On February 15, 2023, the Second Department issued a decision in Moonachi, Inc. v. U.S. Bank Trust, N.A., 2023 NY Slip Op. 00858, holding that a motion to file a late answer must be denied when the movant fails to provide an excuse for failing timely to answer, explaining:
A defendant who has failed to timely answer a complaint and seeks to compel the plaintiff to accept an untimely answer must provide a reasonable excuse for the delay in answering and demonstrate a potentially meritorious defense to the action. Here, neither the defendant nor its predecessor in interest provided a reasonable excuse for failing to timely serve an answer. Under such circumstances, it is unnecessary to consider whether the defendant demonstrated a potentially meritorious defense to the action. Accordingly, the Supreme Court should have denied that branch of the defendant’s motion which was pursuant to CPLR 3012(d) to compel the plaintiff to accept an untimely answer.
(Internal citations omitted).