Failure to Make Timely Objections to Invoices Justified Summary Judgment

The First Department determined defendant’s statement in an affidavit that defendant advised plaintiff the invoices were not correct was not sufficient to defeat summary judgment:

…[D]efendant did not object to the invoices in a timely manner. The parties’ agreement provided that “[f]ailure to object to any bill within thirty days from the mailing shall be deemed an acknowledgment of the amount owed ….” Plaintiff sent defendant regular invoices, with the most recent invoice having been sent on July 13, 2010. Defendant did not make any objections until plaintiff’s commencement of a prior action filed on August 27, 2010. Such belated protest is insufficient to ward off summary judgment … . Notably, the only evidence in the record of a protest is defendant’s affidavit, sworn to on May 6, 2011, asserting, without any details, that he advised plaintiff that its invoices were incorrect. This is insufficient to raise a triable issue of fact … . Mintz & Gold LLP v Daibes, 2015 NY Slip Op 01388, 1st Dept 2-17-15