Unique Laundry Corp. v. Hudson Park N.Y. LLC

In Unique Laundry Corp. v. Hudson Park N.Y. LLC, 55 A.D.3d 382, 865 N.Y.S.2d 203 [Supreme Court, New York 2007]) [1st Dept 2008]) defendants contended "that a search of the Department of State's database revealed an entity called 'Unique Laundry Service Corp.,' which was not the named plaintiff in this action." In reply, the plaintiff stated that the "fact that the final word of the corporate name was accidentally omitted from the caption is of no consequence. . . and plaintiff is prepared to seek leave to amend the caption so as to assuage any concerns." On appeal, the First Department first found that "plaintiff is actually registered with the New York State Department of State as 'Unique Laundry Service, Inc.' It should have been permitted to amend the caption to correct its name." The First Department later stated that the "Fact that signature block on ground lease between ground lessor and prior ground lessee referred to lessor by slightly different name than that registered with Department of State and that lessor failed to file a certificate that it was doing business under that name did not prevent lessor from recovering for breach of contract, absent any evidence that lessor intended to defraud." Continuing, the First Department "noted that "Unique Laundry Service" appears at the head of the contract, undermining any indication of fraud. Thus, plaintiff was permitted to maintain its action on a lease bearing a name different from its incorporated name, and was permitted to amend the caption to reflect the correct, incorporated name.