Park Associates v. Crescent Park Associates, Inc

In Park Associates v. Crescent Park Associates, Inc., 159 A.D.2d 460, 552 N.Y.S.2d 314 (2d Dept. 1990), plaintiff sought to establish that defendant's obligation to repay the debt was revived by a written acknowledgment of the debt, to defeat defendant's assertion of the statute of limitations as a bar to plaintiff s action on a promissory note. 159 A.D.2d at 461. In an effort to establish the applicability of that exception to the statute of limitations, plaintiff produced writings signed by the defendant as an officer of the corporation which "alternatively referred to the defendants' 'outstanding obligation,' proposed a method of satisfying the debt by allowing the plaintiff to participate in a mortgage held by the corporate defendant, or requested that the plaintiff forgive the debt ." Id. at 460-461. In opposition, defendants asserted that representatives of the plaintiff and defendant corporation had a meeting at which time the plaintiff agreed to forgive the debt in order to earn a greater profit on another transaction between the parties. Id. at 462. The Second Department concluded that the conflicting statements made by the parties in their affidavits gave rise to a question of fact that precluded summary judgment, specifically whether the plaintiff had forgiven the debt. Id.