Opinion
2003-379 S C, 2003-380 S C.
Decided March 26, 2004.
Appeals by defendant from an order of the Small Claims Part of the District Court, Suffolk County (P. Barton, J.), dated February 3, 2003, and an order of the same court, dated January 21, 2003, which in each case denied its motion pursuant to 22 NYCRR 28.7 (a) to vacate a default judgment rendered against it.
On the court's own motion, appeals consolidated for purposes of disposition.
Orders unanimously affirmed without costs.
PRESENT: McCABE, P.J., LIFSON and SKELOS, JJ.
Plaintiff brought two small claims actions to recover sales commissions allegedly due her from defendant for two separate real estate transactions. Defendant failed to appear on the date scheduled for the mandatory arbitration hearing held pursuant to 22 NYCRR Part 28, and arbitration awards in the amount of $2,904 and $3,000 were rendered against it, whereupon defendant moved to vacate the judgments entered thereon.
Pursuant to 22 NYCRR 28.7 (a), where a party fails to appear at a mandatory arbitration hearing, that party may seek vacatur of the judgment and restoration to the arbitration calendar "upon good cause shown." Although defendant stated that the parties had been involved in settlement negotiations and that plaintiff had been paid the commissions due her, the documents annexed to defendant's motion papers did not reflect that fact. To the extent that the defaulting party must demonstrate "a valid reason for his failure to proceed with the arbitration" ( see Finamore v. Huntington Cardiac Rehabilitation Assn., 150 AD2d 426, 427), defendant failed to do so. Accordingly, the court below did not err in declining to vacate the default judgments.