Volume 5 Winter 2011 Number 2 - Charleston Law Review

2011] Errors in JudgmentBridgewater filed an exception to the complaints for failure toobtain proper service. 116 Eventually, the second amendedcomplaint was dismissed, and the default judgment on the firstamended complaint was vacated. 117 Scullin appealed. 118Scullin contended that the first amended complaint wasenough to put Bridgewater on notice that there was an actionagainst him, especially since Bridgewater had actual notice of thecontents of the first amended complaint even before it was servedon him. 119 However, the court disagreed, citing Article 1201 ofthe Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, which states: “Citationand service thereof are essential in all civil actions exceptsummary and executory proceedings. Without them allproceedings are absolutely null.” 120 The court stated that actualknowledge of a suit cannot be substituted for legally sufficientservice of process. 121 The Scullin court did not specificallyaddress Mullane, but the concerns regarding adequate noticewere the same. 122 The court stated that “[i]t is a fundamentalprinciple of our law that no valid judgment can be rendered inany case where the defendant has not been informed of the suitagainst him by citation in strict compliance with the law.” 123B. Equitable MortgagesSome states use the concept of equitable mortgages to allowactual notice to prevail over legal strictures. 124 All states havestatutes that deal with the priorities of interests taken in realproperty. 125 There are three general types of recording statutes:116. Id.117. Id. at 471–72.118. Id. at 472.119. Id.120. Id.121. Id.122. Id.123. Id.124. See Handler Constr., Inc v. CoreStates Bank, N.A., 633 A.2d 356, 361,364 (Del. 1993).125. See Charles Szypszak, Real Estate Records, the Captive Public, andOpportunities for the Public Good, 43 GONZ. L.REV. 5,24(2008)(discussing thereasons for having recording statutes and describing the three types of213