Appeal from an order of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Queens County (Maureen A. Healy, J.), entered December 1, 2011. The order granted defendant's motion to vacate a default judgment.

ORDERED that the order is modified by providing that defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment is granted on condition that defendant serve and file an answer within 30 days of the date of this order and decision; as so modified, the order is affirmed, without costs.

In this action to recover on a personal guaranty of a corporate debt, plaintiff appeals from an order of the Civil Court granting defendant's motion to vacate a default judgment.

A defendant seeking to vacate a default judgment entered upon his failure to appear and answer must demonstrate both a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious defense to the action (see CPLR 5015 [a] [1]; Eugene Di Lorenzo, Inc. v A.C. Dutton Lbr. Co., 67 NY2d 138, 141 [1986]). The determination of what constitutes a reasonable excuse for vacating a default lies within the sound discretion of the motion court (Matter of Gambardella v Ortov Light., 278 AD2d 494 [2000]). We agree with the Civil Court that defendant satisfied his [*2]burden. We note that the unintentional default was minimal. However, the vacatur should have been conditioned upon defendant's serving and filing the answer within 30 days.

Accordingly, the order is modified by providing that defendant's motion to vacate the default judgment is granted on condition that defendant serve and file an answer within 30 days of the date of this order and decision.

Rios, J.P., Pesce and Solomon, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: November 29, 2013