She had defenses lined up - but the court never got to hear them
Paperwork sank a Brooklyn borrower's foreclosure appeal - not the merits of her case.
The Appellate Division, Second Department, dismissed the appeal on September 16, 2026, finding the borrower's record was too incomplete for the court to conduct any meaningful review.
U.S. Bank National Association commenced the foreclosure action on a Brooklyn property in July 2017. By February 2018, the bank moved for summary judgment - a ruling without a full trial - and an order of reference. The borrower did not oppose the motion. The Supreme Court, Kings County, granted U.S. Bank's request in May 2018 and appointed a referee to calculate the amount owed.
In August 2019, the borrower reportedly moved to vacate her default in opposing the bank's summary judgment motion. The court denied that effort in December 2019.
She tried again in February 2022, when U.S. Bank moved for a judgment of foreclosure and sale. The borrower cross-moved for leave to renew her earlier motion, sought to amend her answer with new affirmative defenses, and asked the court to dismiss the complaint as time-barred and for failure to comply with RPAPL 1304 - the New York statute requiring lenders to send a 90-day pre-foreclosure notice before filing suit.
The Supreme Court denied the cross-motion on November 13, 2023. She appealed.
The Second Department never reached the substance of her arguments. The court found the borrower had failed to include critical documents in her appellate record: the bank's original summary judgment papers, her own prior motion to vacate and its supporting materials, the bank's opposition, and the December 2019 order denying it.
"It is the obligation of the appellant to assemble a proper record on appeal," the court wrote, citing established precedent. Without the missing filings, the panel said, "meaningful appellate review" was "virtually impossible."
The appeal was dismissed without costs or disbursements.
What makes this one worth watching: the borrower had raised statute of limitations and RPAPL 1304 defenses - two of the sharper tools in the borrower's toolkit in New York foreclosure litigation. Neither was heard. For servicers and foreclosure counsel, the case is a clean reminder that a procedural default on the other side can be just as decisive as winning on the merits. When an appeal collapses on record assembly, the foreclosure timeline keeps moving.
