--- Am. Tribal Law ----, 2024 WL 4040477 (Mem)
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Fort Peck Court of Appeals.
 
Michelle WILSEY, Appellant,
v.
SYRINGA PROP. MGMT., Appellee.
 
CAUSE NO. AP # 882
|
FILED SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

Appeal from the Fort Peck Tribal Court, Lonnie Headdress, Presiding Judge.

Before E. Shanley, Chief Justice, and B.J. Jones and J. Grijalva, Associate Justices.

 

ORDER DENYING APPEAL WITHOUT PREJUDICE

¶ 1 This matter comes before the Fort Peck Court of Appeals (FPCOA) on an appeal from the Tribal Court’s Order of Eviction issued on June 10, 2024. The Court’s Order followed a hearing wherein Appellee alleged Appellant failed to pay rent for some months and ignored multiple requests to quit the premises. Appellant did not appear.

¶ 2 Appellant’s Notice of Appeal to the FPCOA argues she was unable to attend the hearing, held a few days before a major surgery scheduled in Billings, Montana, for unstated health reasons.

¶ 3 This Court is not the appropriate forum to address these issues. When a party appeals a Tribal Court’s decision made following a hearing in which she/he did not appear, she/he is essentially challenging a default judgment. In such a challenge, the sole issue before this Court is whether the default order entered by the Tribal Court was appropriate in the specific situation. See Red Boy v. Combs Memorial Property (AP # 836, 2022).

¶ 4 Here, we have no record to review Appellant’s allegation that health reasons prevented her appearance. That fact-based argument has never been presented to a fact finder. The appropriate remedy in this case is for the Appellant to move the Tribal Court to set aside the default under Title 8, Section 302, which permits the lower court to vacate the default for good cause shown. There does not appear to be a time limit on the motion under the Code. It is not the appropriate function of this Court to reopen the record and permit evidence regarding the circumstances surrounding why a party failed to appear at a Tribal Court hearing. In addition, this Court notes that the allegations in the appeal may or may not constitute a defense to the eviction action.

¶ 5 WHEREFORE IT IS HEREBY

ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the appeal in this matter be and hereby is DENIED without prejudice to the right of the Appellant to file a motion in the Tribal Court to vacate the SO ORDERED the 4th day of September 2024.

All Citations
--- Am. Tribal Law ----, 2024 WL 4040477 (Mem)