You are here: / Second Department

Tag Archive for: Second Department

,

THE SUPPORT MAGISTRATE DID NOT ENSURE THAT FATHER KNOWINGLY, INTELLIGENTLY AND VOLUNTARILY WAIVED HIS RIGHT TO COUNSEL IN THIS CHILD SUPPORT PROCEEDING; ORDER OF COMMITMENT REVERSED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Family Court’s order of commitment for father’s failure to pay child support, determined the Support Magistrate did not ensure that father’s waiver of counsel was knowing, intelligent and voluntary:

… [A]t the beginning of the hearing, the Support Magistrate asked the father what he “want[ed] to do about legal representation,” to which the father responded, “I’m speaking for myself at this point.” The Support Magistrate did not make any further inquiries regarding counsel. The Support Magistrate also failed to advise the father about the potential pitfalls of proceeding pro se. Thus, the Support Magistrate failed to conduct a sufficiently searching inquiry to ensure that the father’s waiver of his right to counsel was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary … . Under these circumstances, the father was deprived of his right to counsel at the hearing. Contrary to the mother’s contention, this violation was not cured by the fact that the father was later represented by assigned counsel during the confirmation hearing … . Matter of Sylvester v Goffe, 2022 NY Slip Op 01028, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

,

THE PETITION STATED CAUSES OF ACTION FOR A VIOLATION OF REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW (RPTL) 305 AND VIOLATION OF EQUAL PROTECTION; THE PETITION ALLEGED LARGER HOMES WERE ASSESSED AT LESS THAN 100% OF MARKET VALUE AND SMALLER HOMES WERE ASSESSED AT 100% OF MARKET VALUE (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the petition stated causes of action for improper assessment of property values and violation of equal protection. It was alleged that the methodology use to assess the value of home for property tax purposes resulted in less than 100% assessment for the larger homes and 100% assessment for the smaller homes:

Under RPTL 305(2), real property within an assessing unit must “be assessed at a uniform percentage of value”… . “[R]egardless of the methodology adopted by the [a]ssessor, the result must reflect the realistic value of the property so that the tax burden of each property is equitable” … . Although there is a presumption that a tax assessor’s property valuations are valid, property owners may rebut the presumption through submission of substantial evidence of overvaluation … .

… The petition, as supplemented by affidavits from the petitioner’s members and empirical and statistical analyses, sufficiently stated a cause of action for violation of RPTL 305. …

Accepting as true the facts alleged in the petition and according the petitioner the benefit of every favorable inference, the petition, as supplemented by the petitioner’s submissions, sufficiently stated a claim for violations of the equal protection clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions. Matter of Scarsdale Comm. for Fair Assessments v Albanese, 2022 NY Slip Op 01027, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

, ,

PETITIONER’S NOTICE OF CLAIM DEMONSTRATED HE HAD SUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO FORMULATE A COMPLAINT IN THIS SLIP AND FALL CASE; HIS REQUEST FOR PRE-JOINDER DISCOVERY AND PRESERVATION OF THE ACCIDENT SCENE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined pre-joinder discovery and preservation of the accident site was not necessary in this slip and fall case:

The petitioner alleges … he slipped and fell due to an accumulation of water leaking from the ceiling onto the landing at the top of an escalator in a subway station. The petitioner commenced this proceeding against the New York City Transit Authority (hereinafter the Transit Authority) seeking to direct the Transit Authority to preserve and produce any surveillance videos or records prepared in the regular course of business concerning the accident, or to provide an affidavit explaining the absence of any such videos or records. The petitioner also moved pursuant to CPLR 3102(c), in effect, to compel the Transit Authority to permit an inspection of the location of the accident upon certain conditions and to refrain from performing alterations or modifications to the location pending that inspection. …

