Foreclosure Statute of Limitations in New York: How FAPA Protects Homeowners
If your mortgage was accelerated years ago — or a bank already sued you once and the case went away — there is a real question whether the lender can still foreclose at all. New York puts a six-year limit on foreclosure, and a 2022 law called the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act closed the loopholes lenders had used to get around it. For some homeowners, that limit is a complete defense.
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A foreclosure in New York generally has to be brought within six years. That sounds simple, but the timing turns on a series of technical events — when the loan was “accelerated,” whether an earlier foreclosure was filed and then dismissed, and how that earlier case ended. For years, lenders found ways to restart the six-year clock and keep foreclosing on the same debt long after the deadline should have passed. New York’s 2022 Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) was written to stop exactly that, and in late 2025 the State’s highest court confirmed it applies to cases already in the system. This page explains how the deadline works, what FAPA changed, and when it can help.
The Six-Year Clock — and When It Starts
Under CPLR § 213(4), a lender generally has six years to bring a foreclosure action. The clock usually starts when the lender “accelerates” the loan — that is, demands the entire remaining balance at once rather than just the missed payments. Filing a foreclosure lawsuit is the most common way a lender accelerates. Once that happens, the six-year period begins to run on the full debt. If a lender lets six years pass without a valid, pending foreclosure, the right to foreclose can be lost entirely.
The Loophole FAPA Closed
In 2021, in Freedom Mortgage Corp. v. Engel, New York’s highest court held that a lender could “de-accelerate” a loan — in effect, undo the acceleration and stop the six-year clock — simply by voluntarily withdrawing its foreclosure case within the six years. The practical result was that lenders could file, withdraw, wait, and refile, resetting the deadline more or less at will. Homeowners who should have been protected by the statute of limitations were dragged back into court on loans that had defaulted a decade or more earlier.
What the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act Changed
FAPA, enacted December 30, 2022, amended several statutes to take away the tactics that let lenders manipulate the deadline. In plain terms:
| The law | What it means for you |
| CPLR § 3217(e) | A lender can no longer reset the six-year clock by voluntarily withdrawing an earlier foreclosure case. Walking away from a prior lawsuit no longer buys the bank more time. |
| CPLR § 213(4)(b) | If a lender accelerated your loan in an earlier case, it generally cannot later claim the loan was never validly accelerated in order to revive the clock — unless a court expressly ruled that way on a defense you raised on time. |
| CPLR § 205-a | The short window that normally lets a dismissed case be refiled is far narrower for foreclosures. A foreclosure dismissed because of the lender’s own neglect usually does not get a do-over. |
| RPAPL § 1301 | A lender generally must get the court’s permission before starting a second foreclosure on the same debt. Skipping that step can itself be a defense. |
| CPLR § 203(h) | Once the clock has started, a lender cannot unilaterally pause, cancel, or reset it. |
Together, these changes mean that a lender who let the six-year period lapse usually cannot manufacture more time. For a homeowner with an older, previously-litigated loan, the deadline can be a defense that ends the case.
New York’s Highest Court Confirmed FAPA Applies to Existing Cases
A major open question after 2022 was whether FAPA applied only to new loans, or also to foreclosures that were already underway. In November 2025, the New York Court of Appeals — the State’s highest court — resolved it, holding that FAPA is constitutional and applies retroactively to foreclosure cases in which a final judgment of foreclosure and sale has not yet been enforced (Article 13, LLC v. LaSalle National Bank Association, decided with Van Dyke v. U.S. Bank). In practical terms: even if your loan defaulted, was accelerated, or was first sued on years before 2022, FAPA’s rules can still apply to your case as long as the lender has not yet enforced a final judgment of foreclosure and sale.
The short version: if a bank already sued you on this mortgage before, lost or withdrew that case, and is now coming back, the timeline of those earlier events may decide whether it can foreclose at all. That is worth having reviewed before you do anything else.
When the Statute of Limitations Is Worth a Close Look
This defense does not fit every case, but it is worth examining if any of the following describe your situation:
- A bank filed a foreclosure against you years ago, and that case was dismissed or withdrawn.
- Your loan was accelerated — the full balance was demanded — more than six years ago.
- You are now facing a second or third foreclosure on the same mortgage.
- The lender or servicer changed hands several times and the case has dragged on for years.
- You were told a foreclosure was “too old” or time-barred, and want to know if that is correct.
Why the Timeline Has to Be Reviewed, Not Assumed
Whether the statute of limitations bars a foreclosure depends on specific facts: the exact date of acceleration, when each prior action was filed, how each one ended, and whether a court made any express findings along the way. FAPA is also still being applied and interpreted by the courts case by case, and the result in one case does not guarantee the result in another. We do not promise an outcome. What we do is pull the full history of your loan and any prior foreclosure actions, lay the dates against the statute, and tell you honestly whether the deadline helps you — and what else does, if it does not.
The statute of limitations is one defense among several. If your case is recent, or the timing does not work in your favor, other defenses and options — defective notices, standing problems, loan modification, settlement conferences, or bankruptcy — may apply instead. Those are covered on our New York foreclosure defense overview, and bankruptcy strategy is addressed on our New York bankruptcy page.
Why Ronald S. Cook, P.C.
Foreclosure timing questions sit at the intersection of litigation deadlines, mortgage records, and the underlying financial math — and a statute-of-limitations defense often runs alongside a bankruptcy decision. Attorney Ronald S. Cook holds a J.D., dual LL.M. degrees including one in Bankruptcy, and an MBA, so the foreclosure timeline, the bankruptcy options, and the numbers are weighed together rather than in isolation. Attorney Cook is also the author of Foreclosure Defense Lawyer, available on Amazon. We are direct about which cases the deadline can help and which it cannot.
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Last reviewed by Attorney Ronald S. Cook — June 2026.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
FAPA is applied by the courts on a case-by-case basis. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
