Sporn

Defendant Home Depot USA, Inc., appeals from an order denying its motions to set aside a default and the resulting default judgment in favor of plaintiff Alan R. Spom. We agree with the trial court that the motion for relief from default was untimely and affirm the order. We deny plaintiff’s motion to dismiss the appeal and grant his motion for sanctions.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff sued defendant and “John Doe” on August 14, 2002 for negligence, gross negligence, theft of identity, fraudulent misrepresentation, and fraud. The gist of his complaint is that the fictitiously named defendant used plaintiff’s identity to obtain credit from defendant. He also alleges that defendant made monthly credit inquiries of Equifax, a credit reporting agency, and because of these frequent inquiries, he was unable to obtain “the best rates of interest.” As a result of defendant’s conduct, plaintiff claims he suffered physical and emotional distress, personal and business embarrassment, lost business opportunities, and lost creditworthiness. For each of his five causes of action he prayed for $5 million in general damages and $10 million in punitive damages.

Defendant’s…