Appeal from a judgment of the District Court of Suffolk County, Sixth District (Gigi A. Spelman, J.), entered April 23, 2007. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $2,925.

Judgment affirmed without costs.

Plaintiff, a check cashing company, commenced the instant commercial claims action to recover on a dishonored check drawn by defendant AVM Holding Corp. (AVM) and made payable to plaintiff's customer, Juggernaut General Contracting (JGC). AVM asserted affirmative defenses including breach of contract by JGC.

At trial, it was undisputed that the check was endorsed by JGC to plaintiff, which gave value therefor (UCC 3-302 [1] [a]). Thereafter, plaintiff received notice from the payor bank that payment on the check had been stopped. The evidence adduced at trial established that at the time plaintiff took the check from JGC, it did so in good faith with no knowledge that payment on the check had been stopped or that defendant had a defense thereon as against JGC. Plaintiff thus established that it was a holder in due course (UCC 3-302), and defendant failed to assert any valid defenses to the action (UCC 3-305 [2]). Accordingly, we find that in awarding judgment in favor of plaintiff, the court rendered substantial justice between the parties in accordance with the rules and principles of substantive law (UDCA 1807-A).

Rudolph, P.J., McCabe and Tanenbaum, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: July 8, 2008