Leroy Village Green Residential Health Care Facility Inc. v. Downs

In an action to domesticate and enforce a New York default judgment, New York procedural law applied to the filing of appellees' answer, and since the appellees did not timely serve their answer upon appellant's counsel as required, the New York court properly entered a default judgment against the appellees.

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In this action to domesticate and enforce a New York judgment for money damages, LeRoy Village Green Residential Health Care Facility, Inc. “LeRoy Village”, appeals the trial court’s grant of a motion to set aside its prior order domesticating a New York judgment. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse. The record shows that LeRoy Village filed a lawsuit against Terri L. Downs and Jimmie R. Downs, Jr. “appellees”, in the Supreme Court of Livingston County, New York, alleging that appellees engaged in a series of fraudulent conveyances rendering Terri Downs’ grandmother, a resident at LeRoy Village, unable to pay for her nursing care. A summons and complaint was personally served upon appellees in Georgia on February 24, 2009. Appellees filed a pro se response to the complaint with the Livingston County Clerk on March 23, 2009. On April 1, 2009, LeRoy Village obtained a default judgment against appellees. On or about May 8, 2009, the appellees sent LeRoy Village’s counsel an unverified copy of their answer. LeRoy Village then sent a letter to appellees that it would not voluntarily vacate its judgment against them absent a meritorious defense. LeRoy Village then filed its petition to domesticate the foreign judgment in the Liberty County Superior Court in Georgia, where appellees resided. The trial court granted the motion to domesticate the foreign judgment on March 25, 2010. On April 7, 2010, appellees filed a motion to set aside LeRoy Village’s judgment. The trial court granted appellee’s motion in an order dated October 7, 2010.

LeRoy Village argues that the trial court’s grant of the motion to set aside was error because it held that Georgia law governed the filing of appellee’s answer in the New York case. We agree and reverse.

Leroy Village Green Residential Health Care Facility Inc. v. Downs

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