Mogul Media, LLC v. Ramsburgh

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Julia I. Rodriguez, J.), entered November 27, 2015, which, insofar as appealed from, in this action for damages arising from the collapse of a billboard, denied the motion of defendant James Ramsburgh for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all cross claims as against him, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion granted. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment accordingly. “In cases against architects or contractors, the accrual date for Statute of Limitations purposes is completion of performance . . . [N]o matter how a claim is characterized in the complaint—negligence, malpractice, breach of contract—an owner’s claim arising out of defective construction accrues on date of completion, since all liability has its genesis in the contractual relationship of the parties” (City School Dist. of City of Newburgh v Stubbins & Assoc., 85 NY2d 535, 538 [1995] [citations omitted]; Amedeo Hotels Ltd. Partnership v Zwicker Elec. Co., 291 AD2d 322 [1st Dept 2002]). Here, plaintiffs’ claim against Ramsburgh is for negligent erection of a billboard that was completed by June 14, 2000. Since plaintiffs’ claim accrued as of that date, it expired long before the billboard collapsed and the claim was filed in 2012. Concur—Friedman, J.P., Moskowitz, Manzanet-Daniels, Kapnick and Webber, JJ.