Midland Funding LLC v. Singleton

35 Misc. 3d 410
CourtNassau County District Court
DecidedFebruary 6, 2012
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 35 Misc. 3d 410 (Midland Funding LLC v. Singleton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nassau County District Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Midland Funding LLC v. Singleton, 35 Misc. 3d 410 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Fred J. Hirsh, J.

Background

In Midland Funding LLC v Singleton (34 Misc 3d 798 [Nassau Dist Ct 2011] (Singleton 1]), this court ordered an evidentiary hearing to determine if funds on deposit in a bank account maintained by April Singleton also known as April Phillips (Singleton) with Sovereign Bank (Sovereign) were exempt from judgment enforcement. This court must now decide whether judgment debtor Singleton’s failure to appear for the evidentiary hearing requires the court to reject her claim the funds are exempt from judgment enforcement.

While the facts surrounding this matter are set forth in detail in Singleton 1, a brief repetition of the salient facts is necessary to understand this decision.

Plaintiff Midland Funding LLC (Midland) entered a default judgment against Singleton. The judgment remains unsatisfied.

Midland served an information subpoena and restraining notice dated November 3, 2011, exemption claim notice and exemption claim form upon Sovereign. Sovereign responded to Midland’s information subpoena and restrained the amount on deposit in Singleton’s account in excess of $1,740.

Singleton timely mailed the exemption claim form to Midland’s attorney together with copies of her pay stubs for the dates September 9, 23, October 7 and 21, 2011. Singleton did not provide Midland’s attorney with copies of her monthly or other statements for her Sovereign account.

Sovereign’s response to the information subpoena did not contain any information regarding whether any deposits were made into Singleton’s account on the above-mentioned dates. Sovereign’s response to the information subpoena indicated a direct deposit into Singleton’s account from Singleton’s employer on November 4, 2011 and deposits made into Singleton’s account by the State of New York on November 3, 2011 [364]*364and ING Direct on October 28, 2011. The deposits from the State and ING Direct do not appear to be from exempt sources. Midland did not request and Sovereign did not provide copies of Singleton’s Sovereign statements for September, October or November 2011.

Midland’s attorney objected to Singleton’s claim that the funds in the account were exempt from execution by timely moving to contest the claimed objection. (CPLR 5222-a [d].) Singleton did not appear on the return date of the motion and did not submit any papers in opposition to the motion.

In Singleton l, this court scheduled an evidentiary hearing to determine Midland’s challenge to Singleton’s claim of exemption for January 3, 2012.

Singleton did not appear for the January 3, 2012 evidentiary hearing even though Midland’s attorney served a copy of the court’s order directing the hearing upon Singleton in the manner directed by the court. Singleton received additional notice of the January 3, 2012 hearing because the court mailed a copy of its order in Singleton 1 to Singleton.

Because Singleton did not appear, the court adjourned the hearing to January 30, 2012. Midland’s attorney mailed a letter to Singleton dated January 6, 2012 advising her of the January 30, 2012 hearing. The court also advised Singleton of the January 30, 2012 hearing. Despite the notice, Singleton did not appear on January 30, 2012.

Neither the copy of the order in Singleton 1 nor the letter mailed to Singleton by the court to advise her of the January 30, 2012 hearing has been returned by the United States Postal Service with an indication the items were undeliverable as addressed.

On January 30, 2012, Midland’s attorney advised the court he had received a telephone call from Singleton regarding the possible resolution of this matter. As of January 30, 2012, the parties were unable to reach a settlement.

Discussion

CPLR 5222-a, which was enacted as part of the Exempt Income Protection Act of 2008 (L 2008, ch 575 [EIPA]), was enacted to protect judgment debtors from having funds that are exempt from judgment enforcement restrained and seized by judgment creditors and to prevent judgment creditors from restraining and seizing all of a judgment debtor’s funds.

[365]*365CPLR 5222-a appears to be premised on the belief the judgment seeking to be enforced was entered after the claim was fully litigated in an action in which both parties were represented by counsel and the judgment debtor is still represented by counsel who is familiar with and properly advising the judgment debtor regarding the intricacies of CPLR 5222-a. In reality, in many if not most cases, the judgment creditor is seeking to enforce a clerk’s default judgment (Siegel, NY Prac § 293 [5th ed]; CPLR 3215 [a]) entered upon questionable service (see Matter of Pfau v Forster & Garbus, Sup Ct, Erie County, index No. 2166/11) where the proof submitted in support of the application to enter the judgment may have been insufficient to obtain the judgment. (Velocity Invs., LLC v McCaffrey, 31 Misc 3d 308 [Nassau Dist Ct 2011]; Collins Fin. Servs. v Vigilante, 30 Misc 3d 908 [Civ Ct, Richmond County 2011].) In almost all cases, the judgment debtor was not represented by an attorney in the action that resulted in the judgment being entered and is not being represented by an attorney in the judgment enforcement proceedings.

The information subpoena and restraining notice was dated November 3, 2011. Ninety percent of any income earned within 60 days of the issuance of the restraining notice would be exempt from execution. (CPLR 5205 [d] [2].)

One of the major elements of the EIPA is the requirement that an exemption claim notice and exemption claim form in the form prescribed by CPLR 5222-a (b) (4) (a) and (b) be served with any restraining notice served upon a banking institution when the account to be restrained is maintained by a natural person. (CPLR 5222-a [b] [1].)

The bank upon which the exemption claim notice and exemption claim form is served must mail a copy of these forms to the judgment debtor at the judgment debtor’s last known address within two business days of receipt. (CPLR 5222-a [b] [3].)1

The exemption claim notice and exemption claim form advise the judgment debtor that certain funds that may be on deposit in the account are fully or partially exempt from restraint and cannot be taken to enforce a judgment.

[366]*366The exemption claim form permits the judgment debtor to claim an exemption by placing a or “X” on the line next to the source of exempt funds and mailing the exemption claim form to the attorney for judgment creditor or if the judgment creditor is not represented by counsel to the judgment creditor within 20 days of the date on the postmark on the correspondence by which the banking institution mailed the forms to the judgment debtor. (CPLR 5222-a [c] [1].) The judgment debtor may but is not required to provide the judgment creditor with documentary evidence and/or written proof to support the claimed exemption. The exemption claim form suggests that providing such proof to the judgment creditor may result in the account being released more quickly.

The judgment creditor may contest the judgment debtor’s claim of exemption by timely moving in the action in which the judgment was entered to object to the exemption. (See

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
35 Misc. 3d 410, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/midland-funding-llc-v-singleton-nydistctnassau-2012.