Kathleen Y. Jin

The defendants moved to dismiss the plaintiff Yu Feng's action for delay or as an abuse of process, arguing that the 2018 action was duplicative of a 2013 action that had already been dismissed for delay.

The court found an inordinate and inexcusable 10-year delay, counting from the original 2013 action, and that the 2018 action was an abuse of process for circumventing rules for amending pleadings.

The plaintiff failed to rebut the presumption of prejudice, particularly regarding the defendants' lost counterclaim and unavailable witnesses.

The motion to dismiss Yu Feng's action for delay was granted.

The defendants brought a motion to set aside a default judgment obtained by the plaintiff in a mortgage action.

The court considered the factors for setting aside default judgment under Rule 19.08(2), including the explanation for delay, promptness of the motion, and the merits of the defence.

While the corporate defendant was found liable for the principal mortgage amount, the court partially set aside the judgment against the corporation regarding interest rates and other charges, and fully set aside the judgment against the individual defendants concerning personal guarantees, imposing terms for compliance.