Bill Text: NY A07737 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to the rights of parties involved in foreclosure actions; provides additional details regarding the commencement and termination of certain actions related to real property.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 32-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-12-30 - signed chap.821 [A07737 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A07737-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7737--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 20, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  WEINSTEIN  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Judiciary -- reported and referred to  the  Committee  on
          Rules  --  Rules Committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted
          as amended and recommitted to the Committee on Rules

        AN ACT to amend the real property actions and proceedings  law  and  the
          civil  practice  law  and  rules, in relation to the rights of parties
          involved in foreclosure actions

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Subdivision 3 of section 1301 of the real property actions
     2  and proceedings law, as added by chapter 312 of the  laws  of  1962,  is
     3  amended and a new subdivision 4 is added to read as follows:
     4    3.  While the action is pending or after final judgment for the plain-
     5  tiff therein, no other  action  shall  be  commenced  or  maintained  to
     6  recover  any  part  of  the mortgage debt, without leave of the court in
     7  which the former action was  brought.  This  subdivision  shall  not  be
     8  treated  as  a stay or statutory prohibition for purposes of calculating
     9  the time within which an action shall be commenced pursuant to  sections
    10  two  hundred four and two hundred thirteen of the civil practice law and
    11  rules.
    12    4. If an action to collect any part of the mortgage  debt  is  adjudi-
    13  cated  to  be barred by the applicable statute of limitations, any other
    14  action seeking to recover any part of the same mortgage debt shall  also
    15  be barred by the statute of limitations.
    16    §  2.  Rule  3217  of  the  civil practice law and rules is amended by
    17  adding a new subdivision (e) to read as follows:
    18    (e) Effect of discontinuance upon certain instruments. In  any  action
    19  on an instrument described under subdivision four of section two hundred
    20  thirteen of this chapter in which the underlying indebtedness was accel-
    21  erated  by the commencement of such action, the voluntary discontinuance
    22  of such action, whether on motion or by stipulation, shall not have  the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11254-03-1
        A. 7737--A                          2

     1  effect  of  revoking acceleration unless such discontinuance is effected
     2  within six years of  the  commencement  of  the  action  and  explicitly
     3  advises  the  defendant  or defendants that such acceleration is revoked
     4  and  advises the defendant or defendants that the plaintiff shall resume
     5  accepting installment payments.
     6    § 3. Subdivision (c) of section 205 of  the  civil  practice  law  and
     7  rules, as amended by chapter 216 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read
     8  as follows:
     9    (c)  Application.  This  section  also applies to a proceeding brought
    10  under the workers' compensation law but shall not apply to any  proceed-
    11  ing governed by section two hundred five-a of this article.
    12    §  4.  The  civil  practice  law  and rules is amended by adding a new
    13  section 205-a to read as follows:
    14    § 205-a. Termination of certain actions related to real property.  (a)
    15  If an action upon an instrument  described  under  subdivision  four  of
    16  section  two hundred thirteen of this article is timely commenced and is
    17  terminated in any manner other than a voluntary discontinuance, a  fail-
    18  ure  to  obtain personal jurisdiction over the defendant, a dismissal of
    19  the complaint for any form of neglect, including,  but  not  limited  to
    20  those specified in subdivision three of section thirty-one hundred twen-
    21  ty-six,  section  thirty-two  hundred  fifteen,  rule thirty-two hundred
    22  sixteen and rule thirty-four hundred four of this chapter, for violation
    23  of any uniform court rules or individual  part  rules,  for  failure  to
    24  comply with any court scheduling orders, or by default due to nonappear-
    25  ance  for  conference  or  at  a  calendar call, or by failure to timely
    26  submit any order or judgment, or upon a final judgment upon the  merits,
    27  the  plaintiff,  or,  if  the  plaintiff  dies  and  the cause of action
    28  survives, his or her executor  or  administrator,  may  commence  a  new
    29  action upon the same transaction or occurrence or series of transactions
    30  or  occurrences  within  six  months following the termination, provided
    31  that the new action would have been timely commenced within the applica-
    32  ble limitations period prescribed by law at the time of the commencement
    33  of the prior action and that service  upon  the  original  defendant  is
    34  effected within such six-month period. For purposes of this subdivision:
    35    1.  an  assignee of the plaintiff shall not be deemed to have capacity
    36  to maintain the action as a successor  plaintiff,  unless  pleading  and
    37  proving  that  such  assignee  is  acting  on behalf of or asserting the
    38  rights of the original plaintiff; and
    39    2. in no event shall the plaintiff receive  more  than  one  six-month
    40  extension.
    41    (b)  Where  the  defendant has served an answer and the action upon an
    42  instrument described under subdivision four of section two hundred thir-
    43  teen of this article is terminated in any manner, and a new action  upon
    44  the  same  transaction or occurrence or series of transactions or occur-
    45  rences is commenced by the original plaintiff, or a successor in  inter-
    46  est or assignee of the original plaintiff, the assertion of any cause of
    47  action  or defense by the defendant in the new action shall be timely if
    48  such cause of action or defense was timely asserted in the prior action.
    49    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.