GDJ Realty Corp. v Joseph

[*1] GDJ Realty Corp. v Joseph 2005 NYSlipOp 52202(U) Decided on December 30, 2005 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 This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.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 December 30, 2005
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
APPELLATE TERM: 2nd and 11th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT: : PESCE, P.J., WESTON PATTERSON and GOLIA, JJ
2005-68 K C.

GDJ REALTY CORP., Respondent,

against

MARIA JOSEPH, Appellant.

Appeal from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Bruce E. Scheckowitz J.), dated December 6, 2004. The order denied tenant's motion to, inter alia, set aside a stipulation of settlement.

Order unanimously affirmed without costs.

"Stipulations of settlement are favored by the courts and not lightly cast aside. . . . This is all the more so in the case of open court' stipulations . . . where strict enforcement not only serves the interest of efficient dispute resolution but also is essential to the management of court calendars and integrity of the litigation process"
(Hallock v State of New York, 64 NY2d 224, 230 [1984] [citations omitted]). A party may be relieved of the consequences of a stipulation "[o]nly where there is cause sufficient to invalidate a contract, such as fraud, collusion, mistake or accident" (id.). In the instant case, tenant, who was represented by counsel, failed to demonstrate that the so-ordered stipulation should be set aside on the grounds of alleged fraud, mistake or duress. We note that while the discharge of tenant's rent arrears in bankruptcy precludes landlord from collecting the rent arrears due, landlord is not thereby precluded from the remedy of recovery of possession in a nonpayment [*2]proceeding (see Dulac v Dabrowski, 4 AD3d 308 [2004]).

Tenant's remaining contentions on appeal involve matters dehors the record or are without merit.
Decision Date: December 30, 2005