CRITERIA FOR A MOTION TO RENEW IS FLEXIBLE; HERE MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED EVEN THOUGH MOVANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE “NEW” EVIDENCE.
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff’s motion to renew an application for an order of reference in a mortgage foreclosure action should have been granted. The court noted that the criteria for a motion to renew is flexible, there is no time-limit for bringing the motion, and the motion can be granted even when movant should have been aware of the “new” evidence:
Generally, “a motion for leave to renew is intended to bring to the court’s attention new or additional facts which were in existence at the time the original motion was made, but unknown to the movant” … . However, the requirement that a motion for leave to renew be based upon new or additional facts unknown to the movant at the time of the original motion is a flexible one and the court, in its discretion, may also grant renewal, in the interest of justice, upon facts which were known to the movant at the time the original motion was made … . Except where a motion to renew is based upon a change in the law, which is not the case here, CPLR 2221 does not impose a time limit for making a motion for leave to renew … . Here, the plaintiff established its entitlement to an order of reference, as it submitted documentary proof that the defendants failed to answer the complaint within the time allowed, that it was the holder of the note and mortgage, that the defendants defaulted, “and that, as a preliminary step in obtaining a judgment of foreclosure, the appointment of a referee to compute the amount due on the . . . mortgage would be proper” … . Although the plaintiff should have been aware of the durable power of attorney at the time it initially sought an order of reference, the Supreme Court, under the circumstances, improvidently exercised its discretion in denying the plaintiff’s motion for leave to renew, where the plaintiff, having otherwise established its entitlement to an order of reference, submitted, inter alia, the durable power of attorney in support of its renewal motion and the motion was unopposed. Citimortgage, Inc. v Espinal, 2016 NY Slip Op 01148, 2nd Dept 2-17-16
CIVIL PROCEDURE (MOTION TO RENEW, FLEXIBLE CRITERIA, NO TIME-LIMIT, MOTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED EVEN THOUGH MOVANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE NEWLY PROFERRED EVIDENCE)/MOTION TO RENEW (FLEXIBLE CRITERIA, NO TIME-LIMIT, SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED EVEN THOUGH MOVANT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE NEWLY PROFERRED EVIDENCE)