Ordered that the order is modified by deleting the last decretal paragraph thereof and substituting therefor the following: "the plaintiffs motion for leave to enter a default judgment against the defendant Jacob Fleischer is denied without prejudice to renewal on proper papers"; as so modified, the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements.
The plaintiffs motion for leave to enter a default judgment was not based on an affidavit by a party as required by CPLR 3215, (f), but rather on a complaint verified by the plaintiffs attorney. "[A] complaint verified by counsel amounts to no more than an attorney's affidavit and is therefore insufficient to support entry of judgment pursuant to CPLR 3215" ( Mullins v DiLorenzo, 199 AD2d 218, 219; see, Goodyear v Weinstein, 224 AD2d 387; Feffer v Malpeso, 210 AD2d 60; Joosten v Gale, 129 AD2d 531, 534). "Under these circumstances, entry of a default judgment would be erroneous and the judgment would be a nullity" ( Goodyear v Weinstein, supra, at 387).
Although the plaintiff has not demonstrated on these papers that he is entitled to a default judgment, the court erred in sua sponte granting leave to defendant Fleischer to serve an answer without the necessary showing of a reasonable excuse for the default and a meritorious defense, and that portion of the order is therefore stricken. The plaintiff may renew his motion for leave to enter a default judgment on proper papers in accordance herewith.