Tauz v. Allstate Insurance

2 Misc. 3d 638, 773 N.Y.S.2d 813, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1620
CourtNassau County District Court
DecidedDecember 12, 2003
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Misc. 3d 638 (Tauz v. Allstate Insurance) 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
Tauz v. Allstate Insurance, 2 Misc. 3d 638, 773 N.Y.S.2d 813, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1620 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Scott Fairgrieve, J.

Plaintiffs application pursuant to CPLR 3215, seeking entry of default judgment in favor of plaintiff against defendant Allstate Insurance Company must be denied and the action dismissed for the reasons stated herein.

[639]*639Plaintiff Carlos R. Tauz, L.M.T., as assignee of Juan E. Lucero, seeks to recover the sum of $6,397.59 for medical services provided to Mr. Lucero pursuant to the No-Fault Law, article 51 of the Insurance Law, and the regulations of the New York State Insurance Department (11 NYCRR 65.10 et seq.). The affidavit of service states that Allstate was served with the summons and complaint on August 27, 2003 at 10:00 a.m. in Suffolk County at 888 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge, New York. A letter dated October 1, 2003 was sent to Allstate at a Nassau County address at 60 Charles Lindbergh Boulevard, Uniondale, New York 11553, stating that plaintiff would seek a default judgment against Allstate unless an answer was served within 10 days. The second page of the notice of motion provides that Allstate is located at 60 Charles Lindbergh Boulevard, Union-dale, New York 11553. However, the affidavit of service concerning the application for a default judgment was mailed to Allstate at a different Nassau County address, 1111 Marcus Avenue, Lake Success, New York.

This court has seen numerous cases involving no-fault claims where service is made at one location and other types of mailings are sent to a different location which in the opinion of the court is a deliberate attempt to cause confusion on a large insurance company with the result that a default judgment may be entered. This court will no longer tolerate this gamesmanship and will dismiss actions or refuse to enter default judgments when the law is not followed. UDCA 403 states:

“Service of summons shall be made in the manner prescribed in supreme court practice, including the optional method of service by mail authorized by CPLR 312-a, but it shall be made only within the county unless service beyond the county be authorized by this act or by such other provision of law, other than the CPLR, as expressly applies to courts of limited jurisdiction or to all courts of the state.”

Pursuant to UDCA 403, service must be made within Nassau County unless service is authorized by some other provision of law such as UDCA 404.

UDCA 404 (d) states:

“(d) Corporation or association. If service of the summons cannot be effected by personal delivery thereof within the county so as to acquire in personam jurisdiction of a corporation or unincorporated association, such corporation or association [640]*640shall be deemed a non-resident of the county for purposes of this section.”

It is clear from reading UDCA 404 (d) that a corporation can only be served outside Nassau County if it can’t be served by personal delivery within Nassau County.

Plaintiff has demonstrated to the court that Allstate has at least two Nassau locations. This court has already ruled that service of a summons and complaint upon an insurer outside Nassau County when it has an office in Nassau County for personal delivery of pleadings is ineffective to confer jurisdiction upon the defendant insurer. (See Beverly Hills v AIG Ins. Co., 194 Misc 2d 533 [Nassau Dist Ct 2003].)

In Long Is. Garage Door Co. v Stafford (53 Misc 2d 568 [Nassau Dist Ct 1967]) plaintiff sought an order amending the summons nunc pro tunc. Service was made outside Nassau County and served in Suffolk County. The court stated that service of the summons outside Nassau County was void and deprived the court the ability to allow amendment of the summons unless service was specifically authorized. The court stated (at 569):

“A somewhat different situation presents itself here. In this case, the summons was served outside the territorial jurisdiction of this court. This can be validly done only under certain statutorily prescribed circumstances. (See UDCA, §§ 403, 404.)
“It may well be that one reason formal pleadings are required by the statute where service is made without the county is to apprise the defendant of what the jurisdictional basis for such service is, if any, and to enable him to attack jurisdiction if he were so advised.
“CPLR 320 (subd. [b]) provides that objection to jurisdiction over the person must be raised by answer or motion or it is waived.
“The court cannot act to direct an amendment of the summons unless it has jurisdiction. Certainly, a summons served outside the territorial jurisdiction of this court is void except as specifically provided for (UDCA, § 403). Even an appearance by defendant will not confer jurisdiction where personal jurisdiction is based solely upon section 404 of the UDCA if the cause does not, in fact, arise out of an act enumerated therein.
“It is incumbent upon the plaintiff to demonstrate that this court, at least prima facie, has jurisdiction [641]*641here and that service outside the county was properly authorized.”

In Made-Ready Door Co. v Fox Ledge Corp. (86 Misc 2d 518 [Suffolk Dist Ct 1976]), service was made to the individual Melvin Casher by delivery of the summons and complaint to a person of suitable age and discretion at his place of employment in Suffolk and mailing same to Mr. Casher to his Nassau County residence.

The court wrote that service outside Suffolk by mailing the summons and complaint to Mr. Casher’s home in Nassau was not justified by either UDCA 403 or 404 (at 519-520):

“It is this court’s opinion that the delivery of a summons to a person of suitable age and discretion at the defendant’s actual place of business within the jurisdictional limits of the court and mailing a copy of the summons to the defendant’s last known residence outside the territorial limits of the court constitutes service outside the territorial limits of the court requiring the jurisdictional basis to be alleged in the complaint. The mere fact that a copy of the summons was delivered to the defendant’s actual place of employment is immaterial. Service could not have been completed without mailing a copy of the summons to the defendant’s last known residence outside the county. The fact that the defendant is regularly employed within the territorial limits of the court, in itself, does not justify extraterritorial service. (Roder v Goldsmith, 49 Misc 2d 882.)
“The Uniform District Court Act requires that a summons must be served within the county in which the action is brought unless otherwise authorized by, such act or provision of law other than the CPLR. (UDCA, § 403.) Section 404 of the Uniform District Court Act more specifically provides those instances when extraterritorial service may be made upon a nonresident. In these instances extraterritorial service may be made upon a nonresident. In these instances extraterritorial service may be made upon a nonresident but only if the jurisdictional basis is alleged in the pleadings. (All-State Credit Corp. v Defendants Listed in 669 Default Judgments, 61 Misc 2d 677; Henry Sash & Door Co. v MediComplex, 69 Misc 2d 269.)”

In Coffman v National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa.

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Related

Kahn v. Friedlander
90 A.D.2d 868 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1982)
Roder v. Goldsmith
49 Misc. 2d 882 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 1966)
Long Island Garage Door Co. v. Stafford
53 Misc. 2d 568 (Nassau County District Court, 1967)
Coffman v. National Union Fire Insurance
60 Misc. 2d 81 (Nassau County District Court, 1969)
All-State Credit Corp. v. Listed in 669 Default Judgments
61 Misc. 2d 677 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 1970)
Henry Sash & Door Co. v. Medi-Complex Ltd.
69 Misc. 2d 269 (Suffolk County District Court, 1972)
Howard Oil Co. v. Morris
90 Misc. 2d 713 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 1977)
Rivera v. Laporte
120 Misc. 2d 733 (New York Supreme Court, 1983)
Beverly Hills, P.C. v. AIG Insurance
194 Misc. 2d 533 (Nassau County District Court, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 Misc. 3d 638, 773 N.Y.S.2d 813, 2003 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1620, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tauz-v-allstate-insurance-nydistctnassau-2003.