Justice John Kelley

Plaintiff sued to recover over $4,100 under a personal guaranty of an equipment finance lease agreement for a credit card processing machine claiming Young personally guaranteed payment entered into with lessee. The court noted it must scrutinize the motion papers to determine if plaintiff met its burden despite the motion being unopposed. Plaintiff relied on the affidavit of Kravic, its lease originations director and records custodian, but the court found it conclusory, and failed to show personal knowledge of how the lease or guaranty were generated or executed by the parties. Kravic stated lessee breached the lease by failing to make required payments, but offered no basis for her knowledge of the non-payments, and attached documents did not include payment logs. The court also ruled the affidavit was insufficient to establish the lease and guaranty were admissible business records as the affidavit did not attempt to authenticate either the lease or guaranty as records generated or maintained in plaintiff's regular course of business. Thus, plaintiff's motion for summary judgment failed to meet its prima facie burden, and was denied. Yet, plaintiff was granted dismissal of Young's affirmative defenses.

Justice John Kelley