Wells Fargo, N.A. v. Linda Hoffman

── Wells Fargo, N.A. v. Linda Hoffman ── Court: New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division Date: May 15, 2026 Category: General NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited . R. 1:36-3. SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-2532-24 WELLS FARGO, N.A., Plaintiff-Respondent, v. LINDA HOFFMAN and MR. HOFFMAN, husband of LINDA HOFFMAN, Defendants-Appellants, and MIDLAND FUNDING, LLC, Defendant. __________________________ Submitted April 27, 2026 – Decided May 15, 2026 Before Judges Natali and Bergman. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Middlesex County Court, Docket No. F-011226-23. Linda Hoffman, self-represented appellant.  Reed Smith LLP, attorneys for respondent (Aaron M. Bender, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM Defendant Linda Hoffman appeals from the Chancery Division's March 14, 2025 order denying her motion to (1) deem plaintiff's residential foreclosure action time-barred and from enforcing the note or the accelerated mortgage and (2) stay a sheriff's sale pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:17-36. We reject all of defendant's arguments and affirm. Over twenty years ago, in May 2004, defendant executed a $100,000 note with Wachovia Bank, National Association, secured by a non-purchase money mortgage on her property in Edison with a maturity date of May 19, 2044. After Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia in 2010, it became the holder of defendant's note and mortgage. On April 16, 2015, defendant defaulted on the note and mortgage by failing to make the required installment payment, and Wells Fargo filed a foreclosure complaint on September 26, 2023. After defendant's contesting answer was dismissed, the court entered final judgment for Wells Fargo on May 20, 2024. A sheriff's sale was promptly scheduled for August 28, 2024. After using her first statutory adjournment under N.J.S.A. 2A:17-36, the sale was postponed until September 25, 2024, upon which defendant utilized her second permitted A-2532-24 2 adjournment request. The sale was accordingly rescheduled for November 6, 2024, and again to January 8, 2025, after Wells Fargo used its own statutory adjournments. On January 8, 2025, defendant filed an emergent application for a stay of the sheriff's sale. The court granted her request that same day, stayed the sale, and rescheduled it for approximately two months later. Specifically, the court's order stated the stay would "automatically expire at 6:00 p.m. on March 8, 2025, unless further extended but only with the [Wells Fargo's] confirmed written consent," and without its consent, "the Sheriff's Sale will be re-scheduled for March 19, 2025."1 The order also provided: No other applications for a stay shall be permitted to [defendant], nor, if made shall any such application be entertained by the Court without [Wells Fargo's] prior, confirmed written consent. On February 14, 2025, defendant, however, filed another application to stay the properly noticed sheriff's sale and principally argued Wells Fargo right to foreclosure was time-barred under N.J.S.A. 2A:50-56.1 because it did not file its complaint within six years of her default. The court denied defendant's 1 On March 19, 2025, the date of the rescheduled sale, defendant filed a Chapter 13 bankrup