Abraham v. Am. Gardens Co.

• Decision Date: 02 December 2020
• Docket Number: 2017–02273,Index No. 52263/14
• Citation: 136 N.Y.S.3d 148,189 A.D.3d 741
• Parties: Mathew ABRAHAM, et al., respondents, et al., plaintiffs, v. AMERICAN GARDENS COMPANY, et al., defendants, American Gardens Company, LLC, et. al., appellants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

189 A.D.3d 741
136 N.Y.S.3d 148

Mathew ABRAHAM, et al., respondents, et al., plaintiffs,
v.
AMERICAN GARDENS COMPANY, et al., defendants,

American Gardens Company, LLC, et. al., appellants.

2017–02273
Index No. 52263/14

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Argued - September 15, 2020
December 2, 2020

136 N.Y.S.3d 150

Hogan & Cassell, LLP, Jericho, NY (Michael Cassell of counsel), for appellants.

Mathew Abraham and Annamma Mathew, Port Chester, NY, respondents pro se.

DECISION & ORDER

189 A.D.3d 741

In an action, inter alia, to recover on a promissory note and

189 A.D.3d 742

a personal guarantee, the defendants American Gardens Company, LLC, and Thomas John appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Charles D. Wood, J.), entered January 20, 2017. The judgment, upon an amended decision of the same court dated January 6, 2017, made after a nonjury trial, is in favor of the plaintiffs Mathew Abraham and Annamma Mathew and against the defendants American Gardens Company, LLC, and Thomas John in the principal sum of $300,000, minus a credit to those defendants in the sum of $90,000 for interest payments previously made, and in favor of those plaintiffs and against the defendant Thomas John in the additional principal sum of $75,000.

ORDERED that the judgment is modified, on the law and the facts, (1) by deleting the provision thereof in favor of the plaintiffs Mathew Abraham and Annamma Mathew and against the defendant American Gardens Company, LLC, in the principal sum of $300,000, (2) by deleting the provision thereof awarding a credit to the defendants American Gardens Company, LLC, and Thomas John in the sum of $90,000 for interest payments previously made, and (3) by deleting the provision thereof in favor of the plaintiffs Mathew Abraham and Annamma Mathew and against the defendant Thomas John in the additional principal sum of $75,000; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Westchester County, for a hearing to determine the amount to be credited to the defendant Thomas John for payments previously made, toward the award in favor of the plaintiffs Mathew Abraham and Annamma Mathew and against him in the principal sum of $300,000, for a recalculation of the award of interest, and thereafter for the entry of an appropriate amended judgment.

136 N.Y.S.3d 151

The defendant American Gardens Company (hereinafter AGC) provided the plaintiffs Mathew Abraham and Annamma Mathew (hereinafter together the plaintiffs) with a promissory note dated November 7, 2006, which stated, in pertinent part, that "[f]or value received, [AGC] ... promise[s] to pay to the order of [the plaintiffs] ... the principal sum of THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND ($300,000) dollars" (hereinafter Loan No. 1). The defendant Thomas John signed a personal guarantee for the repayment of Loan No. 1.

Thereafter, on May 5, 2007, the plaintiffs loaned $75,000 to John, which was to be repaid with 15% interest per annum (hereinafter Loan No. 2). Subsequently, on September 24, 2007, the plaintiffs loaned an additional $25,000 to John (hereinafter Loan No. 3), with the agreement that the interest rate for Loan No. 2 would increase from 15% per annum to 20% per annum.

189 A.D.3d 743

After making a number of interest payments on the subject loans, in November 2008, John stopped paying the interest due on Loan No. 2. Moreover, two checks received by the plaintiffs with respect to Loan No. 1 in October 2009 and March 2010 were returned by the bank for insufficient funds. Thereafter, the plaintiffs, and others, commenced this action against, among others, AGC, John, and American Gardens Company, LLC (hereinafter AG LLC). The complaint sought, inter alia, to recover on the promissory note and John's personal guarantee. In their answer, the defendants asserted, among other things, lack of consideration and usury as affirmative defenses. In an order dated March 1, 2016, the Supreme Court, inter alia, (1)...