NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A Greenberg
Traurig (GT) Appellate team led by Shareholder Patrick Broderick and Of Counsel Brian Pantaleo won in two landmark real property
cases before the New York Court of
Appeals involving the statute of limitations in mortgage
foreclosure cases. The two cases are ground-shifting in
New York real property law. Their
state-wide application will likely protect billions in assets for
mortgage holders throughout New York
State.
In Vargas v. Deutsche Bank National Trust [APL-2020-00026], GT
attorneys convinced New York's
highest court – for the first time in 89 years – to grant leave to
address a mortgage-acceleration issue. GT defended a mortgage
lender in a quiet title action where the borrower sought to void
the mortgage, arguing that the statute of limitations had expired.
The plaintiff property owner prevailed before the lower courts,
claiming that a notice letter stating the lender will accelerate
the mortgage loan in 32 days automatically invoked the mortgage's
acceleration clause when the cure period ended. The letter
triggered New York's six-year
statute of limitations for mortgage foreclosures. Prevailing in
this appeal, GT's team argued that a foreclosure notice letter
alluding to a future event is not a clear and unequivocal act
sufficient to accelerate a mortgage loan. As a result, the
intermediate appellate court was reversed, and the quiet title
action was dismissed.
The second case, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Donna Ferrato [APL-2020-00138], involved similar
issues relating to a mortgage acceleration clause. To preserve the
client's right to foreclose upon a multi-million-dollar
Manhattan condominium, GT
attorneys persuaded the Court of Appeals to adopt a clear rule for
how a mortgagee can revoke a loan's acceleration to avoid
forfeiting the asset under the statute of limitations. Accordingly,
the Court held "the noteholder's voluntary withdrawal of [a
foreclosure] action revokes the election to accelerate, absent the
noteholder's contemporaneous statement to the contrary." GT also
successfully argued that acceleration cannot occur from a dismissed
foreclosure complaint that was substantively deficient.
Broderick focuses his practice on litigation related to claims
arising out of federal consumer protection statutes, including the
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Truth in Lending Act, Fair
Debt Collections Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and
Telephone Consumer Protection Act as well as various state consumer
protection statutes.
Pantaleo has a wide-range of experience in commercial
litigation. Currently, his practice focuses upon defending
businesses against various statutory claims, including the Real
Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the
Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act,
and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, as well as other state
consumer protection statutes.
About Greenberg Traurig's Appellate Practice: Greenberg
Traurig's Appellate Group has been involved in some of the most
important and consequential cases of our time. In recent years,
GT's Appellate lawyers have played key roles in cases addressing
voting rights and election law, federal constitutional law,
environmental law, labor law, white collar criminal law, First
Amendment law, real estate law, civil rights law, intellectual
property and patent law, and administrative and regulatory law. The
GT appellate philosophy is to combine forum-knowledgeable lawyers
who have a comprehensive understanding of their jurisdictions with
colleagues who have a proven record of substantive excellence in
the legal issues involved in our clients' appellate cases.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has
approximately 2200 attorneys in 40 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia,
and the Middle East. GT has been
recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation,
and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the
Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. The firm
is net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage and
Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certified. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com
Media Contact
Lourdes Brezo Martinez, Greenberg
Traurig, LLP, 212-801-2131, martinezl@gtlaw.com
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SOURCE Greenberg Traurig, LLP