Firmly Fixated With Allonges

In a recent decision by the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Kings County (the Court)¹, HSBC Bank USA, N.A. (the Plaintiff) initiated a mortgage foreclosure action against Jack and Sabah Srugo (collectively, the Defendant). The Plaintiff moved for summary judgment, and the Defendant cross-moved to dismiss, arguing that the action was barred by the statute of limitations. The Court denied the Plaintiff's summary judgment motion, concluding that the Plaintiff did not have standing to commence the action because it did not prove that the allonge was firmly affixed to the note as required by statute. The Court also held that the action was timely commenced and thus rejected the Defendant's claim that the statute of limitations had expired under the Foreclosure Abuse Protection Act (FAPA).