The plaintiff, Proud Designs, Inc., and the defendants, Christopher Whidden and Keri-Ann Whidden, entered into a written contract dated April 6, 2004, pursuant to which the plaintiff was to provide construction management services in connection with the renovation of a single-family residence
Contrary to the plaintiffs contention, the appeal has not been rendered academic by its service of an amended complaint, since it presents “substantial question[s] . . . , on which an effective disposition can be made” (Matter of Wood v Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Town of E. Hampton, 51 AD3d 680, 681 [2008]; see Matter of Rochester Tel. Corp. v Public Serv. Commn. of State of N.Y., 87 NY2d 17, 27 [1995]).
The Supreme Court properly denied that branch of the defendants’ motion which was, in effect, for summary judgment on the fourth counterclaim, which alleges that the plaintiff made duplicative requests in June and August of 2004 for funds to pay the same subcontractors. The defendants failed to make a prima facie showing of their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on the fourth counterclaim because their submissions disclose an issue of fact as to whether the plaintiff made duplicative funding requests. However, the Supreme Court erred in denying those branches of the defendants’ motion which were, in effect, for summary judgment dismissing the first cause of action, which sought to recover damages for breach of contract, and for summary judgment on the issue of liability on their first counterclaim, which sought to recover certain “margin” payments collected by the plaintiff on the ground that the plaintiff breached the subject contract. The defendants demonstrated their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by presenting evidence that the plaintiff materially breached the contract by failing to provide them with documentation of certain on-line transfers from an escrow account, as required under the contract (see F. Bender Inc. v Crow