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THE LESSOR OF THE CAR INVOLVED IN THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT DID NOT SUBMIT THE BUSINESS RECORDS DEMONSTRATING THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE LEASE; THEREFORE DISMISSAL OF THE COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO THE GRAVES AMENDMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined Chase, the defendant – lessor of the car involved in a traffic accident, did not present sufficient evidence of its status as the lessor for purposes of asserting the Graves-Amendment defense. The business records which would have established the lessor-lessee relationship were either illegible or were not submitted:

When evidentiary material is considered on a motion to dismiss pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7), and the motion is not converted into one for summary judgment, the motion should not be granted unless the evidentiary material “conclusively [establishes] that the plaintiff has no cause of action” … .

Pursuant to the Graves Amendment, the owner of a leased or rented motor vehicle cannot be held liable for personal injuries resulting from the use of the vehicle if (1) the owner is engaged in the trade or business of renting or leasing motor vehicles, and (2) there is no negligence or criminal wrongdoing on the part of the owner … .

… Chase attempted to establish the fact that it leased the subject vehicle to [defendant] through the business records exception to the hearsay rule (see CPLR 4518[a]). … [E]ven assuming that the … affidavit had established a proper foundation, “it is the business record itself, not the foundational affidavit, that serves as proof of the matter asserted” … .. Since Chase failed to submit the purported assignment of the lease agreement, it failed to conclusively establish that … it was shielded by the Graves Amendment. Tello v Upadhyaya, 2023 NY Slip Op 01913, Second Dept 4-12-23

Practice Point: Here the lessor of the car involved in the accident attempted to raise the Graves-Amendment defense but did not submit the business records showing the assignment of the lease. Therefore the affidavit laying a foundation for those records was hearsay and the motion to dismiss should not have been granted.

 

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DEFENDANT DEMONSTRATED HE WAS NOT REPRESENTED BY THE ATTORNEY WHO PURPORTED... THE PLAINTIFF IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION DID NOT SUBMIT THE BUSINESS RECORDS...