LWL Construction, LLC v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 4:15-cv-03379

LWL Construction purchased the property at 1414 Elkton Court, College Station, Texas on September 10, 2015; the property is subject to a 2004 deed of trust securing a note given to Spectrum Lending.
Countrywide accelerated the loan via counsel on February 28, 2005, then recorded a Rescission of Acceleration on May 13, 2005.
Countrywide later sent four notices of default specifying amounts less than the full note balance, stating those amounts would "reinstate the loan" and warning acceleration would occur if the default was not cured by a deadline.
The Borrowers executed a Loan Modification Agreement with Countrywide on July 22, 2007.
LWL sued in Texas state court on October 13, 2015 seeking a declaratory judgment/quiet title that the lien is invalid as time-barred; Ditech removed the case. LWL moved for summary judgment claiming the lien expired under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.035 due to unrescinded acceleration more than four years earlier.
The district court denied summary judgment, finding the default notices (and recorded rescission/modification) raise a genuine issue whether acceleration was abandoned, thus restarting the limitations period.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the four-year limitations period to enforce the real-property lien expired because the note was previously accelerated	Acceleration occurred in 2005 and was not effectively rescinded per § 16.038, so the limitations period ran and the lien is unenforceable	Acceleration was rescinded/abandoned — evidenced by recorded rescission, cure-oriented default notices, and loan modification — so limitations did not bar enforcement	Court: Denied summary judgment; the cure-oriented notices create a genuine dispute whether acceleration was abandoned and the limitations period was reset

Boren v. U.S. Nat'l Bank Ass'n, 807 F.3d 99 (5th Cir. 2015) (notice permitting borrower to cure by paying less than full balance can manifest abandonment of prior acceleration)
Holy Cross Church of God in Christ v. Wolf, 44 S.W.3d 562 (Tex. 2001) (option-to-accelerate note accrues only when holder actually exercises acceleration)
Khan v. GBAK Props., Inc., 371 S.W.3d 347 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2012) (rescission/waiver of acceleration restores original maturity date; § 16.038 does not create the exclusive method to rescind/waive)
Vernon v. Perrien, 390 S.W.3d 47 (Tex. App. 2012) (elements of a quiet title action)