Sukkar v. Ramirez

• Court: Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York
• Decided: April 20, 2017
• Docket: 2017 NYSlipOp 50558(U)
• Status: Published

Opinion

Norman Sukkar, Appellant,

against

Salvador Ramirez, Respondent.

Norman Sukkar, appellant pro se. Salvador Ramirez, respondent pro se (no brief filed).

Appeal from a judgment of the City Court of Yonkers, Westchester County (Christie L. Derrico, J.), entered November 14, 2014. The judgment, after an inquest, dismissed the action without prejudice.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, without costs, and the matter is remitted to the City Court for the entry of a judgment in favor of plaintiff in the principal sum of $5,000.

In this small claims action, plaintiff seeks to recover the principal sum of $5,000 for breach of contract based upon defendant's allegedly defective installation of a roof. Defendant did not appear for trial. After an inquest, the City Court dismissed the action without prejudice.

In our view, the judgment did not provide the parties with substantial justice according to the rules and principles of substantive law (see UCCA 1804, 1807; Ross v Friedman, 269 AD2d 584 [2000]).

Plaintiff was entitled to recover the amount by which his payments exceeded the contract price (see Fredlund v DeRosa, 309 AD2d 1287 [2003]; 36 NY Jur 2d, Damages § 52). The contract price was $4,500, and plaintiff demonstrated that he had paid a second contractor the sum of $6,700 to correct defendant's defective work. Plaintiff established that the total amount which he had paid to both defendant and the second contractor exceeded the $4,500 contract price by an amount in excess of $5,000, the jurisdictional limit of the Small Claims Part of the court (see Jackson v Douglas, 22 Misc 3d 134[A], 2009 NY Slip Op 50235[U] [App Term, 2d Dept, 9th & 10th Jud Dists 2009]).

Accordingly, the judgment is reversed and the matter is remitted to the City Court for the [*2]entry of a judgment in favor of plaintiff in the principal sum of $5,000, the jurisdictional limit of the court.

Tolbert, J.P., Garguilo and Brands, JJ., concur.

Paul Kenny
Chief Clerk
Decision Date: April 20, 2017