Appeal from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Robin S. Garson, J.), entered June 28, 2006. The order granted defendant's motion to vacate a default judgment.

Order reversed without costs and motion to vacate a default judgment denied.

In this action to recover the sum of $13,000 for breach of contract and damage to property allegedly caused by negligent performance of work, the court below granted defendant's motion to vacate a default judgment. In support of the motion, defendant was required to establish both a meritorious defense and a reasonable excuse for the default (see CPLR 5015 [a]; Eugene DiLorenzo, Inc. v Dalton Lbr. Co., 67 NY2d 138 [1986]). Here, we find that defendant failed to offer a reasonable excuse for his default
in appearing after requesting a month-long adjournment to obtain counsel. Furthermore, defendant did not establish a meritorious defense to the action. Consequently, the court below improvidently exercised its discretion in granting defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment, and the motion should have been denied (see Levy Williams Constr. Corp. v United States Fire Ins. Co., 280 AD2d 650 [2001]).

Pesce, P.J., Weston Patterson and Belen, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: August 20, 2007