County of Niagara v Town of Royalton
2008 NY Slip Op 00782 [48 AD3d 1072]
February 1, 2008
Appellate Division, Fourth Department
As corrected through Wednesday, April 16, 2008


County of Niagara, Respondent, v Town of Royalton,Appellant.

[*1]Andrews, Pusateri, Brandt, Shoemaker & Roberson, P.C., Lockport (Robert S. Robersonof counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Claude A. Joerg, County Attorney, Lockport, for plaintiff-respondent.

Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Niagara County (Richard C. Kloch, Sr., A.J.),entered May 31, 2007. The order denied defendant's pre-answer motion to dismiss the complaint.

It is hereby ordered that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from an order denying its pre-answer motion seekingdismissal of the complaint on the grounds that plaintiff, County of Niagara (County), lacks thecapacity to sue and that the action is time-barred. Contrary to defendant's contention, the Countywas authorized by a resolution of the County Legislature to commence this action through theCounty Attorney and thus did not lack capacity to sue (cf. County of Sullivan v Town ofThompson, 99 AD2d 574, 574-575 [1984]). In addition, the six-year statute of limitationsapplies to this action because it is one for "money had and received [and thus] is one ofquasi-contract or of contract implied-in-law" (Board of Educ. of Cold Spring Harbor Cent.School Dist. v Rettaliata, 78 NY2d 128, 138 [1991]; see CPLR 213 [2]; see alsoStrough v Jefferson County, 119 NY 212, 219-220 [1890]), and this action thus is nottime-barred. We have considered defendant's remaining contentions and conclude that they arelacking in merit. Present—Hurlbutt, J.P., Centra, Fahey, Peradotto and Pine, JJ.


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