| Roberts v Utica Elec. Zone Corp. |
| 2013 NY Slip Op 50770(U) [39 Misc 3d 142(A)] |
| Decided on May 6, 2013 |
| 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| This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports. |
Appeal from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County
(Lisa S. Ottley, J.), entered November 3, 2011. The order denied defendant's motion to
vacate a default judgment.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, without costs.
In this small claims action to recover for goods not received, a default judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff upon defendant's failure to appear for trial. Following an inquest, plaintiff was awarded the principal sum of $2,500. Thereafter, defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment and restore the case to the trial calendar was denied by the Civil Court.
Upon a review of the record, we find that the Civil Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in denying defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment since defendant had failed to show a reasonable excuse for failing to appear at trial (see CPLR 5015 [a]). In view of the foregoing, it is unnecessary to consider whether defendant sufficiently established the existence of a potentially meritorious defense to the action (see HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v Roldan, 80 AD3d 566 [2011]).
Accordingly, the order is affirmed. [*2]
Aliotta, J.P., Pesce and Rios, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: May 06, 2013