Joseph A. Galindo, Appellant, v. Michael W. Keller et al., Respondents, et al., Defendants

Joseph A. Galindo, Appellant, v Michael W. Keller et al., Respondents, et al., Defendants. [45 NYS3d 799] [MAJORITY] Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Shlomo Hagler, J.), entered on or about October 19, 2015, which denied plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment and granted defendants-respondents’ cross motion to vacate their default and extend their time to answer, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Although plaintiff made a prima facie showing of his entitlement to a default judgment against defendants (see CPLR 3215), Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in vacating defendants’ default (see CPLR 3012 [d]; Johnson v Deas, 32 AD3d 253, 254 [1st Dept 2006]). Defendants provided a reasonable excuse for failing to answer — namely, that they mistakenly believed that defendant Bootlegger’s insurance company was asserting a defense on their behalf. Defendants also demonstrated potentially meritorious defenses of justification and lack of ownership. Concur — Sweeny, J.P., Acosta, Moskowitz, Kapnick and Kahn, JJ.