HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. IPA Asset Mgt., LLC

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed dismissal of a mortgage foreclosure action as time-barred under CPLR 3211(a)(5). The court held that the mortgage debt was accelerated in two prior foreclosure actions and that voluntary discontinuances did not reset the statute of limitations under the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act. The court also rejected challenges to FAPA's retroactive application based on due process, takings, and Contract Clause principles.

Holdings

1. The action was time-barred because the mortgage debt was accelerated in the 2008 and 2012 foreclosure complaints, causing the six-year limitations period to run on the entire debt, and the present action was commenced more than six years later.
2. A mortgagee's voluntary discontinuance of a foreclosure action does not revoke a prior acceleration or reset the statute of limitations.
3. Retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act was not unconstitutional on due-process, takings, or Contract Clause grounds.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the foreclosure action was barred by New York's six-year statute of limitations after HSBC accelerated the mortgage debt in its prior foreclosure complaints.
2. Whether HSBC's voluntary discontinuances of the prior foreclosure actions revoked or reset the prior acceleration under the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act.
3. Whether retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act violated due process, constituted an unconstitutional taking, or violated the Contract Clause.

Disposition

affirmed