EMC MORTGAGE CORPORATION v. Patella

Decision Date29 January 2001
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
PartiesEMC MORTGAGE CORPORATION, Appellant-Respondent,<BR>v.<BR>THOMAS J. PATELLA, JR., et al., Respondents-Appellants, et al., Defendants.

Bracken, Acting P.J., O'Brien, Santucci and Florio, JJ., concur.

Ordered that the cross appeal is dismissed; and it is further,

Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from; and it is further Ordered that the defendants Thomas J. Patella, Jr., and Christine Patella are awarded one bill of costs payable by the plaintiff.

The original consolidated note and mortgage between the defendant mortgagors Thomas J. Patella, Jr., and Christine Patella (hereinafter the Patellas) and the mortgagee Dime Savings Bank of New York, FSB (hereinafter Dime) provided that the payment of the mortgage debt could be accelerated on default at Dime's option. Thereafter, when the Patellas allegedly defaulted, Dime indicated that it was exercising its option to call in the mortgage and demanded payment of the entire mortgage debt by letter to them dated August 20, 1992. Subsequently, by filing a summons and complaint, both dated September 14, 1992, Dime commenced a foreclosure action.

After an unsuccessful summary judgment motion, the Supreme Court, Westchester County, dismissed Dime's foreclosure action as a result of its failure to appear at a certification conference. Although Dime was provided with the opportunity to move to vacate its default, it failed to do so.

Thereafter, the mortgage went through a series of assignments, and ultimately, on March 21, 1997, it was assigned to the plaintiff. By letter dated February 26, 1998, the plaintiff notified the Patellas of its intention to commence foreclosure proceedings and demanded payment of the mortgage debt. Then, by the filing of a summons and complaint, both dated April 28, 1999, the plaintiff commenced the instant foreclosure action. The Patellas moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against them on the ground, inter alia, that the action was time-barred, since the entire mortgage debt became due and payable upon their alleged default more than six years earlier.

The law is well settled that, even if a mortgage is payable in installments, once a mortgage debt is accelerated, the entire amount is due and the Statute of Limitations begins to run on the entire debt (see, Rols Capital Co. v Beeten, 264 AD2d 724; Loiacono v Goldberg, 240 AD2d 476, 477). As this Court stated in Federal Natl. Mtge....

To continue reading

Request your trial
223 cases
  • Costa v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • March 30, 2017
    ...the entire amount is due and the [s]tatute of [l]imitations begins to run on the entire debt." EMC Mortg. Corp. v. Patella , 279 A.D.2d 604, 720 N.Y.S.2d 161, 162 (2d Dep't 2001) (internal citations omitted); id. ("[O]nce a mortgage debt is accelerated, ‘the borrowers' right and obligation ......
  • Freedom Mortg. Corp. v. Engel
    • United States
    • New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • February 18, 2021
    ...also CDR Cre´ances S.A. v. Euro–American Lodging Corp., 43 A.D.3d 45, 51, 837 N.Y.S.2d 33 [1st Dept. 2007] ; EMC Mtge. Corp. v. Patella, 279 A.D.2d 604, 605, 720 N.Y.S.2d 161 [2d Dept. 2001] ; Lavin v. Elmakiss, 302 A.D.2d 638, 639, 754 N.Y.S.2d 741 [3d Dept. 2003] ; Business Loan Ctr., Inc......
  • 21st Mortg. Corp. v. Rudman
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • January 5, 2022
    ...to run on the entire debt’ " ( Nationstar Mtge., LLC v. Weisblum, 143 A.D.3d at 867, 39 N.Y.S.3d 491, quoting EMC Mtge. Corp. v. Patella, 279 A.D.2d 604, 605, 720 N.Y.S.2d 161 )."An acceleration of a mortgage debt can occur when a creditor commences an action to foreclose upon a note and mo......
  • Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Eitani
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • February 8, 2017
    ...begins to run on the entire debt (see Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Burke, 94 A.D.3d 980, 982, 943 N.Y.S.2d 540 ; EMC Mtge. Corp. v. Patella, 279 A.D.2d 604, 605, 720 N.Y.S.2d 161 ).Here, Cohan established, prima facie, that the time in which to commence the action had expired. Cohan showed tha......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT