U.S. Bank N.A. v. Islam

Summary

The New York Appellate Division, Second Department, held that the plaintiff failed to take proceedings for entry of a default judgment within the one-year period required by CPLR 3215(c) in a mortgage foreclosure action. The court dismissed the appeal from the order, reversed the judgment of foreclosure and sale, granted the defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint as abandoned, and denied the plaintiff's request for a judgment of foreclosure and sale.

Holdings

1. The appeal from the May 25, 2022 order must be dismissed because the right to a direct appeal from that order terminated when the judgment of foreclosure and sale was entered; the issues raised on the order were reviewable on the appeal from the judgment.
2. When a plaintiff fails to take proceedings for entry of a default judgment within one year after a defendant's default, CPLR 3215(c) requires dismissal of the claim as abandoned unless sufficient cause is shown.
3. The plaintiff's request for judicial intervention seeking a foreclosure settlement conference did not constitute proceedings for entry of judgment and did not toll the one-year deadline under CPLR 3215(c).
4. The plaintiff failed to establish sufficient cause to avoid dismissal because its change of attorney was not a reasonable excuse for the delay, particularly where the change occurred after the one-year period had expired.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the appeal from the May 25, 2022 order had to be dismissed because the right to a direct appeal from the order terminated upon entry of the judgment of foreclosure and sale.
2. Whether the foreclosure complaint against the defendant had to be dismissed as abandoned under CPLR 3215(c) because the plaintiff failed to take proceedings for entry of a default judgment within one year after the defendant's default.
3. Whether the plaintiff's request for judicial intervention seeking a foreclosure settlement conference tolled or satisfied the one-year period under CPLR 3215(c).
4. Whether the plaintiff established sufficient cause to avoid dismissal under CPLR 3215(c) by offering a reasonable excuse for the delay.

Disposition

reversed