Pennymac foreclosure stands after buyer waits 14 years to challenge it
That timing is everything. Under New York law (CPLR 6501), a notice of pendency gives constructive notice – a legal flag that warns anyone who later acquires an interest in the property that litigation is underway. The court held that because 194 Grant’s title was recorded afterward, it was “bound by all proceedings taken in the action after that filing to the same extent as if it were a party to the action.”
The foreclosure moved forward without opposition. In March 2017, the court granted Pennymac’s unopposed motion for a default judgment against all non-answering defendants and allowed Pennymac to substitute in for its predecessor. In August 2019, the court issued an amended judgment of foreclosure and sale.
Then – three years after that judgment and roughly 14 years after taking title – 194 Grant finally moved to intervene. The lower court denied the motion as untimely. The Appellate Division agreed.
Intervention under CPLR 1012 or 1013 requires a timely motion, and courts weigh the gap between filing and when the proposed intervenor learned of the circumstances. 194 Grant “failed to offer any reason for the delay,” the decision states. The separate motion to vacate under CPLR 5015(a)(3) – which requires action within a “reasonable time” even without a hard deadline – was similarly untimely.
194 Grant also argued for vacatur in the interests of substantial justice. The Appellate Division found no unique or unusual circumstances warranting that relief.
