Judges and legal commentators have spilled much ink trying to explain the applications and limitations of the four year rule of RSL §26-516(a) (also codified in CPLR 213-a) (the Four Year Rule). On Oct. 19, 2010, a split Court of Appeals in Grimm v. N.Y. State Division of Housing & Community Renewal, et al.,1 made one more attempt.
The purpose of this article is to survey the relevant legal precedent discussing the judicial exceptions to the Four Year Rule, note the patterns, and then formulate a cogent conclusion to assist in predicting under which circumstances the Four Year Rule will apply, and under which circumstances its exceptions will apply.
