An action to foreclose a mortgage is subject to a six-year statute of limitations. When a mortgage is payable in installments, which is the typical practice, an acceleration of the entire amount due begins the running of the statute of limitation on the entire debt. One of the ways to accelerate a mortgage debt is through commencement of a foreclosure action in which the verified complaint includes an election to exercise the mortgagor's contractual right to accelerate under the terms of the note and mortgage. The fact of election should not be confused with the notice of the election. While the act evincing the noteholder's election must be sufficient to constitute notice to all third parties of such a choice, a borrower's lack of actual notice does not, as a matter of law, destroy the effect of the election. Put another way, the point at which a borrower has actual notice of an election to accelerate is not the operative event for purposes of determining when the statute of limitations begins to run. The dispositive question is whether the contractual election was effectively invoked.
Wilmington Sav. Fund Socy., FSB v. Avenue Basin Mgt., Inc., NY Slip Op 04039 (2d Dep't July 2, 2025)
