§ 9802.Liability of villages in certain actions.

CPLR 9802 splits village litigation into two tracks. For a claim arising out of a village contract, the plaintiff must file a written verified claim with the village clerk within one year after the cause of action accrues, and must commence the lawsuit within eighteen months after accrual. For any other action against the village, not otherwise addressed elsewhere in the chapter, the plaintiff must commence within one year after accrual and must serve a notice of claim complying with General Municipal Law section 50-e.

The section spells out the consequence of missing either track's deadline in blunt terms: failing to present the claim, or to commence the action, within the applicable period bars the claim or action against the village outright. The section also imposes a mandatory waiting period once a claim is filed: no action can be brought on the claim until forty days have elapsed after it was filed in the office of the village clerk, giving the village a window to review and potentially resolve the claim before litigation begins.

The opening phrase, 'except as provided otherwise in this chapter,' marks CPLR 9802 as a residual provision within Article 98. Where a more specific rule applies, ordinary negligence claims under CPLR 9801, or defective-condition claims under CPLR 9804, that more specific notice and timing scheme controls instead. CPLR 9802 fills the gap for village contract disputes and for claims that do not fit the other Article 98 categories.