Opinion
May 28, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Lonschein, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
Steven Chang and his brother Hsu Chang acquired a residential condominium unit, and a mortgage on the property was held by Long Island Savings Bank. Upon his death, Hsu's wife, the appellant, succeeded to his interest in the unit and thereby became an owner of the unit with Steven as tenants in common. Thereafter, without the knowledge or consent of the appellant, Steven obtained a mortgage on the property from the plaintiff, Great Eastern Bank. After Steven defaulted on the mortgage payments, the plaintiff brought this action to foreclose on the mortgage lien given by Steven and also on the equitable lien created when it satisfied the Long Island Savings Bank mortgage.
Where, as here, the funds of a mortgagee are used to discharge a prior lien upon the property of another, the doctrine of equitable subrogation applies to prevent unjust enrichment by subrogating the mortgagee to the position of the senior lienholder ( see, King v. Pelkofski, 20 N.Y.2d 326, 333; Wagner v Maenza, 223 A.D.2d 640; Zeidel v. Dunne, 215 A.D.2d 472; Cohn v Rothman-Goodman Mgt. Corp., 155 A.D.2d 579, 580). The Supreme Court properly concluded that the mortgage to Long Island Savings Bank created a lien against the appellant's interest and Steven's interest in the condominium. Accordingly, the appellant and Steven were obligated to contribute equally to the repayment of the equitable lien.
The appellant's remaining contentions are without merit. O'Brien, J.P., Santucci, Joy and Florio, JJ., concur.