Vacate Default Judgment Small Claims Court New York

What a Default Judgment Means

When a defendant does not show up for a scheduled small claims hearing in New York, the court may enter a default judgment after an inquest. The plaintiff must present enough evidence to support the claim and damages. Statutory interest at 9% per year starts accruing from the date of entry. The plaintiff can then enforce the judgment through bank levies, income executions (wage garnishments), or information subpoenas.

A default judgment is not the end of the road. New York law provides a specific mechanism to set it aside, but you need to act within a defined window and meet specific legal requirements.

Two Legal Grounds for Vacatur

There are two distinct paths to vacating a default judgment in New York small claims court:

Excusable default under CPLR 5015(a)(1). This is the more common route. You must prove two things: a reasonable excuse for missing the court date, and a meritorious defense to the underlying claim. Reasonable excuses include sudden illness, a family emergency, failure to actually receive the notice, or a severe travel disruption. A meritorious defense means you have a real argument on the facts — proof of payment, evidence of defective work by the plaintiff, an expired statute of limitations, or any other substantive defense. You need both elements; one without the other is not enough.

Lack of personal jurisdiction under CPLR 317 and CPLR 5015(a)(4). This applies when you were never properly served. In small claims court, the clerk mails the Notice of Claim via both certified mail and ordinary first-class mail. Service is presumed complete if the first-class mailing is not returned as undeliverable within 21 days (30 days for consumer-transaction cases). If you can demonstrate that the notice went to the wrong address or was actually returned, you have a jurisdictional argument. The one-year time limit does not apply to jurisdictional challenges.

Filing the Order to Show Cause

The vehicle for requesting vacatur is an Order to Show Cause (OSC). Here is the process:

1. Get the case file. Visit or contact the clerk's office and request a copy of the case file and the Affidavit of Service or Mailing.

2. Prepare your papers. Complete the Order to Show Cause form (Official Form UCS-CC-2 or the local court equivalent) and write a supporting Affidavit in Support. The affidavit is where you lay out your excuse for missing court and summarize your defense to the claim, under oath.

3. Present it to the judge. The judge reviews your papers. If satisfied that you have made a threshold showing, the judge signs the OSC, sets a return date for oral argument, and specifies exactly how and by when you must serve the signed OSC on the plaintiff.

4. Serve the plaintiff. Follow the judge's service instructions exactly — certified mail, personal delivery, or whatever the order specifies. File your Affidavit of Service with the clerk before the return date.

5. Appear on the return date. Both parties argue whether the default should be vacated. If the judge grants vacatur, the case is restored to the calendar for a full hearing on the merits.

One Critical Detail About Stays

Filing the OSC does not automatically stop the plaintiff from enforcing the judgment. A bank levy or wage garnishment can proceed while your vacatur motion is pending. The stay only takes effect if the judge includes explicit language in the signed OSC restraining enforcement until the return date. When you present the papers, ask the judge to include a stay provision.

The One-Year Deadline

For excusable default under CPLR 5015(a)(1), the application must be filed within one year after you are served with written notice of entry of the default judgment. If the plaintiff never formally serves you with a Notice of Entry, the clock does not start running — but do not count on that. The sooner you file, the stronger your excuse for delay appears to the judge.

Get Step-by-Step Vacatur Guidance

The Responding to a Small Claims Case in New York guide includes a post-decision chapter that walks through the Order to Show Cause process with a printable log for tracking deadlines, drafting your affidavit, and preparing for the return date hearing.

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