STEVEN ORNER, ET AL. VS. GUANG LIU, ET AL.
A-6185-09T4
This action, which concerned disputes about plaintiffs'
sale of certain rental properties to defendants, was settled and
dismissed on June 8, 2009. The parties' settlement agreement
provided for the execution of new contracts within three days
and a closing no later September 15, 2009, after which -- if the
closing did not occur -- the parties would have no further
obligations. The parties failed to agree on the form and
content of new contracts, and plaintiffs sold the properties to
others.
Defendants filed a motion for relief, pursuant to Rule
4:50-1, on June 7, 2010, one day short of a year from the order
in question. The trial judge denied the motion and the court
affirmed, concluding among other things that the motion was
untimely. In affirming, the court emphasized that Rule 4:50-2
requires that all motions for relief pursuant to Rule 4:50-1
must be filed within "a reasonable time." Rule 4:50-2's
declaration that motions based on subsections (a), (b), or (c)
of Rule 4:50-1 may not be filed more than one year from the
order in question represents only an outer limit; such motions
must still be filed within "a reasonable time," which may be
less than one year. 04-26-11
