Nassau Trust Company, Respondent, v. Montrose Concrete Products Corp., Appellant, et al., Defendants, 56 N.Y.2d 175

Summary

Plaintiff mortgagee originally initiated foreclosure proceedings on the property that defendants, mortgagor and guarantors, had mortgaged in a mortgage agreement with plaintiff to secure a $ 300,000 loan. The state trial court denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. The lower court modified the state trial court's judgment by striking defendants' three common law affirmative defenses as well as defendant mortgagor's separate counterclaim versus plaintiff mortgagee, granting summary judgment of foreclosure against defendant mortgagor, and severing plaintiff's action as to defendant guarantors. The court reversed the lower court's judgment and ordered the reinstatement of the state trial court's judgment. The court held that in this mortgage foreclosure action based upon nonpayment, an unrefuted, alleged oral waiver by plaintiff of the right to accelerate the principal and foreclose in order to give delinquent defendant mortgagor a reasonable opportunity to negotiate an unforced ...