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On October 21, 2026, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, reversed a 2025 foreclosure judgment in Bank of America, N.A. v. Published by Justia, the dispute involved a $400,000 promissory note signed by Michael McNamara in 2006; his wife, Alice, also signing the mortgage on their Babylon, New York, home, according to the court’s opinion. After Michael died in 2010, the foreclosure proceedings continued, with the appeals court ultimately finding that the bank had not adequately established its compliance with mandatory notice requirements or its legal standing to bring the case.
A New York mortgage foreclosure case that began more than a decade ago has taken another turn after an appeals court overturned an order directing the sale of a residential property. Maddox.
A $400,000 mortgage and a foreclosure case
Michael McNamara signed a $400,000 promissory note in favour of American Brokers Conduit on January 23, 2006, according to the appellate court’s decision. The bank alleged that the couple defaulted by failing to make monthly payments due from May 1, 2009, onwards. Michael died on September 9, 2010, leaving the dispute to continue with Alice involved in the proceedings. In July 2018, the Supreme Court in Suffolk County granted key parts of the bank’s motion for summary judgment against Alice. In March 2020, the lower court confirmed the referee’s report and issued a judgment of foreclosure and sale, directing that the property be sold. That judgment was subsequently vacated by the lower court on April 30, 2024. On June 23, 2025, the court issued another order and judgment of foreclosure and sale, again directing the sale of the property. Under Section 1304 of New York’s Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, a lender generally must provide borrowers with a prescribed notice at least 90 days before commencing a mortgage foreclosure action.
The appeals court’s October 2026 decision therefore addressed the later foreclosure judgment as well as the procedural status of the earlier appeals. The appeals court concluded that Alice was entitled to this notice even though she had not signed the underlying promissory note. She had signed the mortgage as a borrower, was identified as a borrower in the document and had agreed under the mortgage terms to pay amounts due under the note.
The case began with a mortgage secured by residential property in Babylon. Both Michael and Alice McNamara executed the mortgage. It rejected her relevant defences concerning standing and notice compliance and referred the matter to a referee to calculate the amount owed. However, the proceedings did not end there. Alice’s appeals continued, and after her death, Robert Maddox, acting as executor of her estate, was substituted for her in the case. The central issue was whether Bank of America had demonstrated that it fulfilled the legal requirements necessary to obtain summary judgment against Alice. The notice must be sent by registered or certified mail and by first-class mail to the required addresses.