Appeal from an order of the District Court of Suffolk County, Third District

(C. Steven Hackeling, J.), entered on March 25, 2005. The order denied defendant's motion seeking to vacate a default judgment.

Order affirmed without costs.

Plaintiff brought this action to recover the principal sum of $4,500 representing the balance due for work, labor and services rendered to defendant pursuant to an agreement between the parties. Defendant failed to appear on the date scheduled for the mandatory arbitration hearing held pursuant to the Rules of the Chief Judge (22 NYCRR) § 28.2. An arbitration award was rendered against defendant, whereupon, defendant moved to vacate the judgment entered thereon.

Pursuant to the Rules of the Chief Judge (22 NYCRR) § 28.7 (a), where a party fails to appear at a mandatory arbitration hearing, that party may seek vacatur of the judgment and restoration to the arbitration calendar "upon good cause shown." In this case, defendant failed to demonstrate a valid reason for his failure to appear at the arbitration hearing (see Amedeo v Century 21 Bayway Realty Corp., 2 Misc 3d 135[A], 2004 NY Slip Op 50214[U] [App Term, 9th & 10th Jud Dists]). Accordingly, the court below did not err in denying defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment.

Rudolph, P.J., McCabe and Tanenbaum, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: June 5, 2006