A trial court had denied the defendants’ motions to file a late answer pursuant to CPLR 3012(d). The Appellate Division (court), “[n]otwithstanding the (defendants’) sympathetic position,” held that “denial of their motion for relief…was warranted” and affirmed.

The defendant parents (defendants) owned a Brooklyn home. In 2008, allegedly without their knowledge, their son, also a defendant, used the home “as collateral” for a mortgage loan he used to buy a Manhattan condominium. The plaintiff was a successor mortgagee. The defendants had granted the son “a durable general statutory short form power of attorney,” (POA) “appointing [the son] to act…for all matters listed on the instruments, including ‘real estate transactions’ and ‘banking transactions’ with respect to their…[home].”