New York’s Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, signed by Governor Hochul on December 30, 2022, puts a hard six-year deadline on mortgage foreclosure lawsuits and blocks the procedural tricks lenders used to drag cases out for a decade or more. The law amends the Civil Practice Law and Rules so that once a lender accelerates a mortgage, the clock starts and stays started: a voluntary dismissal does not reset it, a “de-acceleration” letter does not reset it, and the lender cannot later claim its own prior acceleration was invalid. In November 2025, the New York Court of Appeals upheld the law and its retroactive reach, ending the main constitutional challenge.
The Six-Year Deadline and When It Starts
CPLR 213(4) gives a lender six years to file a foreclosure action on a mortgage secured by real property.1New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 213 – Actions to Be Commenced Within Six Years The clock starts when the lender accelerates the loan, meaning it declares the entire remaining balance due at once rather than continuing to collect monthly payments. Acceleration happens either through a formal notice to the borrower or by filing a foreclosure summons and complaint.
That deadline existed before FAPA. The problem was that lenders had learned to game it.
The Loophole FAPA Closed
Before FAPA, a lender could file a foreclosure case, let it sit, voluntarily dismiss it, and then argue that the dismissal wiped the slate clean so a fresh six years began. Some borrowers faced three or four successive lawsuits over the same default. Others received letters from the lender purporting to “revoke” the acceleration and return the loan to its original installment schedule, which lenders then argued had restarted the clock.
FAPA shuts down both maneuvers.
CPLR 203(h) now states that once the six-year limitations period on a mortgage foreclosure claim begins to run, no party can unilaterally extend, restart, or pause it.2New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 203 – Method of Computing Periods of Limitation Generally The statute’s language is deliberately broad, covering any attempt to “waive, postpone, cancel, toll, revive, or reset” the accrual date. A de-acceleration letter is now legally meaningless for statute-of-limitations purposes.
CPLR 3217(e) handles voluntary discontinuance specifically. When a lender drops a foreclosure case voluntarily, that dismissal does not reset the limitations period, whether it happens by motion, court order, stipulation, or notice.3New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Rule 3217 – Voluntary Discontinuance The six-year clock keeps running from the original acceleration date.
Lenders Cannot Disavow a Prior Acceleration
FAPA added estoppel provisions to CPLR 213(4) that cut off another defense lenders had been using. Faced with a statute-of-limitations argument, some lenders would claim the acceleration in a prior lawsuit was unauthorized or invalid, so the clock never really started. A few courts accepted this.
Under CPLR 213(4)(a), if a borrower raises the statute of limitations and points to a prior action as the trigger, the lender is blocked from arguing the earlier acceleration was invalid.1New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 213 – Actions to Be Commenced Within Six Years There is one narrow exception: if the earlier case was dismissed based on an express judicial finding that the acceleration was not valid, and that finding came from a defense the lender raised in a timely way.
CPLR 213(4)(b) applies the same rule when a homeowner sues to cancel and discharge the mortgage from their property records.1New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 213 – Actions to Be Commenced Within Six Years The lender cannot defeat the clock by claiming its own earlier acceleration was defective.
Clearing a Time-Barred Mortgage From Your Title
When the six-year window closes and a lender can no longer foreclose, the mortgage lien does not vanish on its own. It stays on your property records, clouding title and potentially blocking a sale or refinance. You remove it by filing an action under Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 1501(4).
RPAPL 1501(4) lets anyone with an interest in real property ask a court to cancel and discharge a mortgage from the public records once the foreclosure limitations period has expired.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 1501 Whether you actually paid the underlying debt is irrelevant to the cancellation action; the statute says so explicitly.
FAPA’s estoppel rules do their heaviest work here. Before the law, lenders defending a 1501(4) action could argue the limitations period had not truly expired because the prior acceleration was somehow flawed. CPLR 213(4)(b) now blocks that argument. If your lender accelerated more than six years ago and no court ruled the acceleration invalid at the time, the lender is stuck with that timeline.
One limit to be aware of: you cannot bring a 1501(4) action if the lender or its successor is in physical possession of the property when you file.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 1501 For homeowners still living in their homes, that restriction will not apply.
Does FAPA Apply to a Case Filed Before 2022
Yes, in most situations. Section 10 of FAPA states that the law took effect immediately upon signing and applies to every foreclosure action in which a final judgment of foreclosure and sale has not been enforced.5New York State Court of Appeals. Article 13 LLC v Ponce De Leon Federal Bank If your case was filed years ago but the judgment has not been executed, FAPA’s protections reach it.
For borrowers in active cases, that means an attorney can move to dismiss a foreclosure that runs past the six-year line under FAPA’s stricter rules. The lender cannot point to a past voluntary discontinuance or a de-acceleration letter and claim the clock restarted. Courts statewide must apply FAPA to pending cases regardless of when the original default or acceleration happened.
The 2025 Court of Appeals Ruling
Lenders and investors challenged FAPA’s retroactive application on constitutional grounds, arguing it violated due process and the Contract Clause. In November 2025, the New York Court of Appeals rejected those challenges and held that FAPA is constitutional as applied retroactively.6New York State Court of Appeals. State of New York Court of Appeals
On substantive due process, the Court found that retroactive application serves a rational legislative purpose: curbing abusive litigation practices and relieving courts of stale claims that borrowers struggled to defend as records disappeared over time. On procedural due process, the Court noted that FAPA did not shorten the six-year period itself. Lenders always had six years from acceleration; FAPA simply stopped them from gaming that deadline. Because the filing window was not reduced, no grace period was required.6New York State Court of Appeals. State of New York Court of Appeals On the Contract Clause, the Court assumed for argument that FAPA substantially impaired a contractual right but held that the impairment was reasonable and appropriately tailored to the legislature’s goals.
With that decision, FAPA’s legal footing is settled.
Related Protections That Work With FAPA
FAPA sits on top of other New York and federal rules that already protected homeowners. Together, these make the lender’s six-year window even tighter.
RPAPL 1304 requires a lender to send a written notice at least 90 days before filing a foreclosure action on a home loan.7New York State Senate. New York RPA 1304 The notice goes by both certified and first-class mail, warns the borrower they could lose their home, states the amount needed to cure the default, and lists approved housing counseling agencies in the borrower’s county. Sending this notice is a condition precedent to filing. If the lender skips it or does it incorrectly, the case can be dismissed, and under FAPA that dismissal does not reset the clock.
Once a foreclosure is filed on an owner-occupied home, the court must schedule a mandatory settlement conference within 60 days after proof of service is filed.8New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Rule 3408 – Mandatory Settlement Conference in Residential Foreclosure Actions The conference exists to explore loan modifications, short sales, deeds in lieu, or adjusted payment schedules. Both sides must appear with full authority to settle. A borrower who shows up without counsel is automatically evaluated for appointed counsel.
Federal law adds another layer. Under 12 CFR 1024.41, a mortgage servicer cannot begin foreclosure until a loan is more than 120 days delinquent. A borrower who submits a complete loss mitigation application during that window blocks the filing until the application is resolved. Even after a foreclosure has started, submitting a complete application more than 37 days before a scheduled sale halts a judgment or sale until the servicer finishes reviewing it.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1024.41 – Loss Mitigation Procedures This federal rule prevents “dual tracking,” where a servicer processes a modification with one hand and pushes the foreclosure forward with the other. Every pause eats into the lender’s six years, with no ability to recover it later.