CPLR 3102(c) provides, as relevant, that “[b]efore an action is commenced, disclosure to aid in bringing an action, to preserve information or to aid in arbitration, may be obtained, but only by court order.” Here, the petitioner’s notice of claim demonstrates that the petitioner possessed sufficient information to enable him to formulate his complaint and commence an action … . Therefore, under the circumstances, the only purpose of the pre-action discovery sought by the petitioner would be to “explore alternative theories of liability, which is not a proper basis for invoking CPLR 3102(c)” … . Moreover, considering, inter alia, the evidence already in the petitioner’s possession, the order directing the Transit Authority to preserve the condition of the site of the accident until completion of an inspection was unduly burdensome …”. Matter of Neham v New York City Tr. Auth., 2022 NY Slip Op 01026, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

THE DAMAGES AMOUNT ASSESSED AGAINST THE DEFAULTING DEFENDANT IN THE INQUEST WAS EXCESSIVE (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined the amount of damages assessed against the defaulting defendant in the inquest was excessive:

Although this Court is not relieving the defendant of his default, this Court may consider whether excessive damages were awarded … . “An unwarranted and excessive award after inquest will not be sustained, as to do otherwise ‘would be tantamount to granting the plaintiffs an open season at the expense of a defaulting defendant'” … . Based upon the proof submitted at the inquest, an award of $25,000 constitutes reasonable compensation … . Kokolis v Wallace, 2022 NY Slip Op 01018, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

,

THE PURPORTED STIPULATION OF DISCONTINUANCE OF THE FORECLOSURE ACTION AND THE PURPORTED NOTICE OF DISCONTINUANCE WERE INVALID; SUPREME COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE DETERMINED THE ACCELERATION OF THE MORTGAGE DEBT HAD BEEN REVOKED (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined both the purported stipulation of discontinuance and the purported notice of discontinuance were invalid. Therefore the judge should not have determined the acceleration of the mortgage debt had been revoked:

…Supreme Court erred in discontinuing the action based upon a purported stipulation of discontinuance, and then interceding on the plaintiff’s behalf to declare the acceleration of the loan revoked. The stipulation was clearly ineffective as it was only signed by the attorney for the plaintiff (see CPLR 3217[a][2] …). Further, to the extent that the stipulation was construed as a notice of discontinuance, it was equally ineffective to discontinue the action, as it was not served upon the appellant (see CPLR 3217[a][1] …). HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v Rini, 2022 NY Slip Op 01016, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

THE TENANT WHICH SUPPLIED THE ALLEGEDLY DEFECTIVE LADDER TO THE PLAINTIFF IN THIS LADDER-FALL CASE WAS NOT ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE LABOR LAW 200 AND COMMON LAW NEGLIGENCE CAUSES OF ACTION (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined the tenant, Fresh Direct, which supplied the allegedly defective ladder to plaintiff was not entitled to summary judgment on the Labor Law 200 and common law negligence causes of action. Plaintiff fell 20 feet when the ladder slipped:

Fresh Direct failed to establish, prima facie, that it did not have actual or constructive notice of the allegedly defective condition of the ladder that, according to the plaintiff, it provided at the time of the accident … . Hamm v Review Assoc., LLC, 2022 NY Slip Op 01011, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER THE DEFENDANT BUS DRIVER SAW WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SEEN AND WHETHER THE EMERGENCY DOCTRINE APPLIED TO THIS REAR-END COLLISION CASE; THE BUS WAS BEHIND PLAINTIFF’S SCOOTER AND BOTH THE BUS AND THE SCOOTER APPARENTLY CHANGED LANES AT THE SAME TIME (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined there were questions of fact whether defendant bus driver (Payne) failed to see what should have been seen and whether the emergence doctrine applied to this rear-end collision case. Plaintiff was on a motor scooter in front of the bus and both the bus and the scooter changed lanes at approximate the same time:

… [E]ven if Payne had the right of way, she testified at her deposition that she did not see the plaintiff on his motor scooter until “seconds” before the accident. Since the video recording taken from the bus seems to show that the bus was following the plaintiff’s motor scooter for approximately two blocks prior to the accident, Payne’s testimony raised a triable issue of fact as to whether Payne failed to see what was there to be seen through the proper use of her senses, and thus whether she exercised reasonable care to avoid the accident and whether her actions were a proximate cause of the accident … . …

… [T]he evidence failed to eliminate the existence of triable issues of fact as to whether Payne’s actions contributed to or caused the emergency, in light of, inter alia, her failure to observe the motor scooter earlier … . Fergile v Payne, 2022 NY Slip Op 01008, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

