Commissioner of Labor v. Chudzik

126 Misc. 2d 968, 484 N.Y.S.2d 753, 1984 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3737
New York Supreme Court·Decided September 28, 1984·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Edward M. Horey, J.

Once again the Commissioner of Labor seeks to renew an application for an extension of a levy on personal property of Stanley Chudzik, the judgment debtor.

To review briefly, an initial ex parte application to renew a levy made by the Commissioner through attorneys in the Department of Labor was denied by this court in a detailed decision dated March 30, 1984. (See, Commissioner of Labor v Chudzik, 123 Misc 2d 959.) The denial was based upon determined consti[969]*969tutional grounds of inadequacy of notice to the judgment debtor involved and constitutional inadequacy of statutory provisions relative to notice to a judgment debtor.

Dissatisfied with the court’s decision, the. Commissioner of Labor then sought the legal services of the Attorney-General and the Attorney-General then made an application “for reargument on additional papers” of the Commissioner’s original application for renewal. This court determined that the application was not one for reargument but was one for review and upon considering the factual material contained in the “additional papers” presented denied this application. The reason for this denial was set forth in an unpublished second decision of this court dated May 3, 1984.

A third attempt to secure the relief originally sought is now belatedly presented by the Commissioner of Labor again through the office of the Attorney-General. This most recent application is an application to renew an application for an extension of levy. It is also denied for reasons hereinafter set forth.

The only significant new material submitted on the latest application is an affidavit of one Gerard Stranz, a tax compliance agent. In his affidavit, Mr. Stranz asserts that a notice concerning possible exempt property had been mailed to the judgment debtor on November 28, 1983 “or the following day.” This allegedly was done at the time a specification and levy was made on Danny Dineen, a garnishee of assets of the judgment debtor. The affidavit further states that the collection case against the debtor “dates back for a period of fifteen years.” It states that the affiant had been “involved in the case for a long period of time and I am therefore aware of all aspects of this case.”

Let us address first the question “why was the Commissioner of Labor prevented from bringing the factual information now offered to the attention of the court in the initial proceeding or in the first application to review and presents it now for the first time after the elapse of seven months?”

If notice of exempt property was in fact given to the judgment debtor in November 1983 as alleged, proof of that fact was available to the attorneys for the Commissioner of Labor in making the initial application for an extension of levy in February 1984. Similarly, it would have been available to the Attorney-General when he intervened on behalf of the Commissioner of Labor in seeking a review of the decision in April of 1984. Certainly the original decision of the court indicated clearly the [970]*970relevancy of such proof. It would have been available at all intervening times. It has now been produced for consideration by the court for the first time seven months after the proceeding was first commenced. Quite frankly, the court finds the circumstances surrounding the affidavit and its late submission suspect.

However, the court does not predicate its decision on such grounds.

An application or motion for leave to review is to be made upon presenting additional facts which existed at the time the prior motion was made or by supplying defects in the proof. The additional facts must be material and not merely cumulative or additional evidence of the same kind as originally submitted. (See, 2 Carmody-Wait 2d, NY Prac § 8:78, and cases there cited.) “Furthermore, it is necessary, not only that the additional facts be ones which were not presented to the court on the previous motion, but also that the movant show that he was prevented from bringing such facts to the notice of the judge by mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.” (2 Carmody-Wait 2d, NY Prac § 8:78; italics added; ECCO High Frequency Corp. v Amtorg Trading Corp., 81 NYS2d 897, affd 274 App Div 982 [1st Dept 1948]; Matter of Hooker v Town Bd., 60 AD2d 684 [3d Dept 1977].)

This court specifically finds nothing in the papers submitted by the applicant which would excuse failure to submit, not once but twice, proof of service of notice of exempt property on the judgment debtor. So the first grounds of the decision herein are the total failure of the applicant to show that the applicant was prevented from bringing such facts to the attention of the court through mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excuseable neglect. Additional and more compelling grounds are at hand.

In its original decision of March 30, 1984 this court opined that even if notice of exempt property had been given to the judgment debtor at the time of service of the warrant upon the judgment debtor or a garnishee that a further notice should be required in connection with any motion or application for an extension of levy. (See, Commissioner of Labor v Chudzik, 123 Misc 2d 959, 969, supra.)

The reasons supporting the court’s view were stated as follows (p 969): “However, when one considers (1) that the purpose of the statute is to provide a debtor with knowledge that some or all of his property may be exempt from levy under State or Federal statutes and (2) that a levy once made is applicable not only to the property which the debtor owns at the time of the levy but [971]*971also as to any property or interest ‘thereafter’ coming into the possession of the debtor or that of a garnishee holding property of the debtor (see CPLR 5232, subd [a]) and (3) that the debtor or a garnishee may have acquired exempt property after the initial levy, then a requirement of notice concerning exempt property before granting an extension of levy in the opinion of this court is persuasive, reasonable and necessary. If it were otherwise, the purpose of the notice would be frustrated.”

For the reasons noted together with the fact that there is no statutory provision under the CPLR or Labor Law referable to notice upon application for renewal of a levy but at best only in reference to service of a “restraining notice” which is provided in the CPLR referable to judgment creditors (see, CPLR 5222 [d]; 5232 [c]) and for the further reason that there are numerous and periodic changes and additions of exempt property made by the Congress and the State Legislature, the court no longer opines but now holds it to be a constitutional requirement of procedural due process that notice of exempt property be given the judgment debtor in concert with procedures to extend a levy previously obtained. This holding constitutes the court’s second grounds for denial of the instant application to review.

As a foundation to the additional grounds of the court’s determination, note is made of a much-stressed argument of the Attorney-General.

In his memorandum submitted in support of the most recent application, the Attorney-General sets forth the argument that the provisions of Labor Law § 573 (2) mandate procedures upon execution following the issuance of warrants precisely as procedures are required in respect to executions against property upon judgments of a court of record.

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Commissioner of Labor v. Chudzik, 126 Misc. 2d 968, 484 N.Y.S.2d 753, 1984 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3737 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1984).

126 Misc. 2d 968 (Commissioner of Labor v. Chudzik) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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