Default doesn't mean you've won. One missed deadline and your entire case evaporates
Two separate foreclosure cases just wrapped up in New York with the same brutal lesson: miss your deadlines, lose your case.
In back-to-back decisions this month, appellate courts shut down foreclosure attempts by major lenders who let critical timeframes slip away. The takeaway for mortgage servicers? The courts aren't interested in excuses when it comes to procedural timelines.
In US Bank Trust National Association v. Meyer, decided December 10, 2025, the bank filed foreclosure against Diane Meyer back in October 2019. Meyer never responded, never showed up, never filed a single piece of paper. Easy win, right?
Not quite. After Meyer defaulted, the bank went radio silent for more than two years. They finally asked for a default judgment in July 2022, nearly three years after starting the case. By then, it was too late.
New York law says if a defendant defaults and you don't move for judgment within one year, your case gets tossed. No negotiations, no extensions. The Appellate Division, Second Department made that crystal clear when they reversed the lower court and dismissed the entire foreclosure.
The bank tried to explain the delay. The court wasn't buying it, calling their justifications "conclusory" and "unsubstantiated." Translation: they had no good reason for the wait, and even if they did, it wouldn't matter. The statute uses mandatory language, and courts have to enforce it.
US Bank also argued that Meyer should have challenged her default earlier, and by not doing so, she waived her right to complain about the delay. The appellate court shot that down too. Turns out, staying quiet about a default doesn't mean you've given up your right to point out when the other side has abandoned the case. Meyer walked away with the case dismissed and costs awarded to her.
The second case, U.S. Bank National Association v. Fahim, also decided December 10, 2025, involves an even longer timeline and an even harder lesson about acceleration.
Countrywide Bank started foreclosing on Zakia Fahim's property back in August 2008. By filing that lawsuit and demanding the full mortgage balance, they started a six-year clock ticking. Then in December 2012, Countrywide voluntarily dismissed the case and walked away.
Fast forward to June 2018. U.S. Bank, which had acquired the mortgage, tried to start fresh with a new foreclosure action. Problem was, more than six years had passed since that 2008 acceleration.
U.S. Bank figured the voluntary dismissal had reset everything, giving them a clean slate. Wrong. The Appellate Division said once you accelerate a mortgage by filing foreclosure, the statute of limitations keeps running whether you stick with the case or drop it.
This ruling leaned heavily on the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, which New York passed in December 2022. FAPA made clear that voluntary discontinuances don't de-accelerate mortgages or reset the limitations clock. The court applied FAPA retroactively, meaning it covered foreclosures filed before the law took effect. The decision involved Justices Betsy Barros, Linda Christopher, Lillian Wan, and Donna-Marie E. Golia, all concurring.
Both cases drive home the same point: timing in foreclosure isn't flexible. If you've got a defaulted borrower, you have one year to move for judgment. If you've accelerated a loan, you have six years to complete foreclosure or lose your shot entirely.
And here's the kicker: judges aren't going to bail you out. These aren't technicalities they'll overlook. They're statutory requirements with teeth.
For servicers, the message is straightforward. Track your deadlines like your recovery depends on it, because it does. Voluntary dismissals might seem like a strategic pause, but they're actually a gamble with the statute of limitations. And if a borrower defaults, don't sit on it. Move quickly or risk watching the case evaporate.
New York has drawn a hard line on foreclosure timelines, and these two decisions show they mean business.