, ,

PROBABLE CAUSE FOR ARREST IS A COMPLETE DEFENSE TO CAUSES OF ACTION FOR FALSE ARREST, FALSE IMPRISONMENT AND BATTERY STEMMING FROM THE ARREST (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court noted that probable cause for arrest is a complete defendant to causes of action for false arrest, false imprisonment and battery association with the arrest:

The Supreme Court should have granted those branches of the municipal defendants’ motion which were for summary judgment dismissing the seventh, eighth, and ninth causes of action, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, and assault and battery insofar as asserted against them. The existence of probable cause constitutes a complete defense to causes of action alleging false arrest and false imprisonment … . The existence of probable cause is also a complete defense to a cause of action alleging assault and battery based solely on bodily contact during an allegedly unlawful arrest … . Farquharson v United Parcel Serv., 2022 NY Slip Op 01007, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

,

PLAINTIFF REAL ESTATE BROKER DID NOT ESTABLISH IT WAS ENTITLED TO A BROKERAGE FEE; THE BROKERAGE AGREEMENT EXPIRED BY ITS OWN TERMS BEFORE THE LEASE TOOK EFFECT (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court after a bench trial, determined plaintiff real estate broker was not entitled to a brokerage commission:

“In order to recover a real estate brokerage commission, [a] broker must establish: (1) that [it] is duly licensed, (2) that [it] had a contract, express or implied, with the party to be charged with paying the commission, and (3) that [it] was the procuring cause of the [transaction]” … . …

Although the agreement entitled the plaintiff to collect a commission “[i]f within 60 days after the expiration . . . of th[e] . . . agreement, a lease is signed or negotiations continue and ultimately lead to a signed lease of the Property to a person or entity” on a list of potential tenants to be provided by the plaintiff within 10 days of expiration of the brokerage agreement, the lease was not signed within 60 days of the expiration of the brokerage agreement, and the plaintiff did not present any evidence that it supplied a list of potential tenants to the defendant. Thus, the brokerage agreement, by its terms, expired months before the defendant entered into a binding lease … . Cpex Real Estate, LLC v Tomtro Realty Corp., 2022 NY Slip Op 00999, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

, ,

THE BANK’S PROOF OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE NOTICE REQUIREMENTS OF RPAPL 1304 IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION WAS INSUFFICIENT; THE BUSINESS RECORDS REFERRED TO IN THE AFFIDAVIT WERE NOT PRODUCED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court in this foreclosure action, determined the bank’s proof of compliance with the notice requirements of RPAPL 1304 was insufficient. The court noted that, under the facts, standing to contest the bank’s compliance with RPAPL 1304 was personal to each borrower, one borrower could not assert that defense on behalf of another borrower:

JPMorgan submitted an affidavit, entitled an “Affidavit of Mailing,” signed by James A. Ranaldi, an “Authorized Signer” employed by JPMorgan. Ranaldi, however, did not attest to personal knowledge of the actual mailings. Nor did he state that he had personal knowledge “of a standard office mailing procedure designed to ensure that items are properly addressed and mailed” … . Although Ranaldi asserted, based upon his review of business records associated with the subject loan, that “a ninety-day (90) pre-foreclosure notice dated 12/04/2009 was sent by regular first class and certified mail under the exclusive care and custody of the United States Postal Service addressed to [the defendant at the subject property],” “it is the business record itself, not the foundational affidavit, that serves as proof of the matter asserted”… . The records attached to Ranaldi’s affidavit provided evidence that the 90-day notice was sent to the defendant by certified mail. But none of the documents, considered individually or together, including the copies of the notice letters themselves, provided any information as to whether the 90-day notice was sent to the defendant by regular first-class mail … . Without business records proving the matter asserted, Ranaldi’s “unsubstantiated and conclusory” statement, by itself, was insufficient to establish that the RPAPL 1304 notice was mailed to the defendant by first-class mail … . Wilmington Sav. Fund Socy., FSB v Kutch, 2022 NY Slip Op 01066, Second Dept 2-16-22

 

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy