Farrell v. Cassano, 34 F. App'x 11 (2002)

Citation: Farrell v. Cassano, 34 F. App'x 11 (2002)
Parent Document: Farrell v. Cassano, 34 F. App'x 11 (2002)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2002-04-29
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7251325/farrell-v-cassano/ ↗

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Farrell first argues the district court erred in finding the state housing court default judgment had no res judicata effect. While New York state generally grants res judicata effect to default judgments, Santiago v. Lalani, 256 A.D.2d 397, 681 N.Y.S.2d 577 (2d Dept.1998), a judgment entered on plaintiffs default for failure to appear is not a judgment on the merits and does not have res judicata effect. Commissioner of Social Services of County of Erie v. Hargrove, 446 N.Y.S.2d at 715 (4th Dept.1981) quoting Greenberg v. DeHart, 4 N.Y.2d 511, 516-17, 176 N.Y.S.2d 344, 151 N.E.2d 891 (1958); see also Med. Health Servs. v. Fountain Center Corp., 52 A.D.2d 621, 382 N.Y.S.2d 350 (2d Dept.1976). Thus, the default judgment entered here based on defendants’ nonappearance as plaintiff in the state court housing action is not on the merits and has no res judicata effect.

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