Decision arrives after four lawsuits and nearly two decades
A New York court just wiped a U.S. Bank mortgage off the books – permanently. Here is what went wrong.
It took four lawsuits, nearly two decades, and one very patient homeowner for U.S. Bank National Association to finally lose a mortgage it could no longer enforce. On February 25, 2026, a New York appellate court put the matter to rest: the mortgage is cancelled, it is gone from the record, and the bank has no one to blame but the clock.
The story starts in 2008. U.S. Bank filed its first foreclosure action against John Williams, a homeowner in Carmel, New York. When a lender does that, it is essentially saying the entire loan balance is due immediately. Under New York law, that move starts a six-year countdown. If the lender does not file a new foreclosure action within six years of that moment, the right to enforce the mortgage is gone.
The bank did not meet that deadline. Instead, it voluntarily dropped the 2008 case in January 2012. Then came a second foreclosure in December 2013, a third in July 2014, and eventually the second and third cases were merged and went to trial – only to be thrown out in August 2019 because the bank failed to send Williams the proper required notices. Then came a fourth and final attempt in December 2019.
That last filing was the problem. By December 2019, more than eleven years had passed since the bank first accelerated the debt and commenced foreclosure proceedings in February 2008. Williams moved to have the fourth case thrown out on those grounds, and the lower court agreed with him: the case was filed too late, the mortgage was unenforceable, and the bank had to walk away.
U.S. Bank appealed, arguing that dropping the 2008 case had effectively reset the six-year window, giving it a fresh start. The court said no. New York's Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, or FAPA, closes that door completely. Under FAPA, a lender cannot reset the clock by simply walking away from a case and starting over. Once the timer starts, it runs.
The bank also argued that FAPA itself was unconstitutional. The court was not persuaded, pointing to prior decisions that had already settled that question.
The appellate court issued its decision on February 25, 2026, though the opinion remains subject to revision before it is published in the official court reports. The outcome: the mortgage is declared unenforceable, cancelled from the county records, and Williams walks away with his property free and clear. The court even ordered U.S. Bank to pay Williams' legal costs.
For servicers and lenders working in New York, this case is a practical warning. The moment a foreclosure complaint goes out the door and the full loan balance is called due, the six-year window is open and running. It does not pause, it does not reset, and it does not care how many times a case gets filed, dropped, or dismissed. FAPA made sure of that.
The takeaway for anyone managing a New York loan portfolio is straightforward: old files need a hard look. If a loan was accelerated years ago and a foreclosure never reached final judgment, the window to act may already be closed or closing fast. Filing again will not save it.
U.S. Bank had four chances over nearly two decades and still came away empty-handed. That is the kind of outcome that makes a compliance review look very worthwhile.
