Court rules lenders can't restart foreclosure deadlines – JPMorgan Chase loses key New York case
A New York appeals court just made it clear: mortgage lenders can’t hit the reset button on foreclosure timelines by dropping and refiling their cases.
Here’s what happened. Back in May 2004, JPMorgan Chase Bank gave Grigory Turkov a home equity line of credit for $200,000, secured by a property in Staten Island. Fast forward to January 2010 – JPMorgan Chase decided to foreclose, demanding the full amount right away. But after a few years, in December 2014, the bank dropped that first foreclosure case.
You might think that would be the end of it, but in August 2018, JPMorgan Chase tried again, launching a new foreclosure case against Turkov and another defendant, Galina Brodovskaya. This time, the borrowers pushed back, arguing that the bank had missed its window. Their main point? New York law gives lenders six years to foreclose after they call in the full debt, and that clock started ticking back in 2010.
JPMorgan Chase didn’t agree. The bank argued that by discontinuing the first case, it should get a fresh six-year period to try again. The bank also took issue with a new state law, the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA), which says that voluntarily dropping a foreclosure case doesn’t restart the clock. The bank even questioned whether this law should apply to their case at all.
But on October 22, 2025, the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, sided with the borrowers. The court said the six-year deadline started when JPMorgan Chase first called the loan due in 2010. Dropping the case in 2014 didn’t give the bank another chance. By the time the bank tried again in 2018, the deadline had long passed. The court also brushed aside the bank’s complaints about the new law, saying it applied just fine and didn’t violate any constitutional rights.
So, what does this mean for mortgage professionals? In plain terms: if you’re managing foreclosures in New York, you need to keep a close eye on your calendar. Once you accelerate a loan and start a foreclosure, the six-year clock is ticking. Dropping a case and starting over won’t buy you more time. The law is now crystal clear, thanks to FAPA and this recent ruling.
This decision is a wake-up call for lenders, servicers, and anyone handling mortgage defaults. It’s not just about one borrower or one property – this is about how the rules work for everyone in the business. If you’re not tracking your timelines, you could lose your chance to foreclose, no matter how strong your case might be.
JPMorgan Chase, one of the biggest names in banking, learned this lesson the hard way. For the mortgage industry, it’s a reminder that the rules have changed, and there’s no room for error. If you want to protect your interests, you need to act fast and stay on top of every deadline.
The bottom line: the days of endless do-overs in foreclosure cases are over in New York. If you’re in the mortgage business, mark your calendars and don’t let the clock run out.
