Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Edwards, 231 A.D.3d 1189

Alvin Edwards executed a note and mortgage in 2003, later assigned to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Wells Fargo (and MERS) previously commenced two foreclosure actions (2005, 2009), both ultimately discontinued or dismissed before the 2015 action.
Sylvia Edwards, Alvin's widow, was added as defendant in the 2015 foreclosure, raising defenses including statute of limitations and violation of Banking Law § 6-l.
The trial court initially granted summary judgment for Wells Fargo, but that was previously reversed on appeal.
The central dispute is whether the 2015 action is barred by the statute of limitations, considering the acceleration in 2005 and the impact of the recently enacted Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA).

Issue	Plaintiff’s Argument	Defendant’s Argument	Held
Applicability of Statute of Limitations	Action is timely; voluntary discontinuance revoked acceleration	Action is time-barred based on 2005 acceleration	Action time-barred; voluntary discontinuance did not reset statute
Standing to Assert Banking Law § 6-l Defenses	Defendant lacks standing (not a borrower)	Bank failed to comply with § 6-l; defense proper	Defense unavailable; § 6-l is a personal borrower defense
Effect of FAPA (CPLR 3217[e])	FAPA not retroactive; discontinuance should reset limitations	FAPA applies and bars resetting limitations	FAPA applies retroactively; no reset of statute of limitations
Constitutionality of FAPA	FAPA violates U.S. Constitution	—	Remanded for trial court to address constitutionality arguments

US Bank Trust, N.A. v. Reizes, 222 AD3d 907 (acceleration starts the statute of limitations for the whole debt)
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Hussain, 186 AD3d 1459 (commencement of foreclosure elects to accelerate debt)
EMC Mtge. Corp. v. Patella, 279 AD2d 604 (bases of acceleration and when limitations period begins)
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Stephen, 205 AD3d 1066 (Banking Law § 6-l defense personal to borrowers)