On November 21, 2023. the First Department issued a decision in Colonial Funding Network, Inc. v. Finley, 2023 NY Slip Op. 05980, holding that papers served pursuant to an order to show cause must be served exactly how the order to show cause requires them to be served, explaining:
The July 15, 2020 order was brought on by order to show cause, which Supreme Court signed on March 16, 2020. This order to show cause required service by overnight express mail. . . .
Despite the express provision requiring overnight express service, in the March 16, 2020, order to show cause, plaintiff served the order to show cause and related papers by Priority Mail, which only guarantees delivery in one to three days. Failure to comply strictly with the service provision of the order to show cause deprived the court of jurisdiction to hear the motion. Therefore, the resulting July 15, 2020 order should be vacated. Because the order was null and void, defendant could not be held in contempt for failing to obey it. The October 27, 2020 order, which found defendant guilty of contempt, and the accompanying warrant of arrest are likewise invalid. We note that the record shows defendants have since satisfied the judgment.
(Internal citations omitted).