My wife and I have diligently attended conferences and hearings in Nassau County Supreme Court. We inadvertently marked the wrong date on our calendar for a scheduled hearing and the plaintiff received a default judgement. I immediately went down to the court (hearing was scheduled for 9/7/11 and we went on 9/9/11) and obtained the necessary forms to file a motion to vacate the judgement and return the matter to the court calendar. My question pertains to what are acceptable grounds for getting an order to vacate this judgement. In addition the court had ordered the plaintiff to provide us with an answer on a loan modification by 8/26/11;the plaintiff never complied with this requaest

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Originally Posted by PeterBourke2

My question pertains to what are acceptable grounds for getting an order to vacate this judgement. In addition the court had ordered the plaintiff to provide us with an answer on a loan modification by 8/26/11;the plaintiff never complied with this requaest

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Hello P:

Acceptable?? Uhhh, you got trapped in an elevator.. You were held at gunpoint... Of course, I'm being silly, but other than being PREVENTED from attending the hearing, there are NO acceptable grounds for setting the judgment aside. Besides, the affidavit you submit along with your motion says that your motion is based upon the TRUTH... So, I wouldn't make up a reason... Tell him you just missed it. He CAN grant your motion, or not. If not, you can appeal it.

In terms of your second request, it's moot unless you can get back into court.

excon

You will have to find some fault in the ruling. You tell them the truth and hope they will rule to allow a new hearing.

And agreed, they don't have to provide anything after a default judgement.

What is your defense, on what grounds to you hope to show that you don't owe them the money ?

I do have proof in the form of a letter and attachments faxed to the plaintiff and their attorney on 9/6/11
(the day before the actual hearing) asking them if they would notify me if they wanted me to bring the originals to court on the hearing date of 9/9/11. Should I include this in my petition as evidence that it was just an honest mistake on our part?

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Originally Posted by PeterBourke2

Should I include this in my petition as evidence that it was just an honest mistake on our part?

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Hello again, Peter:

Sure.. But, I don't think you're going to have to convince the judge that it was an honest mistake... He KNOWS you wanted to be there.

I'd try to convince him of the merits of your case and how they shout out to be heard in open court, and that a great miscarriage of justice will occur if he rules against you...

You know, BS like that.

excon