Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 10 August 2022
• Docket Number: 2019–11346,Index No. 502693/16
• Citation: 208 A.D.3d 613,172 N.Y.S.3d 726
• Parties: WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., respondent, v. Angelise JACKSON, appellant, et al., defendants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

208 A.D.3d 613
172 N.Y.S.3d 726

WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., respondent,
v.
Angelise JACKSON, appellant, et al., defendants.

2019–11346
Index No. 502693/16

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

Argued—June 9, 2022
August 10, 2022

172 N.Y.S.3d 727

Biolsi Law Group, P.C., New York, NY (Steven Alexander Biolsi of counsel), for appellant.

Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC (Reed Smith, LLP, New York, NY [Andrew B. Messite and James N. Faller ], of counsel), for respondent.

COLLEEN D. DUFFY, J.P., BETSY BARROS, REINALDO E. RIVERA, ROBERT J. MILLER, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

In an action to foreclose a mortgage, the defendant Angelise Jackson appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Ingrid Joseph, J.), dated April 1, 2019. The order denied that defendant's motion pursuant to CPLR 3215(c) to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted against her as abandoned.

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, with costs, and the motion of the defendant Angelise Jackson pursuant to CPLR 3215(c) to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted against her as abandoned is granted.

172 N.Y.S.3d 728

In February 2016, the plaintiff commenced this action against the defendant Angelise Jackson (hereinafter the defendant), among others, to foreclose a mortgage. The plaintiff effected service on the defendant, but the defendant did not appear or answer the complaint. Foreclosure settlement conferences were held in April 2016 and May 2016, at which the defendant did not appear. More than two years later, in October 2018, the defendant moved pursuant to CPLR 3215(c) to dismiss the complaint insofar as asserted against her as abandoned. The Supreme Court denied the motion, and the defendant appeals.

CPLR 3215(c) provides that "[i]f the plaintiff fails to take proceedings for the entry of judgment within one year after [a] default, the court shall not enter judgment but shall dismiss the complaint as abandoned, without costs, upon its own initiative or on motion, unless sufficient cause is shown why the complaint should not be dismissed" (see HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Jean, 165 A.D.3d 632, 633–634, 85 N.Y.S.3d 125 ). "Upon a showing of the requisite one year of delay,...