Nicholson

Defendants Mason Rose and Pacific Institute for Advanced Studies (PIAS) appeal a default judgment against them and the denial of their motion to vacate the judgment (Code Civ. Proc., § 473).

Facts

Plaintiff Sylvia Nicholson, interested in community affairs, met defendant Rose in 1971 during the course of pursuing this interest. Rose told her he was an ordained minister, that he and his organization, Pacific Institute for Advanced Studies (PIAS), shared her interest in community affairs. Rose induced plaintiff to lend PIAS $23,500, to enable PIAS to purchase certain real property (the Easterday property). He promised her check would not be cashed until her attorney approved the transaction, the money would be used solely for the purchase of the Easterday property, and the loan would be secured by a trust deed on the property. He also promised to look after and protect her interests.

These promises were not kept. Plaintiff’s check was cashed without her attorney’s approval; the Easterday property was never purchased; the loan was never secured or repaid. As a consequence, plaintiff filed this action in 1974 for breach of contract and fraud against Rose and…