Rashid v New York Inst. of Tech.

[*1] Rashid v New York Inst. of Tech. 2008 NY Slip Op 50739(U) [19 Misc 3d 135(A)] Decided on April 9, 2008 Appellate Term, First 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 This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.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 April 9, 2008
APPELLATE TERM OF THE SUPREME COURT, FIRST DEPARTMENT
PRESENT: McKeon, P.J., Schoenfeld, Heitler, JJ
570333/07.

Nasir Rashid, Plaintiff-Respondent

against

New York Institute of Technology, Defendant-Appellant.

Defendant appeals from an order of the Civil Court

of the City of New York, New York County (Peter H. Moulton, J.), dated December 13, 2006, which denied its motion to vacate a default judgment.
PER CURIAM:
Order (Peter H. Moulton, J.), dated December l3,
2006, affirmed, without costs, and without prejudice to a renewed motion to vacate the default on proper papers.

Defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment,
though expeditiously made and accompanied by a strong showing of a reasonable excuse for its short-lived default, was properly denied in the absence of an affidavit establishing a meritorious defense to the action. Given the policy favoring dispositions of cases on the merits, and since it appears that defendant's failure to timely submit an affidavit of merit was occasioned by its honest misapprehension as to the scope of the hearing initially directed, we conclude that defendant should be afforded a further opportunity to seek vacatur of the default (see Collado v Quinones, 52 AD2d 534 [1976].

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
Decision Date: April 09, 2008