On October 14, 2026, the Second Department issued a decision in U.S. Bank N.A. v. Fulford, 2026 NY Slip Op. 05989, holding that a motion to vacate a default judgment for fraud failed for lack of an excuse of the default, explaining:
The Supreme Court also properly denied that branch of Cornelius’s motion which was pursuant to CPLR 5015(a)(3) to vacate the order and judgment of foreclosure and sale. Cornelius’s contention that the plaintiff obtained the order and judgment of foreclosure and sale by making misrepresentations to the court amounts to an allegation of intrinsic fraud. Where a defendant seeks to vacate a default pursuant to CPLR 5015(a)(3) based on intrinsic fraud, he or she must establish a reasonable excuse for the default and a potentially meritorious defense to the action. Here, since Cornelius failed to provide an excuse for his default, the court properly denied that branch of his motion which was pursuant to CPLR 5015(a)(3) to vacate the order and judgment of foreclosure and sale regardless of whether Cornelius presented a potentially meritorious defense to the action.
(Internal citations omitted).