Ocwen Loan Servicing v. Ponce

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed an order denying defendants' motion to dismiss a mortgage foreclosure action for failure to comply with a Kings County Supreme Court local rule. The court held that the plaintiff's excuse for delaying its motion for a judgment of foreclosure and sale was reasonable and that the motion court did not abuse its discretion in excusing the delay. The appeal of defendant L & K Investors, LLC, was dismissed as abandoned.

Holdings

1. An appeal may be dismissed as abandoned when the appellant's brief is submitted only on behalf of a different appellant; L & K Investors, LLC's appeal was therefore dismissed as abandoned.
2. The motion court properly denied dismissal because it did not improvidently exercise its discretion in finding the plaintiff's excuse for delaying its motion for a judgment of foreclosure and sale reasonable.

Questions Presented

1. Whether L & K Investors, LLC's appeal should be dismissed as abandoned because its appellate brief was submitted only on behalf of Pedro Ponce.
2. Whether the Supreme Court properly exercised its discretion in finding the plaintiff's excuse reasonable and denying dismissal for failure to comply with Kings County Supreme Court Uniform Civil Term Rules, Part F, Rule 8.

Disposition

affirmed