Beath v Greyrock Park Prop. Owners' Assn., Inc.

[*1] Beath v Greyrock Park Prop. Owners' Assn., Inc. 2015 NY Slip Op 51749(U) Decided on November 30, 2015 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 This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.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 November 30, 2015
SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, SECOND DEPARTMENT, 9th and 10th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT: : IANNACCI, J.P., TOLBERT and CONNOLLY, JJ.
2014-641 W C

Hugh Beath and Nancy Beath, Respondents,

against

Greyrock Park Property Owners' Association, Inc., Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Justice Court of the Village of Port Chester, Westchester County (Matthew J. Troy, III, J.), entered November 1, 2013. The judgment, after a nonjury "trial," awarded plaintiffs the principal sum of $2,450.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, without costs, and the matter is remitted to the Justice Court for a new trial; and it is further,

ORDERED that the Clerk of the Justice Court of the Village of Port Chester, Westchester County, or his designee shall amend the caption to reflect defendant's true name as "Greyrock Park Property Owners' Association, Inc."

In this small claims action, plaintiffs assert that they formerly owned a house in a neighborhood known as South Greyrock Park, and rented the premises to their daughter and son-in-law, Sally Burke and Michael Burke. They state that defendant Greyrock Park Property Owners' Association, Inc. owns a gated area which includes a beach and a dock with mooring rights on the Long Island Sound. Membership in defendant association is voluntary. Non-members have no access to the gated area. In 2012, the house was advertised for sale, whereupon plaintiffs' real estate broker was informed, in effect, that since the Burkes had previously been members of defendant association, the house was subject to lapsed membership fees, and that therefore, in order for plaintiffs' prospective buyers to join defendant association, they would be required to pay $4,900 to defendant. Plaintiffs indicate that, to sell the premises, they discounted the price by $2,450, which was half the sum that their prospective buyers had been told they would be required to pay in order to join defendant. Plaintiffs seek to recover $2,450, together with $500 in legal fees.

The transcript of a nonjury "trial" in the small claims court indicates that a discussion was held off the record. Copies of defendant's bylaws dated 1984 and the 2006 amendments to defendant's bylaws were admitted into evidence. There was no

testimony, or any other evidence, to support plaintiffs' claim. Following the "trial," judgment was awarded to plaintiffs in the principal sum of $2,450.

In a small claims action, our review is limited to a determination of whether "substantial justice has . . . been done between the parties according to the rules and principles of substantive law" (UJCA 1807; see UJCA 1804; Ross v Friedman, 269 AD2d 584 [2000]; Williams v Roper, 269 AD2d 125 [2000]). Since the "trial" was limited to the admission into evidence of defendant's bylaws, and there was no submission of stipulated facts (see CPLR 3222), the judgment failed to render substantial justice and cannot stand.

We reach no other issue.

Accordingly, the judgment is reversed and the matter is remitted to the Justice Court for a new trial.

We note that the caption and the other court papers do not correctly state defendant's name. The Clerk of the Justice Court of the Village of Port Chester, Westchester County, or his designee is directed to amend the caption and the other papers to reflect defendant's name as Greyrock Park Property Owners' Association, Inc. (see CPLR 3019 [a]; see also UJCA 1814 [b], [c]), and the caption of the appeal has been so amended.

Iannacci, J.P., Tolbert and Connolly, JJ., concur.

Decision Date: November 30, 2015