Opinion
7620N 24267/14E
11-13-2018
Qwantiasha FLING, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. INTEGRITY BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, INC., et al., Defendants–Respondents.
Phillips & Associates, PLLC, New York (Jessenia Maldonado of counsel, New York), for appellant. Laurence M. Savedoff, PLLC, Bronx (Laurence M. Savedoff of counsel), for respondents.
Phillips & Associates, PLLC, New York (Jessenia Maldonado of counsel, New York), for appellant.
Laurence M. Savedoff, PLLC, Bronx (Laurence M. Savedoff of counsel), for respondents.
Renwick, J.P., Tom, Mazzarelli, Webber, Kern, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Mary Ann Brigantti, J.), entered April 21, 2017, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted defendants' motion pursuant to CPLR 3215(c) to dismiss the complaint for failing to move for a default judgment within the one-year deadline, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion denied.
Although plaintiff's excuse for failing to move for a default judgment within one year of defendants' default is not entirely compelling, it must, however, be weighed against the merits of plaintiff's claim and the prejudice to defendants (see LaValle v. Astoria Constr. & Paving Corp. , 266 A.D.2d 28, 697 N.Y.S.2d 605 [1st Dept. 1999] ). Here, plaintiff's affidavit sets out a meritorious action, and defendant Hutchins's denials, contained in his own affidavit, merely raise triable issues of fact. Furthermore, defendants have offered no evidence of any prejudice from the delay, and there is strong public policy in favor of deciding cases on the merits (see Nedeltcheva v. MTE Transp. Corp. , 157 A.D.3d 423, 66 N.Y.S.3d 127 [1st Dept. 2018] ).