You've served your defendant by publication under the Rules of Civil Procedure and the defendant failed to answer or otherwise defend the complaint. You file for entry of default judgment, the clerk grants it, and you move for judgment. In North Carolina, the court will not enter a judgment on your behalf without a bond. North Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 55(c) states:
When service of the summons has been made by published notice, no judgment shall be entered on default until the plaintiff shall have filed a bond, approved by the court, conditioned to abide such order as the court may make touching the restitution of any property collected or obtained by virtue of the judgment in case a defense is thereafter permitted and sustained; provided, that in actions involving the title to real estate or to foreclose mortgages thereon or in actions in which the State of North Carolina or a county or municipality thereof is the plaintiff such bond shall not be required.
The statute raises two questions: in what amount must the bond be issued and for how long must the bond be in effect? The statute does not answer either question and there exists no case law determining the proper amount or time. The best that we can discern from the statute is that the bond must be approved by the court. Indeed, in my experience, you should request a hearing before the presiding judge and ask him to set the bond amount and time for the bond to be released. I typically ask for a bond amount of 10% of the total amount of the judgment and 90 days for the bond to be in effect. This protects the judgment debtor and allows your client to retrieve their funds at the end of the 90 day period. Note that some jurisdictions require a bond amount that matches the amount of the judgment. As always, check your local rules first.
