Cach, LLC v Boukchouch

[*1] Cach, LLC v Boukchouch 2009 NY Slip Op 52711(U) [26 Misc 3d 1211(A)] Decided on April 29, 2009 Civil Court Of The City Of New York, Queens County Cohen, J. 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 This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.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 April 29, 2009
Civil Court of the City of New York, Queens County

CACH, LLC, Plaintiff(s),

against

Abdelilah Boukchouch, Defendant(s).



CV- 003578-09/QU

Devin P. Cohen, J.

The plaintiff moves for summary judgment in lieu of complaint seeking to enforce a sister State judgment previously awarded to the plaintiff and against the defendant by the State of Massachusetts. This case arises from a consumer credit transaction. The plaintiff filed an action against the defendant in Massachusetts and obtained a default judgment on January 9, 2008. On March 3, 2009, the plaintiff moved for summary judgment in lieu of complaint based upon the Massachusetts default judgment. The defendant failed to appear and submitted no written opposition.

Foreign judgments obtained by default may be enforced in a plenary action which may be initiated, as in this case, by a motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint. In general, under the Constitutional principle of full faith and credit, a judgment rendered by a court of a sister State is accorded "the same credit, validity, and effect, in every other court of the United States, which it had in the state where it was pronounced" (Hampton v. M'Connel, 3 Wheat [16 US] 234, 235 [1818]; All Terrain Properties, Inc. v. Hoy, 265 AD2d 87, 92 [1st Dept 2000]). "Generally, full faith and credit is accorded sister State judgments where the rendering court had jurisdiction of the parties and of the subject matter, even if the judgment is obtained by default, provided there is no fraud or collusion" (Overmyer v. Eliot Realty, 83 Misc 2d 694, 704 [1975]; citing Williams v. North Carolina, 325 US 226, 317 US 827; Atlas Credit Corp v. Ezrine, 25 NY2d 219, 231 [1969]; 23 NY Jur, Foreign Judgments, §§ 6, 8-10; Restatement 2d, Conflict of Laws §§ 103-111). Thus, "the court in which enforcement of the default judgment is sought, will ascertain whether the foreign court had jurisdiction to enter the judgment" (All Terrain Properties, Inc. v. Hoy, 265 AD2d 87, 92 [1st Dept 2000]; Fiore v. Oakwood Plaza Shopping Ctr., 78 NY2d 572, 577 [1991]). Furthermore, "[a] party against whom a default judgment is entered without obtaining jurisdiction over his person may [*2]appear and contest its validity [for instance by seeking to vacate the default judgment] or ignore the judgment and assert its invalidity whenever enforcement is attempted" (McMullen v. Arnone, 79 AD2d 496 [2d Dept 1981]).

The proponent of a motion for summary judgment must make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, tendering sufficient evidence to demonstrate the absence of any material issues of fact (Winegrad v. New York University Medical Center, 64 NY2d 851 [1985]). In support of its motion, the plaintiff submits a copy of the Massachusetts default judgment, an affidavit of service of the initial summons and complaint left at the defendant's last known address in Massachusetts, and an affidavit of service of the instant motion left at the defendant's last known address in New York. The defendant failed to appear or to present any jurisdictional challenge to the validity of the Massachusetts judgment. In light of the evidence offered by the plaintiff and in the absence of any apparent basis for questioning the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts court, the court finds that the Sister state judgment is entitled to full faith and credit and should be enforced.

For the reasons stated above, the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint is granted on default. This constitutes the decision and judgment of this court.