On February 10, 2026, the First Department issued a decision in Board of Mgrs. of the 432 Park Condominium v 56th & Park (NY) Owner, LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op. 00609, holding that the need for additional discovery, without more, is insufficient basis to deny a motion to amend to add fraud-based claims, explaining:
Supreme Court’s denial of plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend based on the delay that would result from the need for additional discovery and the prejudice it would cause to the non-appearing third-party defendants was an improvident exercise of the court’s discretion. The need for additional discovery pre-note of issue is insufficient to show prejudice for the purposes of denying leave to amend under CPLR 3025(b). Further, defendants will not be prevented from taking a position they could have taken had the claims been earlier interposed. Plaintiffs provided a reasonable excuse for the purported delay by explaining that they did not seek to amend the fraud-based claims until they had obtained evidence of defendants’ alleged scienter with respect to the affirmative misrepresentations in the offering plan and in correspondence to the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB).
(Internal quotations citations omitted).