NYCTL 1998 TRUST v. LLC (2026)

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

NYCTL 1998-2 TRUST et al., Plaintiffs–Respondents, v. BETHELITE COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH, also known as Bethelite Community Church, Inc., Defendant–Respondent, Atlah Worldwide Missionary Church et al., Defendants. Habitat Affordability of Harlem, LLC, Non-Party Respondent.

7352, 7353

Decided: October 27, 2026

Moulton, J.P., Gesmer, O'Neill Levy, Parker–Raso, JJ.

Pollard Law Group, New York (Jonathan Pollard of counsel), for appellant. Phillips Lytle LLP, Rochester (Anthony DiPaul of counsel), for NYCTL 1998–2 Trust and Bank of New York Mellon, respondents. Altman Schochet LLP, New York (Irena Shternfeld of counsel), for Habitat Affordability of Harlem, LLC, respondent.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Francis A. Kahn, J.), entered on or about January 27, 2026, denying defendant Bethelite Community Baptist Church's CPLR 5015(a)(3) motion to vacate the Referee's deed dated October 28, 2025, transferring property located at 36–38 West 123rd Street, New York, New York to nonparty Habitat Affordability of Harlem LLC, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Order, same court and Justice, entered on or about January 27, 2026, which granted Habitat's RPAPL 221 motion for a writ of assistance, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

On June 18, 2025, following a judgment of foreclosure and sale, a foreclosure sale was conducted at which plaintiffs were the winning bidders. On July 31, 2025, plaintiffs and nonparty 38 West 123123 LLC executed an agreement to assign plaintiffs' bid to 123123. On October 27, 2025, 123123 assigned its bid to Habitat. Then, on October 28, 2025, the foreclosure sale Referee delivered Habitat a referee's deed.

Even assuming defendant had preserved its argument that the transfer from plaintiffs to 123123 was void, defendant lacks standing to challenge its validity. Defendant has identified no basis to set aside the foreclosure sale itself (see Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v Carney, 50 AD3d 287, 287 [1st Dept 2008] ). Once defendant's rights were extinguished at the foreclosure sale, defendant lacked standing to contest defects, if any, in the subsequent assignments (see Fourth Ocean Putnam Corp. v Interstate Wrecking Co., 66 NY2d 38, 45 [1985]; Scheckter v. Emigrant Sav. Bank, 237 AD2d 273, 274 [2d Dept 1997] ).

The court also properly granted Habitat's RPAPL 221 motion for a writ of assistance directing the sheriff to place Habitat in possession of the property. Although Habitat was a nonparty and did not seek to intervene in the action, RPAPL 221 allows any “person” adversely affected by an occupant whose interests were foreclosed upon to bring an RPAPL 221 motion, without requiring that the “person” seeking the writ also be a “party.”

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