Kenneth Mr. Vercammen was included in the 2020 “Super Lawyers” list published by Thomson Reuters.

To schedule a confidential consultation, email us at VercammenAppointments@NJlaws.com, call or visit www.njlaws.com

(732) 572-0500

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

STEVEN ORNER, ET AL. VS. GUANG LIU, ET AL. A-6185-09T4

04-26-11

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.