Secured borrowing and the transfer of money are the bedrock of the global financial system. However, that system finds itself in crisis. Before the current malaise can end, the system must rebuild in a manner that ensures mutual trust between lenders and borrowers. Rapid repair of the economy requires stabilizing laws and judicial interpretations of those laws. A 2009 decision by the Court of Appeals, Gletzer v. Harris,1 took an important step in restoring the confidence necessary to releasing the flow of money from lender to consumers and business. Gletzer, by explicit design, allows a lender to make a loan, secure in the knowledge that a title search will disclose all judgments or liens that may affect the ability of the lender to conclude a foreclosure in its favor. Gletzer eliminates the ghastly power of ghosts of liens past to be resurrected without notice. Thanks to Gletzer, no one need worry about a docketed judgment which is not timely renewed.

In a triumph for the title industry, but an apparent blow for judgment creditors, Gletzer held that judgment liens renewed in New York will only obtain junior priority unless the judgment creditor completes the renewal process during the 10th year of the lien’s life. The problem with that process is that if it may take more time than the law allows to prevent gaps in the judgment’s lien status.

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