47-e. Vacating of an assignment, by order of a court. 1. An assignment may be vacated by a judgment of a court of record upon a special proceeding brought by the assignor, his employer or any person having an interest therein. Before such judgment shall be granted an order to show cause and the petition upon which it was granted shall be served upon the assignee, specifying the grounds upon which such relief is sought and requiring the assignee to show cause, at a time and place specified therein, why the assignment should not be vacated. If the application is made by a person other than the assignor, a copy of the order to show cause and the petition upon which it was granted shall be served upon the assignor, as the court shall direct. Such order shall be returnable at a special term of a court of record in the county where the assignment is filed, if it has been filed, or, whether or not the assignment has been filed, in the county where the assignor resides or the county where the assignee resides, and shall be returnable at a time not less than eight days from the service thereof unless the court to whom the application is made shall find that a greater or lesser time is appropriate in the circumstances.
The order to show cause and the petition upon which it was granted shall be served upon the assignee either (1) by personal service, or (2) by leaving them at his or its place of business with a person of suitable age and discretion with directions to deliver them to the assignee and mailing a copy by certified mail to the assignee directed to the address specified in the assignment or if none is specified in the assignment to his or its last known address, or (3) as the court may direct. Proof of such service shall be made by affidavit. If the assignee is a co-partnership consisting of two or more partners service on one partner shall constitute service on the co-partnership.
2. Upon presentation of a transcript of a judgment pursuant to this section, vacating an assignment, and upon payment of fees provided therefor, a county clerk in whose office the assignment is filed shall file the transcript of the judgment and shall enter on the margin of the page where the assignment is entered, and against the assignment to which the judgment relates, the words "Vacated by order of the court."
3. This section does not enlarge the territorial limits of the jurisdiction of any court.
4. No assignment purporting upon its face or otherwise shown to have been made in compliance with the direction of the court in an action or proceeding in a family court or in a matrimonial action or proceeding in a court of this state shall be vacated by an order pursuant to this section.
5. In any proceeding under this section the court shall have jurisdiction to consider any and all defenses to the assignment and the debt secured thereby. The court may grant such interim relief as may be appropriate. The burden of proving the assignment and the debt secured thereby shall be on the assignee.
Last modified: February 3, 2019