Barrera v Hansen

[*1] Barrera v Hansen 2012 NY Slip Op 52052(U) Decided on October 18, 2012 Appellate Term, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on October 18, 2012
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, SECOND DEPARTMENT, 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT: : IANNACCI, J.P., MOLIA and LaCAVA, JJ
2011-1930 N C. October 18, 2012

Saul Patricio Barrera, Respondent,

against

Peter Hansen, Appellant.

Appeal from an order of the District Court of Nassau County, Second District (Eugene H. Shifrin, Ct. Atty. Ref.), dated May 25, 2011. The order denied defendant's motion to vacate a default judgment.

ORDERED that the order is reversed, without costs, and defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment is granted.

In this small claims action to recover the unpaid balance of landscaping services rendered to defendant, we find that the District Court improvidently exercised its discretion in denying defendant's motion to vacate a default judgment that had been entered against him since he demonstrated that he had both a reasonable excuse for his default in appearing and a meritorious defense (CPLR 5015 [a] [1]; see Eugene Di Lorenzo, Inc. v A.C. Dutton Lbr. Co., 67 NY2d 138, 141 [1986]).

Accordingly, the order is reversed and defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment is granted.

Iannacci, J.P., Molia and LaCava, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: October 18, 2012