Citimortgage, Inc. v Succes, 2019 NY Slip Op 02058, Decided on March 20, 2019, Appellate Division, Second Department: “RPAPL 1304(1) provides that “at least ninety days before a lender, an assignee or a mortgage loan servicer commences legal action against the borrower, . . . including mortgage foreclosure, such lender, assignee or mortgage loan servicer shall give notice to the borrower.” “[P]roper service of RPAPL 1304 notice on the borrower or borrowers is a condition…

A rent regulated apartment in New York is a valuable asset mainly because of the rights of renewal and limits on rent increases. But this asset can be lost due to constant late payments. Lincoln 64 Flats LLC v. Stranahan,  Date filed: 2019-02-25 Court: Civil Court, Kings, Judge: Judge Marc Finkelstein, Case Number: 71779/18: “The standard to sustain a chronic late payment eviction proceeding is as follows: A history of repeated nonpayment proceedings brought to…

In this case, counsel alleged law office failure as a reasonable excuse for not filing for a default judgment when seeking an exception pursuant to CPLR 3215 (c) for entry of judgment after the expiration of one year after the default. However, this court wanted specific facts of the office failure not just the mere allegation. Capital One Bank (USA), N.A. v Eastman, 2019 NY Slip Op 50253(U), Decided on March 6, 2019, Civil Court…

In some cases, a confession of judgment might be included as part of a contract as a form of personal guarantee. This would establish the document as a provision to be enacted if the borrower does not fulfill his or her obligations during the agreed upon time frame. But certain rules must be strictly followed and they were not in this case. Parker Waichman, LLP v Getreu, 2019 NY Slip Op 01783, Decided on March…

This case was issued on February 15. What I find interesting is that the homeowner made this motion on December 4, 2018 and the court, after denying the motion, set it down for trial for March 7. So only 90 days of delay were obtained – could this 90 day extra have been stipulated to by the parties instead of incurring the costs of the motion? Deutsche Bank Nat’l Tr. Co. v. Cordova, LT-006410-18NA, (N.Y.…

We have read about the scandals of getting into college – sometimes, there are serious allegations made when staying in college. This case law applies to private institutions. Matter of Bondalapati v Columbia Univ. 2019 NY Slip Op 01720 Decided on March 12, 2019 Appellate Division, First Department: “Respondents’ disciplinary determination that petitioner forged an exam booklet was made in accordance with its written disciplinary policy and was rationally based and not arbitrary and capricious…

Nationwide Capital Group, Inc. v Weiss, 2019 NY Slip Op 01781, Decided on March 13, 2019, Appellate Division, Second Department: “The plaintiff commenced this action to foreclose a mortgage in 2008. On March 20, 2014, the Supreme Court entered a conditional order of dismissal dismissing the action pursuant to CPLR 3216 and directing the County Clerk to cancel the notice of pendency “unless plaintiff files a note of issue or otherwise proceeds by motion for…