Judge Philip S. Straniere
Citibank sued defendant and now sought to amend the caption regarding defendant’s name. Citibank’s counsel alleged there was a “typographical error” when the summons and complaint was printed resulting in the inclusion of a second “aka” name. The court noted the alleged error was the addition of an “aka” for each defendant, finding this was not a typo. It stated same was the improper inclusion in the caption of information allegedly supplied by the client regarding a debtor, but not directly related to the proper identification of the person opening the account. But as the application was from counsel, and appeared to reflect an error in the preparation of the pleadings rather than an unexplained policy change dictated by the creditor, the court granted the requested relief. The court also noted that a review of the pleadings in the subject matters disclosed were “so devoid of information concerning the account” that if Citibank sought a default judgment it would have been denied for lack of requisite proof under CPLR 3215. The court counseled Citibank’s lawyer to review the court’s prior decisions setting forth the criteria for entering a default or inquest judgment in consumer credit transactions and amend the complaint accordingly.