Estate of Taylor v. Moreno

294 A.D.2d 821, 740 N.Y.S.2d 899, 2002 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4422

Opinion

—Appeal from an order of Supreme Court, Erie County (Doyle, J.), entered March 2, 2001, which granted defendant’s motion to vacate a default judgment.

It is hereby ordered that the order so appealed from be and the same hereby is unanimously affirmed with costs.

Memorandum: Supreme Court did not abuse its discretion in granting the motion of defendant to vacate a default judgment entered against her as a consequence of her failure to answer the complaint (see Smith v Smith, 291 AD2d 828; Steinbarth v Otis El. Co., 244 AD2d 930). Defendant demonstrated both a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious defense to the action (see Marchionda & Assoc. v Maximum Express Delivery, 213 AD2d 1071; see generally Di Lorenzo, Inc. v Dutton Lbr. Co., 67 NY2d 138, 141; Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Md. v Andersen & Co., 60 NY2d 693, 695). Present—Pigott, Jr., P.J., Green, Hurlbutt, Kehoe and Lawton, JJ.