Case Name: Bank of New York Mellon, Formerly Known as Bank of New York, as Trustee, in Trust for Registered Holders of CWABS, Inc., Asset-Back Certificates, Series 2005-IM3, Appellant, v. Erin Slavin, Also Known as Erin Mohammed, Respondent, et al., Defendants
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2017-12-14
Citations: 156 A.D.3d 1073
Docket Number: 
Parties: Bank of New York Mellon, Formerly Known as Bank of New York, as Trustee, in Trust for Registered Holders of CWABS, Inc., Asset-Back Certificates, Series 2005-IM3, Appellant, v Erin Slavin, Also Known as Erin Mohammed, Respondent, et al., Defendants.
Judges: Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch and Rose, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 156
Pages: 1073–1082

Head Matter:
Bank of New York Mellon, Formerly Known as Bank of New York, as Trustee, in Trust for Registered Holders of CWABS, Inc., Asset-Back Certificates, Series 2005-IM3, Appellant, v Erin Slavin, Also Known as Erin Mohammed, Respondent, et al., Defendants.
[67 NYS3d 328]

Opinion:
Pritzker, J.
Appeal from an amended order of the Supreme Court (Zwack, J.), entered November 21, 2016 in Rensselaer County, which, among other things, granted defendant Erin Slavin's cross motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against her.
Plaintiff's first foreclosure action (hereinafter the first action) against defendant Erin Slavin (hereinafter defendant) was commenced in October 2006, but dismissed in January 2013 due to the failure of plaintiff to appear at a mandatory conference. Plaintiff moved twice to vacate the dismissal, and Supreme Court denied the requests. In July 2015, this Court affirmed Supreme Court's denial of plaintiff's motion to vacate (Bank of N.Y. v Mohammed, 130 AD3d 1419 [2015]). In August 2015, plaintiff commenced this foreclosure action (hereinafter the second action) against defendant, among others. After issue was joined, plaintiff moved for, among other things, summary judgment and defendant cross-moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against her. Supreme Court granted defendant's cross motion, finding that the action was time-barred.
Defendant established that the statute of limitations began to run on October 2, 2006, when plaintiff accelerated the debt after defendant fell behind on her payments (see Lavin v Elmakiss, 302 AD2d 638, 639 [2003], lv dismissed 100 NY2d 577 [2003], lv denied 2 NY3d 703 [2004]; Saini v Cinelli Enters., 289 AD2d 770, 771 [2001], lv denied 98 NY2d 602 [2002]). Thus, defendant, as the proponent for summary judgment, carried her prima facie burden of establishing that the second action was time-barred as it was commenced in 2015, more than six years beyond the acceleration of the debt (see CPLR 213 [4]; Phillips v Dweck, 300 AD2d 969, 969 [2002]; Firth v State of New York, 287 AD2d 771, 771-772 [2001], affd 98 NY2d 365 [2002]). Plaintiff countered by asserting that the second action was timely due to, among other reasons, the savings provision contained in CPLR 205 (a). We agree.
"If an action is timely commenced and is terminated in any other manner than by a voluntary discontinuance, a failure to obtain personal jurisdiction over the defendant, a dismissal of the complaint for neglect to prosecute the action, or a final judgment upon the merits, the plaintiff. . . may commence a new action upon the same transaction or occurrence . . . within six months after the termination provided that the new action would have been timely commenced at the time of commencement of the prior action and that service upon [the] defendant is effected within such six-month period. Where a dismissal is one for neglect to prosecute . . . , the judge shall set forth on the record the specific conduct constituting the neglect, which conduct shall demonstrate a general pattern of delay" (CPLR 205 [a]). Here, the neglect to prosecute exception is inapplicable because the first action was specifically dismissed due to the failure of plaintiff to appear at a mandatory conference (see 22 NYCRR 202.27), and the sua sponte dismissal did not set forth any specific conduct that demonstrated a general pattern of delay (see CPLR 205 [a]; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v Eitani, 148 AD3d 193, 198 [2017], appeal dismissed 29 NY3d 1023 [2017]). Further, it is not disputed that the second action would have been timely commenced when the first action was commenced in October 2006, it is based on the same occurrence as the first action and the dismissal was not based upon a voluntary discontinuance, lack of personal jurisdiction or a final judgment on the merits (see CPLR 205 [a]).
