In MTGLQ Investors, L.P. v. James Vazquez, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed a New York County trial court order that denied the defendant’s motion to vacate the 2019 judgment of foreclosure and sale, which was affirmed by the First Department on a prior appeal in 2021.

The defendant argued the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (“FAPA”) statutory amendments related to the mortgage foreclosure statute of limitations constituted a change of law to justify vacating the foreclosure judgment. However, the intermediate appellate court noted that “a change in the law by itself does not warrant vacatur” of the judgment under CPLR §5015(a), including under the interests of justice standard.

Vazquez is impactful because it is among the few favorable appellate court decisions in which the court rejected a foreclosure defendant’s FAPA-based arguments on procedural grounds.

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