diff --git a/src/utils/getLintConfig.ts b/src/utils/getLintConfig.ts
index 5fc1582..06cf114 100644
--- a/src/utils/getLintConfig.ts
+++ b/src/utils/getLintConfig.ts
@@ -3,12 +3,22 @@ import { LintConfig } from '../types/LintConfig'
 import { readFile } from '@sasjs/utils/file'
 import { getProjectRoot } from './getProjectRoot'
 
+const defaultConfiguration = {
+  noTrailingSpaces: true,
+  noEncodedPasswords: true,
+  hasDoxygenHeader: true
+}
 /**
  * Fetches the config from the .sasjslint file and creates a LintConfig object.
  * @returns {Promise<LintConfig>} resolves with an object representing the current lint configuration.
  */
 export async function getLintConfig(): Promise<LintConfig> {
   const projectRoot = await getProjectRoot()
-  const configuration = await readFile(path.join(projectRoot, '.sasjslint'))
+  const configuration = await readFile(
+    path.join(projectRoot, '.sasjslint')
+  ).catch((e) => {
+    console.error('Error reading .sasjslint file', e)
+    return JSON.stringify(defaultConfiguration)
+  })
   return new LintConfig(JSON.parse(configuration))
 }