SERVICE OF A VALID RPAPL 1304 NOTICE IS A CONDITION PRECEDENT TO A FORECLOSURE ACTION; HERE THE AMOUNT OWED INDICATED IN THE RPAPL 1304 NOTICES DIFFERED FROM THE AMOUNT OWED INDICATED IN THE COMPLAINT, RAISING A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER THE RPAPL 1304 NOTICE WAS INCORRECT AND THEREFORE INVALID (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court in this foreclosure action, determined there were questions of fact about whether the RPAPL 1304 notices were defective on their faces. The amount owed indicated in the RPAPL 1304 notices differed from the amount owed described in the complaint. Service of a valid RPAPL 1304 notice is a condition precedent to a foreclosure action. There must be strict compliance with the RPAPL 1304 content requirements:

… [P]laintiff failed to tender sufficient evidence demonstrating the absence of triable issues of fact as to its strict compliance with the content requirements of RPAPL 1304. RPAPL 1304(1) requires that the 90-day notice state: “As of ___, your home loan is ___ days and ___ dollars in default.” The instant RPAPL 1304 notices stated: “As of 07/05/2023, your home loan is 4954 days and $735,151.56 dollars in default.” In contrast, the complaint stated that “there is now due and owing to the Plaintiff under said Note and Mortgage the principal sum of $440,882.36, with interest thereon from September 1, 2009.” Although the complaint noted that the plaintiff “only seeks to collect those installments which are within 6 years past due as of the date of commencement,” the complaint clarified in a footnote that the amount of $440,882.36 “reflects the unpaid principal balance as of the default date and interest paid through date.” At least one of these documents, then, contained an error concerning the amount due on the note—information that was required under RPAPL 1304. Residential Mtge. Loan Trust 2013-TT2 v Elshiekh. 2026 NY Slip Op 05124, Second Dept 8-26-26

Practice Point: If the amount owed indicated in the RPAPL 1304 notice is incorrect, the notice is invalid and this condition precedent for a foreclosure action has not been fulfilled.