JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Lu
2017 NY Slip Op 8322
N.Y. App. Div.
2017
Check Treatment

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Respondent, v CHING J. LU, Also Known as CHING JUNG LU, Appellant, and 408 WEST 57TH OWNERS CORP., Respondent, et al., Defendant.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

August 31, 2017

153 AD3d 551 | 64 NYS3d 542

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Manuel J. Mendez, J.), entered on or about September 21, 2016, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, denied defendant Ching J. Lu’s motion, under CPLR 5015 (a), to vacate a default judgment, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The trial court’s determination that defendant failed to demonstrate a reasonable excuse for her default was within the court’s sound discretion (see

). To the extent defendant denies service of the summons and complaint, her general denials are insufficient to rebut the presumption of service created by the detailed, validly executed affidavits of service (see
). Defendant’s argument that she relied on assurance from defendant cooperative corporation (the co-op) that her property would be protected and that she need not answer the complaint, is unsupported by any proof and accordingly insufficient (see
). Moreover, defendant, who acknowledged she did not pay much attention to papers she received by mail, further fails to explain why the co-op would have so assured her. The record before us shows that defendant knew she had defaulted on a loan secured by the property, and that she had received multiple notices from plaintiff of her default, and of its intent to collect the debt, and to foreclose and sell the property at a public auction, if necessary. Under the circumstances, defendant fails to show how her reliance on any alleged assurances from the co-op could have been reasonable (see
;
).

Given the lack of a reasonable excuse for her default, it is not necessary for us to consider whether defendant demonstrated the existence of a meritorious defense (see

). Concur—Richter, J.P., Kapnick, Webber, Oing and Singh, JJ.