Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Protects Insured Lender in Common Charge Lien Foreclosure Proceeding
In the board of managers of Lorraine Terrace Condominium v. Annor, et. al., Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. successfully protected an insured lender’s security interest in a Westchester condominium property, in defeating the plaintiff’s claim that the lender did not hold the “first mortgage of record” as is defined by § 339-z of New York’s Real Property Law.
Section 339-z gives first priority to the earliest lender with a loan recorded in the chain of title for a property over a board with a common charge lien being foreclosed. Here, the earliest lender of record held a loan that was previously satisfied from the proceeds of the insured’s loan; however, no satisfaction was ever recorded. The plaintiff board therefore alleged that the insured lender was not entitled to the protection of RPL § 339-z because it was technically not the first mortgage according to the record.
To defeat the board’s crafty attempt to elevate form over substance, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. expeditiously procured a satisfaction of mortgage from the predecessor lender and successfully recorded that satisfaction in the public record, leaving the plaintiff board with no choice but to discontinue the insured lender from the action based on its status as first mortgagee of record.
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. thus protected the lender’s first position interest in the premises without the need for even a filed answer or motion to dismiss in the action.
The Title Litigation Group at Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. won this case for the insured, with Jackie Halpern Weinstein representing the firm.