PLAINTIFF DID NOT PROVE DEFENDANT RECEIVED AND RETAINED THE INVOICES; SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE ACCOUNT STATED CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff was not entitled to summary judgment on the account stated and breach of contract causes of action. With respect to the elements of an “account stated” cause of action, the court wrote:

“An account stated is an agreement between parties, based upon their prior transactions, with respect to the correctness of the account items and the specific balance due” … . “The agreement may be express or implied where a defendant retains bills without objecting to them within a reasonable period of time, or makes partial payment on the account” … . “In order to establish a prima facie case to recover on an account stated, the plaintiff must establish that it submitted invoices and that the defendant received and retained the invoices without objection for an unreasonable period of time” … .

Here, the plaintiff failed to demonstrate its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on its causes of action to recover on an account stated, as the plaintiff failed to present evidence showing that the plaintiff’s invoices for the amounts at issue were mailed to and received by the defendants … . In support of its motion, the plaintiff submitted an affidavit from its underwriting manager regarding the mailing of invoices. However, the affiant did not attest to personal knowledge of the mailings or of a standard office practice and procedure designed to ensure that items were properly addressed and mailed … . Alliance Natl. Ins. Co. v Hagler, 2023 NY Slip Op 04648, Second Dept 9-20-23

Practice Point: In order to prove an “account stated” cause of action, the plaintiff must prove the invoices were properly mailed to the the defendant, which includes proof of personal knowledge of the mailing procedure.