On what grounds and within what period can a petition for reconsideration be filed under the Procedure Law?

A petition for reconsideration may be brought against a final judgment only on one or more of these grounds:

1. The opposing party committed fraud that affected the judgment. 2. A document on which the judgment was based is later admitted to be forged, or is adjudged forged. 3. A witness whose testimony supported the judgment is later adjudged to have given false testimony. 4. The petitioner later obtains decisive documents that the opposing party had prevented from being produced. 5. The judgment grants something not requested, or more than was requested. 6. The operative part of the judgment is internally contradictory. 7. Judgment was entered against a natural or legal person who was not properly represented in the proceedings, except in a case of agreed representation. 8. The judgment is binding on a person who was neither joined nor intervened, provided that fraud, collusion, or gross negligence by that person’s representative is proved. 1

The period is 40 days. For grounds 1–4, time runs from discovery of the fraud or withheld document, the relevant admission or finding of forgery, or the judgment that the witness committed perjury. For ground 7, it runs from service of the judgment on the person who properly represents the judgment debtor; for ground 8, from discovery of the fraud, collusion, or gross negligence. 2

The petition is filed with the court that issued the judgment, by a petition stating the challenged judgment, its date, and the grounds relied on. 11