Constitutionality Of Shortened Time Limits On New York Foreclosures Still Unresolved

On September 12, 2024, New York's highest court dismissed an appeal challenging the constitutionality of the retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act ("FAPA"), a law that amended certain New York rules to strictly cabin the time limits for commencing mortgage foreclosures. The Court of Appeals, on its own motion, decided that there was no constitutional issue before it. See MTGLQ Invs., L.P. v. Singh, 2024 NY Slip Op. 74046 (Sep 12, 2024). The question of FAPA's constitutionality remains unresolved.

The appellant in MTGLQ was the plaintiff in a residential mortgage foreclosure action whose summary judgment victory in the trial court was reversed by the appellate division, and its complaint dismissed as untimely, based on FAPA. FAPA's constitutionality was not at issue at the appellate division in MTGLQ, because the law did not become effective until December 30, 2022, after that appeal was fully submitted. Thus, the constitutionality of