CPLR 3215(c) provides that if a plaintiff fails to take proceedings for the entry of judgment within one year after the defendant's default, the court shall not enter judgment but shall dismiss the complaint as abandoned, without costs, upon its own initiative or on motion, unless sufficient cause is shown why the complaint should not be dismissed. In order to avoid dismissal pursuant to the statute, it is not necessary for the plaintiff actually to obtain a default judgment within one year. The plaintiff is not even required to specifically seek a default judgment within the year. As long as the plaintiff has initiated proceedings for the entry of a judgment within one year of the default, there is no basis for dismissal of the complaint pursuant to CPLR 3215(c). The statutory language is not discretionary, but mandatory, inasmuch as courts "shall" dismiss claims for which default judgments are not sought within the requisite one-year period, as those claims are then deemed abandoned. The one exception to the otherwise mandatory language of CPLR 3215(c) is that the failure to timely seek a default on an unanswered complaint or counterclaim may be excused if sufficient cause is shown why the complaint should not be dismissed. The Second Department has interpreted this language as requiring both a reasonable excuse for the delay in timely moving for a default judgment, plus a demonstration that the cause of action is potentially meritorious. The determination of whether an excuse is reasonable in any given instance is committed to the sound discretion of the Supreme Court.
Bank of N.Y. v. Pieloch, NY Slip Op 02996 (2d Dep't June 7, 2023)
