A defendant seeking to vacate a judgment pursuant to CPLR 5015(a)(1) must demonstrate a reasonable excuse for the default and a potentially meritorious defense to the action, Here, the defendant failed to provide a detailed and credible explanation for the default. Instead, the defendant submitted only an affidavit of an employee of its loan servicer averring that the defendant's agent for process had emailed the summons and complaint to the servicer, and the complaint had been misrouted in the servicer's email system. That conclusory and nondetailed allegation does not constitute a reasonable excuse warranting vacatur of the default. Accordingly, is not necessary to determine whether the defendant demonstrated a potentially meritorious defense to the action.
259 Milford, LLC v. FV-1, Inc., NY Slip Op 06898 (2d Dep't December 7, 2022)
