In T* Family Irrevocable Living Trust v. D*, a landlord sought to recover possession of an apartment due to nonpayment of rent totaling $36,000 in arrears. The case was initially decided in the landlord's favor after the respondents failed to appear or answer the petition, resulting in a default final judgment awarding the landlord possession and monetary recovery.
When one of the respondents, OKB, later moved to vacate the default judgment, arguing lack of service and requesting a traverse hearing to challenge the affidavit of service, the Civil Court rejected the improper service claim but nevertheless vacated the default judgment and dismissed the petition sua sponte, based on its review of the case's merits.
The Appellate Term, Second Department, found this action improvident, ruling that the Civil Court erred by vacating the default judgment without first establishing a reasonable excuse for the default, as required by law. The appellate court modified the lower court’s order by reinstating the default judgment and denying OKB's motion to vacate it. Additionally, the court declined to impose sanctions, leaving that portion of the lower court’s ruling undisturbed.
This ruling reinforces the principle that a default judgment cannot be vacated without proper justification for the default itself.
That seems pretty irrevocable to me ....
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DECISION
T* Family Irrevocable Living Trust v. D*