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By:  Jeffrey M. Haber In Tiburcio v. Grant Ave. Bronx Realty Corp. , 2025 N.Y. Slip Op. 02669 (1st Dept. May 01, 2025) ( here ), the Appellate Division, First Department was asked to decide whether the statute of limitations expired on all causes of action alleged by the plaintiff or whether the continuing wrong doctrine applied to toll the applicable limitations periods. As discussed below, the Court held that the continuing wrong doctrine to did not apply to save the compla

By: Jonathan H. Freiberger The tedious task of compiling hard copies of exhibits to annex to motion papers in supreme court litigation practice was ameliorated in 2014 when the CPLR was amended to permit litigants, in e-filed cases, to simply refer in their briefs and affirmations to docket numbers on the e-filing system. Thus, CPLR 2214(c) provides: Each party shall furnish to the court all papers served by that party. The moving party shall furnish all other papers not alr

By: Jeffrey M. Haber The elements of a claim for breach of contract are straightforward. The movant must establish: (1) the existence of a valid contract, (2) the plaintiff’s performance of the contract, (3) the defendant’s breach of the contract, and (4) damages resulting from the defendant’s breach. As readers of this Blog know, “ hen the terms of a written contract are clear and unambiguous, the intent of the parties must be found within the four corners of the contract, g

By: Jeffrey M. Haber It is well settled that the parties to an agreement may freely select any forum to resolve any disputes regarding the interpretation or performance of the agreement. A forum selection clause is prima facie valid “unless-it is shown by the challenging party to be unreasonable, unjust, in contravention of public policy, invalid due to fraud or overreaching, or it is shown that a trial in the selected forum would be so gravely difficult that the challenging

By: Jonathan H. Freiberger Today’s article revisits statute of limitations issues and FAPA in residential mortgage foreclosure actions . Briefly stated, a mortgage foreclosure action is governed by a six-year statute of limitations. CPLR 213(4) ; see also Anglestone Real Estate Venture Partners Corp. v. Bank of New York Melon , 221 A.D.3d 943, 946 (2 nd Dep’t 2023). When mortgage payments are payable in installments, the six-year period runs from each missed payment, but, u

By: Jeffrey M. Haber On April 16, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or Commission”) announced ( here ) that its Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (“OIEA”) had unveiled an anti-fraud public service campaign to warn investors about the impact relationship investment scams can have on their financial future. As explained in the release, “ elationship investment scams typically involve a ‘long con’ in which scammers reach out online or through text messa

By: Jeffrey M. Haber It has long been the law that the business judgment rule applies to the decisions made by boards of directors of residential cooperatives and condominiums. “The business judgment rule ‘bars judicial inquiry into actions of corporate directors taken in good faith and in the exercise of honest judgment in the lawful and legitimate furtherance of corporate purposes.’” “ ourts must defer to a board’s determination if it was taken in furtherance of the corpo

By: Jonathan H. Freiberger Today’s article addresses a property owner’s right to cancel a recorded mortgage pursuant to RPAPL 1501(4) and whether a mortgagee is “is entitled to recover sums expended to preserve and maintain an allegedly abandoned property under equitable and quasi-contractual theories.” As discussed in prior articles, mortgages on real property are frequently delivered to lenders to stand as security for the repayment obligations evidenced by a promissory no

By: Jeffrey M. Haber On July 8, 2019, this Blog wrote an article titled, “First Department Unanimously Affirms Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration and Motion to Dismiss Fraud Claims” ( here ). The article examined the decision of the Appellate Division, First Department in BML Properties Ltd. v. China Construction America Inc. , 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 05339 (1st Dept. July 2, 2019), in which the Court (as the title states) affirmed the denial of a motion to compel arbitration