

Defendant.

O’HEARN, District Judge. WHEREAS, this matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment (ECF No. 9); and WHEREAS, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2) permits a court to enter default judgment against a properly served defendant who fails to respond; and WHEREAS, “[b]efore the Court can enter default judgment, it must find that process was properly served on the Defendant,” Teamsters Pension Fund of Phila. & Vicinity v. Am. Helper, Inc., No. 11-624,

, at *2 (D.N.J. Oct. 5, 2011) (citing Gold Kist, Inc. v. Laurinburg Oil Co., Inc.,

(3d Cir. 1985)), and “the party asserting the validity of service bears the burden of proof on that issue,” Grand Ent. Grp., Ltd. v. Star Media Sales, Inc.,

, 488 (3d Cir. 1993); and WHEREAS, “the Court is required to exercise sound judicial discretion in deciding whether [default] judgment should be entered . . . mak[ing] it clear that the party making the request is not entitled to a default judgment as of right, even when defendant is technically in default,” Martino v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., No. 19-10999,

, at *1 n.2 (D.N.J. Apr. 6, 2021) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); and WHEREAS, neither the Executed Returned Summons filed by Plaintiff, (ECF No. 3), nor the Motion for Default Judgment, (ECF No. 9), contain any facts of record from which the Court can conclude proper service was effectuated pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(h); and WHEREAS, Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment simply states that “Defendant was served with Summons and Plaintiff's Complaint on May 22, 2023,” (ECF No. 9 at § 2); and WHEREAS, the Executed Returned Summons simply states that service was effectuated by leaving a copy of the Summons and Complaint with “Mary Sheridan . . . Managing Agent,” (ECF No. 3); and WHEREAS, Plaintiff, who bears the burden of proof on this issue, has not demonstrated that Mary Sheridan 1s 1n fact “‘an officer, a managing or general agent, or any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process,” FED. R. Civ. P. 4(h)(1)(B), or that she holds a similar role that satisfies Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(h) or New Jersey Court Rule 4:4-4; and therefore IT IS on this _30th_ day of _November_, 2023, ORDERED that Plaintiffs Motion for Default Judgment, (ECF No. 9), is DENIED without prejudice; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff is granted sixty (60) days to effectuate proper service or re-file his Motion providing sufficient factual information from which the Court can determine service was properly made.

Cfritrd O pharm CHRISTINE P. HEARN United States District Judge