Mortgage holders are subjected to peril. A not so uncommon event in mortgage foreclosure actions is the dismissal of the case, or the compelling of some measure by the court, sua sponte, that is, on its own—without a motion having been made for that relief. Whether it is because emotions can run especially high in the foreclosure arena (typically more so in the residential rather than the commercial case) or because pursuit of a foreclosure is laden with plateaus and ever changing requirements as to those stages, or a combination of the two, the fact is that the volume of reported cases addressing sua sponte dismissals is extensive. (Courts also issue other mandates sua sponte, but dismissal of the foreclosure action is far more prevalent and for obvious reasons, the more disturbing, at least to plaintiffs.)

Basic Principles

These dismissals emerge at the trial court level and are often appealed where reversals are commonplace; simply reading all the cases tells us this is so. (Only a minority of the cases on the point are recited at the conclusion of this exploration.) In turn, these later holdings present the guiding principles to assess sua sponte orders. As a basic underpinning, the power of a court to dismiss a complaint sua sponte is to be used sparingly, and even then, only when extraordinary circumstances exist to warrant dismissal. [Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Winslow, 180 A.D.3d 1000, 120 N.Y.S.3d 81 (2d Dept. 2020); JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Laszlo, 169 A.D.3d 885, 94 N.Y.S.3d 343 (2d Dept. 2019); LaSalle Bank National Association v. Lopez, 168 A.D.3d 697, 91 N.Y.S.3d 259 (2d Dept. 2019).]. Similarly presented, sua sponte dismissal must be restricted only to the most extraordinary circumstances and in the absence of those, sua sponte dismissal is not be employed. [Midfirst Bank v. Bellinger, 117 A.D.3d 1520, 986 N.Y.S. 294 (4^th Dept. 2014).].