Court Opinion

ID: 9958748
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-09 20:10:43.834785+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:15:48.348092
License: Public Domain

Perez v Batiz
               2024 NY Slip Op 31062(U)
                     March 29, 2024
           Supreme Court, New York County
        Docket Number: Index No. 651888/2018
                  Judge: Debra A. James
Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip
 Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York
 State and local government sources, including the New
  York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service.
 This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official
                       publication.
                                                                                                                        INDEX NO. 651888/2018
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 111                                                                                             RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/29/2024

                                   SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
                                             NEW YORK COUNTY
            PRESENT:             HON. DEBRA A. JAMES                                                PART   59
                                                                                      Justice
            ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------X
                                                                                                    INDEX NO.          651888/2018
             ANGEL PEREZ and B & A RESTORATION
             CONTRACTORS INC.,                                                                      MOTION DATE         04/21/2023

                                                         Plaintiffs,                                MOTION SEQ. NO.      004 005

                                                 - V -
                                                                                                      DECISION + ORDER ON
             EDWIN BATIZ, BAR 13, INC., and ZOE REALTY CORP.,
                                                                                                            MOTION
                                                         Defendants.
            ------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------X

            The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 004) 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
            54,55,56,57,58,59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 94, 97, 99,100,101
            were read on this motion to/for                                  VACATE - DECISION/ORDER/JUDGMENT/AWARD.

            The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 005) 86, 87, 88, 89, 90,
            91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 98, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108
            were read on this motion to/for                                  VACATE - DECISION/ORDER/JUDGMENT/AWARD.

                                                                            ORDER

                      Upon the foregoing documents, it is

                      ORDERED that the motion of defendant Bar 13, Inc., pursuant

            to CPLR §§ 5015(a) and 317, to vacate the default judgment

            against it (motion sequence number 004)                                               is DENIED; and it is

            further

                      ORDERED that the motion of defendant Zoe Realty Corp

            pursuant to CPLR § 5015 to vacate the default judgment against

            it is GRANTED, and the judgment filed on January 25, 2022, as

            against defendant Zoe Realty Corp. only is hereby vacated; and

            it is further

             651888/2018 PEREZ, ANGEL vs. BATIZ, EDWIN                                                                  Page 1 of4
             Motion No. 004 005

[* 1]                                                                       1 of 4
                                                                              INDEX NO. 651888/2018
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 111                                                   RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/29/2024

                   ORDERED that, within twenty (20) days of the date hereof,

            plaintiffs shall file an amended judgment removing defendant Zoe

            Realty Corp, nunc pro tune, in accordance with the foregoing;

            and it is further

                   ORDERED that the action against defendant Zoe Realty Corp

            is severed, restored to the calendar, and shall continue; and it

            is further

                   ORDERED that, within thirty (30) days of the date hereof,

            defendant Zoe Realty Corp shall serve and file an answer to the

            complaint or otherwise move; and it is further;

                   ORDERED that counsel for plaintiffs and for defendant Zoe

            Realty Corp are directed to post on NYSCEF a proposed

            preliminary discovery conference order or competing proposed

            preliminary discovery conference order(s) at least two days

            before May 2, 2024, on which date counsel shall appear via

           Microsoft Teams, unless such appearance be waived by the court.

                                                          DECISION

                   Affiant Thomas Sullivan alleges that he is the "sole

            proprietor of [defendant} Bar 13 Inc", but such characterization

            of his ownership is incorrect, as a matter of law, given that

            Bar 13, Inc. is a corporate entity and not a sole

            proprietorship.            In addition, neither he nor defendant Batiz

            deny that at all pertinent times, defendant Batiz was a

            principal       (specifically, president) of corporate defendant Bar

             651888/2018 PEREZ, ANGEL vs. BATIZ, EDWIN                        Page 2 of 4
             Motion No. 004 005

[* 2]                                                    2 of 4
                                                                                          INDEX NO. 651888/2018
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 111                                                              RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/29/2024

            !3, Inc.       Sullivan does not contest the affidavit, wherein under

            oath on August 16, 2019, defendant Batiz stated that he is the

            president of defendant Bar 13 Inc, which affidavit was submitted

            in support of a motion to stay issuance of a warrant in a

            landlord and tenant non-payment summary proceeding, entitled Zoe

            Realty Corp v Bar 13 Inc, NYC Civil Court Index No 078035/2018

            (NYSCEF Document Number 101).

                   Furthermore, defendant Batiz does not deny that, in the

            herein action, he retained counsel, who appeared at the remote

            oral argument and challenged the motion of plaintiffs for a

            default judgment against him on September 24, 2019.                      As such

            principal's knowledge of the judgment is imputed to defendant

            Bar 13, Inc., such defendant corporation is unable to

            demonstrate that it did not have knowledge of entry of the

            judgment on September 24, 2019.                  Therefore, defendant Bar 13,

            Inc is not entitled to relief from such judgment pursuant to

            CPLR § 317.         This court likewise agrees with plaintiffs that

            defendant Bar 13 Inc has, thereby,                     failed to assert a reasonable

            excuse for its default or a meritorious defense, and therefore

            relief pursuant to CPLR 5015 (a) (3)                   is also unwarranted.

                   However, defendant Zoe Realty Corp. has established

            entitlement to relief from the default judgment against it

            pursuant to CPLR § 317.                 See Eugene Di Lorenzo,      Inc v AC Dutton

            Co Inc,     67 NY2d 138         (1986).      Corporate defendant Zoe Realty Corp

             651888/2018 PEREZ, ANGEL vs. BATIZ, EDWIN                                    Page 3 of 4
             Motion No. 004 005

[* 3]                                                     3 of 4
                                                                                                             INDEX NO. 651888/2018
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 111                                                                             RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/29/2024

            was served via the Secretary of State and not personally.                                               As

            its principal Hyam Tsadok states under oath that he received no

            copy of the complaint and attached to plaintiff's opposition is

            no receipt showing that the Secretary of State served process by

            certified mail, return receipt requested, upon defendant Zoe

            Realty Corp pursuant to CPLR § 306(a), affiant Tsadok's

            assertion that he did not obtain knowledge of entry of the

            default in time to defend same establishes that defendant Zoe

            Realty Corp had no such knowledge.                         Defendant Zoe Realty Corp,

            also by the affidavit of its principal Tsadok, states a

            meritorious defense to the complaint against it, in which he

            alleges that plaintiff defendant Perez has an ownership interest

            in Bar 13 Inc and as such, defendant Perez has no right to file

            a mechanic's lien for any                     "investment" he made in the real

            property against Zoe Realty Co., landlord of the property.                                                 See

            Pallette Stone Corp v                Bokus, 208 AD2d 1138               (3rd Dept 1994)

                                                                            P-~ . A - } ~
                                                                          20240329123643DJAME5463DF93D1F5245EF88D222A792A8D7C6

                    3/29/2024
                      DATE                                                         DEBRA A. JAMES, J.S.C.

                                     ~
             CHECK ONE:                   CASE DISPOSED                   NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

                                          GRANTED          □ DENIED       GRANTED IN PART                  □ OTHER
             APPLICATION:                 SETTLE ORDER                    SUBMIT ORDER

             CHECK IF APPROPRIATE:        INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN      FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT            □ REFERENCE

             651888/2018 PEREZ, ANGEL vs. BATIZ, EDWIN                                                        Page4 of 4
             Motion No. 004 005

[* 4]                                                       4 of 4