Court Erred in Refusing to Grant Change of Venue

On December 23, 2015, the Second Department issued a decision in Carlton Group, Ltd. v. Property Markets Group, Inc., 2015 NY Slip Op. 09423, ordering an action transferred because it was brought in an improper venue, explaining:

Pursuant to CPLR 503(a), the venue of an action is properly placed in the county in which any of the parties resided at the time of commencement. In support of their motion, the appellants established that QPS was a resident of New York County at the time of commencement by producing a certified copy of QPS's application for authority to conduct business filed with the New York State Department of State, which listed New York as the county in which its principal office was located. The plaintiff did not dispute the fact that the application for authority designated New York County as the location of QPS's principal office, but claimed that QPS is a resident of Queens County because that is the location of its principal place of business. However, the sole residence of a foreign corporation or a foreign limited liability company for venue purposes is the county where its principal office is located as designated in its application for authority to conduct business filed with the New York State Department of State, regardless of where it transacts business or maintains its actual principal office or facility. Such office need not be a place where business activities are conducted by the limited liability company. Since the appellants established that QPS was a resident of New York County, not of Queens County, at the time of commencement, and that no other party resided in Queens County, their motion to transfer venue should have been granted.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted) (emphasis added).