A foreclosure suit filed by a major lender has been thrown out by the court—because it waited too long to file. Here's what mortgage pros need to know
A recent ruling from New York’s Appellate Division could have significant implications for mortgage professionals handling long-running foreclosure actions. On June 4, 2025, the court reversed a lower court’s decision that had allowed Bank of New York Mellon to move forward with a foreclosure case—because the lender waited too long to file it.
The case involved Joseph Cooper, a defendant named in three separate foreclosure actions over the same property in Rosedale, New York. The bank first filed to foreclose in 2007, then again in 2008. Both cases were voluntarily discontinued. Ten years later, in July 2018, the bank filed a third foreclosure action.
Cooper responded with a defense that the case was time-barred, citing New York’s six-year statute of limitations for mortgage foreclosure actions. He argued that the loan had been accelerated back in 2007 when the bank filed its first action, which meant the bank had until 2013 to start a valid foreclosure. Filing again in 2018, he claimed, was too late.
The Supreme Court in Queens County granted the bank’s motion in January 2023, striking Cooper’s answer and allowing the foreclosure to proceed. Cooper appealed.
The Appellate Division disagreed with the lower court and sided with Cooper. The judges found that the plaintiff failed to show the case was filed on time. According to the court, the loan was accelerated in January 2007, and the bank didn’t file the current action until July 2018—more than six years later.
The bank argued that payments made on the loan as late as September 2013 restarted the limitations period, but the court declined to consider that argument. It noted the issue had been raised for the first time in the bank’s reply papers, after Cooper had already submitted his opposition. Since he wasn’t given the chance to respond, the court did not consider the point.
Because the bank did not make its case that the foreclosure action was timely, the court denied its motion for summary judgment, regardless of the strength of Cooper’s defense. The ruling effectively blocks the foreclosure for being filed outside the legal time limit.
For mortgage professionals, especially those managing aged loan files or refiled cases, the message is clear: once a loan is accelerated, the statute of limitations clock starts running. If a case is dismissed or voluntarily withdrawn, the original acceleration date may still apply. And if too much time passes, a court may prevent the lender from foreclosing at all.
This decision highlights the importance of timing and procedure in foreclosure actions—and the risks of relying on arguments introduced too late in the process.
