Sua Sponte Rulings Do Not Become the Law-of-the-Case and Do Not Bind an Appellate Court

The Second Department noted that a sua sponte determination does not become the law-of-the-case  and does not bind the appellate court:

Supreme Court determined that, pursuant to the law-of-the-case doctrine, it was bound by the prior Supreme Court order to hold that [a nonparty] was a bona fide purchaser of the subject property. On that ground, the Supreme Court concluded that, “[h]aving failed to obtain a stay pursuant to CPLR 5519 to prevent the property from being sold, [defendant] [was] relegated to an action for money damages, and would not be able to recover the real property” … . However, since the parties had not litigated the sua sponte determination as to [the nonparty’s] status, application of the doctrine of law of the case was improper … . In any event, this Court is not bound by the Supreme Court’s prior determination finding [the nonparty] to be a bona fide purchaser and may reach the merits of that issue … . Debcon Fin. Servs., Inc. v 83-17 Broadway Corp., 2015 NY Slip Op 01920, 2nd Dept 3-11-15