After he fell behind on his credit-card payments, Anant Gupta entered into an agreement with Chase Bank to pay the sum of $8,896.23, in 12 monthly installments. In the event he failed to honor that schedule, the bank had the right to seek $13,646.50--the full amount of the original debt.
When he later defaulted, and Chase sought a judgment for the higher sum, Gupta claimed that the IRS had "frozen" his bank account, and that the settlement was somehow "defective" because it omitted his Chase Bank account number.
Both the Queens County Civil Court and the Appellate Term, Second Department, didn't buy those arguments and found in the bank's favor.
Absent "fraud, collusion, mistake or accident," the AT2 was of the view there was no basis to relieve Gupta from the consequences of the settlement's terms.
The right relationship is everything.
To view a copy of the Appellate Term's decision, please use this link: Chase Bank USA, N.A. v. Gupta