Greenspoon Marder LLP Financial Services Client Alert: State of New Jersey

News Dec 2, 2020 Fort Lauderdale, FL

Greenspoon Marder LLP Obtains Favorable Result on Statute of Limitations analysis in New Jersey

New Jersey Court determines a foreclosure is not time barred as the Office of Foreclosure’s application of the Statute of Limitations cannot be implemented retroactively.

Recently, the Office of Foreclosure denied a Motion for Final Judgment on the basis of the Statute of Limitations having elapsed. The mortgage was executed on September 24, 1981, with default in payment occurring on July 1, 2012. The Office of Foreclosure denied the Final Judgment, ruling “The mortgage in this matter was recorded on 9/30/1981. The borrowers defaulted on the loan on 7/01/2012. By then more than 36 years had passed since the recording of the mortgage, and more than 6 years had passed since the borrowers defaulted.”

This result was troubling because the Office of Foreclosure attempted to apply the Statute of Limitations to the loan retroactively, which is not the state of the law in New Jersey. This loan originated more than thirteen years prior to the enactment of the Fair Foreclosure Act, and more than twenty-seven years prior to the Statute of Limitations being codified in the Act. Furthermore, the most recent amendment to the Fair Foreclosure Act does not impose a six-years-from-default Statute of Limitation unless the loan was originated on or after April 29, 2019.

The loan at issue, therefore, was not subject to either the initial statute of limitations in the Fair Foreclosure Act or the newly enacted statute of limitations.

We filed a Motion to Deem Plaintiff’s Action Timely and Not Time-Barred by the Fair Foreclosure Act with the Presiding Judge of the County’s Chancery Division, and the Motion was Granted. We are now able proceed with Final Judgment in this matter.

Please contact to our office with any Statute of Limitations questions.

About Greenspoon Marder

Greenspoon Marder LLP is a full-service law firm with over 240 attorneys and more than 20 office locations across the United States. With operations from Miami to New York and from Denver to Los Angeles, our firm attracts some of the nation’s top talent in key markets and innovation hubs. Our core practice areas include Real Estate, Litigation, and Transactional Services, complemented by the capabilities of a full-service firm. Greenspoon Marder has upheld a spot on The American Lawyer’s Am Law 200 as one of the top law firms in the U.S. since 2015, and our goal is to provide exceptional client service by developing a thorough understanding of each client’s business needs and objectives in order to provide strategic, cost-effective solutions.

MEDIA CONTACT

Natalie Villanueva, Director of Marketing
954.333.4308 | [email protected]

This Greenspoon Marder LLP Client Alert is issued for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed or used as general legal advice nor a solicitation of any type. Please contact the author(s) or your Greenspoon Marder LLP contact if you have any questions regarding the currency of this information. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision. Before you decide, ask for written information about the lawyer’s legal qualifications and experience.

Previous Next

News

Greenspoon Marder LLP Financial Services Client Alert: State of New Jersey

Share

News & Events

News & Events