HSBC Bank USA, National Ass'n v. Wider

In order to vacate his default in answering the complaint, the appellant (hereinafter the homeowner) was required to demonstrate a reasonable excuse for his failure to serve an answer and a potentially meritorious defense (see CPLR 5015 [a]; Ateres Hasofrim, Inc. v Kralik, 78 AD3d 1091, 1091 [2010]; Bank of N.Y. v Lagakos, 27 AD3d 678, 678 [2006]). While the Supreme Court has the discretion to accept law office failure as a reasonable excuse, the excuse must be supported by detailed allegations of fact explaining the law office failure (see Cantor v Flores, 94 AD3d 936, 936-937 [2012]).

Here,…