The key issue is whether the six-month period began after Supreme Court's dismissal in 2013 or after this Court's affir-mance of the denial of the motion to vacate the default in July 2015. For purposes of CPLR 205 (a), the commencement of the six-month period begins when the action is finally terminated, generally when all appeals as of right have been exhausted (see Andrea v Arnone, Hedin, Casker, Kennedy & Drake, Architects & Landscape Architects, P.C. [Habiterra Assoc.], 5 NY3d 514, 519 [2005]; Lehman Bros. v Hughes Hubbard & Reed, 92 NY2d 1014, 1016 [1998]). The 2013 dismissal was not appealable as of right because it was based upon plaintiff's default; therefore plaintiff, as required, moved to vacate the default, which was denied, thereby permitting plaintiff to ap peal such denial (see 22 NYCRR 202.27 [b]; Matter of Susan UU. v Scott VV., 119 AD3d 1117, 1118 [2014]; Brannigan v Dubuque, 199 AD2d 851, 851-852 [1993]; F.W. Myers & Co. v Owsley & Sons, 192 AD2d 927, 927 [1993]). As such, the default order did not constitute a final termination of the action within the meaning of CPLR 205 (a) because plaintiff was statutorily authorized to file a motion to vacate and to appeal from the denial of that motion (see CPLR 5015 [a] [1]; Brannigan v Dubuque, 199 AD2d at 851-852).
Further, it is procedurally and logically unsound to deem the dismissal a "termination" because success in the motion court or upon appeal would reinstate the original action. By contrast, an action cannot be reinstated after appeals are exhausted and, thus, an action is properly deemed terminated under those circumstances. Therefore, as the action was not finally terminated until this Court affirmed the order denying the motion to vacate the default in July 2015, the second action was timely commenced in August 2015, well within the six-month period provided in CPLR 205 (a). The cases relied on by the dissent—Burns v Pace Univ. (25 AD3d 334 [1st Dept 2006], lv denied 7 NY3d 705 [2006]), Haber v Telson (4 AD2d 677 [2d Dept 1957], affd 4 NY2d 687 [1958]) and Jelinek v City of New York (25 AD2d 425 [1st Dept 1966])—are factually distinguishable and inapposite. Nor is this an instance of undue delay, for the motion to vacate was properly made pursuant to CPLR 5015, within one year from service of the default order. As such, we reverse the granting of defendant's cross motion for summary judgment and, in light of this determination, plaintiff's remaining arguments regarding timeliness are rendered academic.
As the second action was timely commenced, Supreme Court should also have granted plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. "To establish its prima facie entitlement to summary judgment in a mortgage foreclosure action, a plaintiff must submit the mortgage, unpaid note and evidence of the mortgag- or's default" (Bank of N.Y. Mellon v Cronin, 151 AD3d 1504, 1505 [2017] [citations omitted]). The burden then shifts to the defendant "to come forward with competent and admissible evidence demonstrating the existence of a defense that properly could raise an issue of fact as to [the defendant's] default" (HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v Sage, 112 AD3d 1126, 1127 [2013], lvs dismissed 22 NY3d 1172 [2014], 23 NY3d 1015 [2014]).
In support of its motion, plaintiff submitted, among other things, the mortgage and its assignment to plaintiff, a copy of the unpaid note, an affidavit of Mark Syphus—a Document Control Officer for plaintiff's servicing agent and an attorney-in-fact—that attests to defendant's default, and a letter, dated May 6, 2016, notifying defendant of her default. Plaintiff therefore established its prima facie entitlement to summary judgment (see Bank of N.Y. Mellon v Cronin, 151 AD3d at 1505). As plaintiff met its burden, the burden shifted to defendant "to raise a question of fact as to a bona fide defense to foreclosure" (HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v Szoffer, 149 AD3d 1400, 1401 [2017]). In defendant's answer, it is asserted that plaintiff lacks standing; therefore, plaintiff had the additional burden of demonstrating that, "at the time the action was commenced, it was the holder or assignee of the mortgage and the holder or as-signee of the underlying note" (Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v Walker, 141 AD3d 986, 987 [2016] [internal quotations marks and citations omitted]). Plaintiff submitted the written and recorded mortgage assignment and an affidavit by its attorney-in-fact attesting to physical possession of the note at the time the action was commenced, and these unchallenged assertions sufficiently established standing (see Bank of N.Y. Mellon v Cronin, 151 AD3d at 1506-1507). Likewise, as to defendant's remaining defenses, to defeat a motion for summary judgment, the party opposing the motion must "assemble and lay bare its proof to demonstrate that there are genuine triable issues and reliance upon conclusory assertions, conjecture, mere suspicion or surmise will not suffice for this purpose" (Spielman v Acme Natl. Sales Co. [Del.], 159 AD2d 918, 919 [1990] [citation omitted]). As defendant only responded to the portions of plaintiff's motion regarding the affirmative defense and counterclaim for timeliness, the remaining defenses asserted by defendant were merely conclusory assertions and are therefore insufficient to defeat plaintiff's entitlement to summary judgment (see id.).
Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch and Rose, JJ., concur.
. Plaintiff submitted an affidavit of service establishing that defendant was served, in the second action, within the six-month time period required under CPLR 205 (a).
. Insofar as defendant contends that the appeal is moot as the property subject to this action was purportedly sold in January 2017, that issue is outside the record and, as it was brought up for the first time on appeal, is not properly before us.
. Additionally, the record is replete with defendant conceding her default.