In B & M Management Co, Inc. v. 107 DeVries Avenue Corp, 60302/2015, plaintiff held a mortgage in the amount of approximately $ 7 million with interest accumulating at 7% against defendant 107 whose only asset was a parcel of vacant land in Westchester County, New York. When the case first appeared at Franzino & Scher, it was supposed to be a simple foreclosure action on vacant land. What seemed like a clear case for a quick foreclosure lawsuit regarding vacant land turned into two actions including claims of fraud, improper mortgage filings and unresolved probate issues.
When the foreclosure action was filed in 2015, 107 answered with the complex claims described above. The parties engaged in extensive discovery closely monitored by the Supreme Court. The executor of the estate for the sole shareholder for 107 then filed what amounted to a declaratory judgment action asking the Court to determine the priorities among the many creditors for the estate of that deceased sole shareholder. Working through discovery and continual motion practice by 107, the case was finally ready for trial on September 11, 2017. Plaintiff was ready to go -with witnesses prepped and documents assembled. It took the pressure of a well- prepared plaintiff with the able assistance of the court to resolve the matter without the trial.
Plaintiff obtained a well-earned settlement.
