Allison Lending LLC v. Croton Development LLC
- Philip Halpern
- 7:24-cv-07956
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Allison Lending v. Croton Development, Judge Halpern administratively closed the foreclosure case without prejudice while a forbearance agreement remained in effect.
Allison Lending LLC, Croton Development LLC, and Vasel Balbona. The foreclosure case was administratively closed without prejudice, and either party may seek to reopen it by letter-motion by December 8, 2025.
What happened
Allison Lending LLC sued Croton Development LLC and Vasel Balbona to foreclose on a mortgage and guarantee. The case was automatically paused when Balbona filed for bankruptcy, but that pause ended after his bankruptcy case was dismissed.
Allison Lending told the court that the parties had signed a written forbearance agreement, under which final payment was due November 30, 2025. Allison Lending agreed not to pursue the foreclosure while the defendants complied with the agreement, but asked the court to keep the case open.
Judge Philip M. Halpern ordered the Clerk to administratively close the case without prejudice. Either party may seek to reopen it by letter-motion by December 8, 2025, and Allison Lending preserved its ability to pursue foreclosure if the defendants default.
The detailed version
- Allison Lending LLC v. Croton Development LLC · No. 7:24-cv-07956
- Philip Halpern
- July 29, 2025
Background
Allison Lending LLC brought this mortgage-foreclosure action against Croton Development LLC and Vasel Balbona. The mortgage was executed by Croton Development LLC and guaranteed by Balbona.
The Court received notice that Balbona had filed a voluntary Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition on May 29, 2025. The bankruptcy filing automatically stayed this foreclosure action under federal bankruptcy law. Balbona’s Chapter 13 case was dismissed on July 24, 2025, which lifted the automatic stay.
Forbearance Agreement
Allison Lending reported that the parties had entered into a written Forbearance Agreement. According to Allison Lending, final payment was due on November 30, 2025, and it had agreed to stop prosecuting the foreclosure as long as the defendants complied with the agreement. Allison Lending asked that the foreclosure action remain open during the agreement’s term.
The Court noted that Allison Lending had not identified any prejudice it would suffer from administrative closure. The Court also stated that Allison Lending preserved its ability to proceed with foreclosure if the defendants defaulted.
Ruling
Judge Philip M. Halpern ordered the Clerk to administratively close the case, without prejudice to either party moving by letter-motion to reopen it by December 8, 2025. The order did not decide the merits of the foreclosure claim. Administrative closure is a docket-management action and does not itself resolve the parties’ underlying dispute.
Date Note
The supplied case metadata lists July 29, 2025 as the filing date, while the order itself is dated July 28, 2025.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.