Beizer v Ioannou

Beizer v Ioannou 2009 NY Slip Op 09301 [68 AD3d 546] December 15, 2009 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Harriet Beizer, Appellant,
v
John M. Ioannou et al., Respondents.

—[*1] Victor M. Serby, Woodmere, for appellant.

Devereaux Baumgarten, New York (Sidney Baumgarten of counsel), for respondents.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Marylin G. Diamond, J.), entered February 27, 2009, which, in an action for treble damages under New York City Civil Court Act § 1812 based on seven Small Claims default judgments in favor of plaintiff and against defendants, denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and, sua sponte, dismissed the complaint with leave to commence a new action for the same relief in Civil Court, unanimously modified, on the law, to vacate the dismissal and reinstate the complaint, the matter transferred to Civil Court, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.

While actions under CCA 1812 should be brought in Civil Court where, as here, each of the constituent Small Claims judgments is for less than $25,000 inclusive of interest, costs and disbursements, and thus within Civil Court's monetary jurisdiction (see CCA 211), it does not follow that if such an action is brought in Supreme Court it should be dismissed. Rather the availability of complete relief in Civil Court warrants a transfer of the action to that court (see 91st St. Co. v Robinson, 242 AD2d 502 [1997]; see also NY Const, art VI, § 7 [b]; § 19 [a]). Like Supreme Court, we have not considered the merits of plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. Concur—Friedman, J.P., Sweeny, Freedman and Abdus-Salaam, JJ.