What a difference a Thanksgiving makes.
A year after a judge canceled the mortgage debt of a Long Island couple facing foreclosure, an appellate panel ruled that he had no right to do it.
Now homeowners Diane Yano-Horoski and husband Greg Horoski are once again on the hook for $525,000 in mortgage payments demanded by OneWest Bank, formerly IndyMac, for their 3,400-square- foot ranch.
Suffolk Judge Jeffrey Spinner had wiped out the Patchogue couple’s debt last Thanksgiving, blasting their bank for its “harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive” actions and citing its predatory lending practices.
When the couple had refinanced their home in 2004, they had an initial adjustable interest rate of 10.375 percent that soared to 12.375 percent — and they started having serious problems making payments.
But while Spinner ruled that the bank’s practices warranted him erasing the homeowners’ debt, the appellate judges found that he had no authority to render such a judgment — and did not give the bank fair notice that such consequences were even on the table.
“The severe sanction imposed by the Supreme Court of canceling the mortgage and note was not authorized by any statute or rule,” the judges said in a decision published yesterday.
“I’m really surprised, to be perfectly honest,” Horoski told The Post after a reporter informed him of the higher court’s ruling.
Asked if the couple would try to overturn the new ruling, he said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t know if I have the heart to keep fighting with anybody at this point.”