People ex rel. Wheeler v. Neafsey

142 Misc. 692, 255 N.Y.S. 477, 1931 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1783
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 23, 1931
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 142 Misc. 692 (People ex rel. Wheeler v. Neafsey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. Wheeler v. Neafsey, 142 Misc. 692, 255 N.Y.S. 477, 1931 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1783 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1931).

Opinion

Johnston, J.

This is a proceeding under sections 290-296 of the Tax Law for a writ of certiorari to review the 1931 assessment for taxes on relator’s real property. A prior proceeding was instituted seeking the same relief. The writ was granted, but subsequently quashed and the proceeding dismissed because the petition did not disclose the market value of relator’s property and the market value of comparable properties. It is not disputed the present petition contains the allegations which were absent in the prior petition and complies with the provisions of the Tax Law. Respondent claims the petition in this proceeding not having been presented within the time required by the statute (section 291 of the Tax Law), this Court is without jurisdiction to grant the relief sought. Relator contends the present application comes within the contemplation of section 23 of the Civil Practice Act, which provides if an action is commenced within the time limited therefor, or is terminated in any other manner than by a voluntary discontinuance, a dismissal of the complaint for neglect to prosecute the action, or a final judgment upon the merits, the plaintiff may commence a new action for the same cause after the expiration of the time so limited and within one year after such reversal or determination. The word “ action ” is to be construed as including a special proceeding or any proceeding. (Civ. Prac. Act, § 10; People ex rel. McCabe v. Snedeker, 106 App. Div. 89; Matter of Decker v. Pouvailsmith Corp., 252 N. Y. 1-6.) The question for determination is, is the fifteen-day limitation provided by the statute a condition precedent to the maintenance of the proceeding or does section 23 of the Civil Practice Act apply? The courts when necessary have frequently applied the provisions of the Code and Civil Practice Act to the Tax Law. As was said in People ex rel. N. Y. C. R. R. Co. v. Block (178 App. Div. 251): “And so far as it [the Tax Law] regulates the practice and the use of the writ in tax cases the provisions are exclusive and override the Code provisions (Mercantile Nat. Bank v. Mayor, etc., 172 N. Y. 35). Where the statute is silent the provisions of the Code are effective (People ex rel. Rochester Telephone Co. v. Priest, 181 N. Y. 300).” People ex rel. Empire Mortgage Co. v. Cantor (198 App. Div. 317) and People ex rel. Durham Realty Corp. v. Cantor (234 N. Y. 507) are [694]*694authorities for the same proposition. In the Durham Case (supra) a motion was made pursuant to section 111 of the Civil Practice Act, three years after the original petition was filed, to change the name of the relator from the Durham Corporation to James B. Duke, the owner. The learned Special Term denied the application, holding the defect was jurisdictional, that the fifteen-day limitation was a condition precedent, and to grant the motion would extend the time and grant to the owner a privilege which under the statute ceased to exist. The decision was affirmed, Clarke, P. J., dissenting (201 App. Div. 834). The question involved — the power of the court to grant the amendment — was certified to the Court of Appeals and answered in the affirmative on the dissenting opinion of the presiding justice (234 N. Y. 507). The courts have also applied the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure and Civil Practice Act to other statutory actions (Sharrow v. Inland Lines, Ltd., 214 N. Y. 101; Conolly v. Hyams, 176 id. 403). The Sharrow Case (supra) was an action to recover damages for negligently causing death. There the statute provided the action must he commenced within two years after the decedent’s death. Here the statute provides the petition must he presented within fifteen days. There, as here, the defendant relied upon the rule laid down in the case of Hill v. Supervisors (119 N. Y. 344). It was urged that in an action created by statute and unknown to the common law the time limitation is a condition precedent to its maintenance. The plaintiff invoked, the beneficial provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure (section 23 of the Civil Practice Act), and the court applied them and held the statutory provision was a limitation upon the remedy and not upon the right. It is to be observed the cases upon which respondent relies formed the basis for the vigorous dissent in the Sharrow case. The Conolly Case (supra) involved the Mechanics’ Lien Law, which provides that a lien shall cease unless an action be brought thereon within one year. An action to foreclose the hen was commenced within a year after the lien was filed. The action was dismissed and another action started more than a year after the hen was filed and plaintiff recovered judgment. Defendant contended the action was governed exclusively by the provisions of the Lien Law and also rehed upon the Hill Case (supra). The court held the institution of the first action was a compliance with the statute and the application of the provisions of section 405 of the Code of Civil Procedure did not contravene the commands of the statute. In his effort to distinguish this case respondent points out that while a mechanic’s hen arises under a special act, its enforcement is regulated by the Civil Practice Act. This is true, but nowhere in the opinion does [695]*695the court take recourse to this. On the contrary, the court based its decision on the ground that the one-year provision in the statute was a limitation, not of the right but the remedy, and as the first action was started within a year the second action could be maintained. The Lien Law is a special act, so is the Tax Law. If the lien were saved because the summons in the first action was served within the statutory time, why should this proceeding be lost when the first petition was presented within the statutory period? True, it has been held, as respondent contends, where a statute makes a limitation of time “ the essence of the right of action so that it does not exist independent of the limitation ” that the court is powerless to afford relief after the expiration of the time fixed in the statute. This rule, enunciated in the Hill Case (supra) and recognized in Matter of Cheesman (236 N. Y. 47), however, has no application to the facts in the instant proceeding. The Hill case was a statutory action brought to recover damages for the destruction of property by mob or riot. The statute (Laws of 1855, chap. 428) provided that “No action shall be maintained * * * unless the same shall be brought within three months after the loss or injury.” Within the time limited an action was brought in the County Court, but dismissed. After the expiration of the time limited another action was commenced Li the Supreme Court. It was held the provisions of section 405 of the Code of Civil Procedure (now section 23 of the Civil Practice Act) did not apply and the action could not be instituted after the expiration of the statutory period. It will be noticed the action was forbidden by the express terms of the statute and, therefore, the relief sought under the Code of Civil Procedure provision was precluded. Time was a substantive part of the right and could not be extended by a procedural provision applicable only to the remedy. It was a condition precedent to the maintenance of the action. Moreover, the Hill case, upon which respondent mainly relies, was decided in 1890. In the light of subsequent adjudications it has lost weight as a controlling authority. The cases show a disposition not to extend the Hill case beyond the facts actually decided by it.”

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Bluebook (online)
142 Misc. 692, 255 N.Y.S. 477, 1931 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-wheeler-v-neafsey-nysupct-1931.