Appellate Division Reverses Supreme Court Decision

NEW YORK CASE LAW UPDATE
U.S. Bank N.A. v Auteri, ___AD3d___, 2021 NY Slip Op 00588 [2d Dept 2021]
On an appeal brought by the lender in a foreclosure action seeking review of an order by the Supreme Court that denied the lender’s motion to vacate a stay arising from an owner / borrower’s death and a default judgment against the surviving spouse / co-owner, the Appellate Division reversed, as the decedent’s ownership interest in the mortgaged premises automatically transferred to his surviving spouse by operation of law as they took title as tenants by the entirety, and the deceased borrower’s estate was no longer a necessary party to require substitution before the stay could be lifted as the lender elected not to pursue a deficiency judgment against his estate.