A demand to change venue based upon the designation of an improper county must be "served with the answer or before the answer is served," pursuant to CPLR 511[a]. Here, since no demand to change venue was served with the answer or before the answer had been served, that branch of the defendants' motion which was to change venue on the ground that the county designated was improper, pursuant to CPLR 510[1], was untimely. The defendants were not entitled to change venue as of right, and their motion became one addressed to the Supreme Court's discretion. The Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in granting that branch of their motion which was to change venue, since the defendants failed to demonstrate that they moved promptly for a change of venue after the plaintiff testified at his deposition that he lived at an address in Richmond County.
Aguilar v. Reback, NY Slip Op 04444 (2d Dep't September 18, 2024)
