Summary
In Pretel, the defendant defaulted on his mortgage, however, there was no prejudice by the delay and the existence of settlement discussions constituted a reasonable excuse, thus the court refused to dismiss the complained as abandoned.
Summary of this case from Albano v. Meir Transp., Mill BasinOpinion
June 23, 1997
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Golar, J.).
Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, with costs, and the complaint is reinstated insofar as it is asserted against Amarante Pretel, First American Title Insurance Company of New York, Mela Alio, and "John" Alio.
Where a plaintiff fails to seek leave to enter a default judgment within one year after the default (CPLR 3215 [c]), he or she must offer a reasonable excuse for the delay and demonstrate that the complaint is meritorious ( see, Manago v. Giorlando, 143 A.D.2d 646). The plaintiff has met the standard in this case. The record contains absolutely no evidence to dispute the plaintiff's claim that the defendant, Amarante Pretel, defaulted on the mortgage in February 1986. Further, the existence of settlement discussions with Pretel constituted a reasonable excuse for the plaintiff's failure to seek leave to enter a judgment ( see, Katz v. Knoesel Serv. Ctr., 117 A.D.2d 781). Finally, there is no indication in the record that the defendants were in any way prejudiced by the plaintiff's delay ( see, Katz v Knoesel Serv. Ctr., supra).
Ritter, J.P., Sullivan, Altman and McGinity, JJ., concur.