THE 2007 NOTICE OF DEFAULT IN THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION DID NOT ACCELERATE THE DEBT; THE INITIAL ACTION WAS DISMISSED FOR LACK OF STANDING AND DID NOT, THEREFORE, ACCELERATE THE DEBT (SECOND DEPT),
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the 2007 notice of default in this foreclosure action did not accelerate the debt. Also, the initial action was dismissed for lack of standing and, therefore did not accelerate the debt. Therefore the action should not have been dismissed as time-barred:
Supreme Court erred in denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint. The defendant established that the mortgage was not accelerated. The language in the 2007 notice of default did not serve to accelerate the loan, as it was nothing more than a letter discussing acceleration as a possible future event which does not constitute an exercise of the mortgage’s optional acceleration clause … . Moreover, since the 2008 foreclosure action was dismissed on the ground that the defendant lacked standing, the commencement of that action as purported acceleration was a nullity, and the statute of limitations did not begin to run at the time of the purported acceleration … . Accordingly, the Supreme Court should have granted the defendant’s motion pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(1) to dismiss the complaint. IPA Asset Mgt., LLC v Bank of N.Y. Mellon, 2022 NY Slip Op 01151, Second Dept 2-23-22