Opinion 04-50

April 22, 2004

Digest:         A judge who has a mortgage loan on his or her personal residence, and an automobile loan, both of which are held by banks, and credit cards issued by financial institutions, need not disqualify him/herself or disclose in proceedings where those banks or financial institutions appear as parties.

Rules:          22 NYCRR 100.(3)(E)(1); Opinions 95-104 (Vol. XIII); 92-126 (Vol. X).

Opinion:

         A judge who has a mortgage loan on his personal residence, and an automobile loan, both of which are held by banks, and credit cards issued by financial institutions, asks if he/she must disqualify him/herself or disclose in foreclosure or other proceedings wherein those banks or financial institutions appear as parties.

         The Rules Governing Judicial Conduct require a judge to disqualify him/herself in any proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned. 22 NYCRR 100.3(E)(1).

         In the Committee’s view, given the ubiquity and routine nature of home mortgage and automobile loans, and the fact that such transactions are rarely predicated on a special or personal relationship between the borrower and the institutional lender, neither recusal nor disclosure is required in foreclosure or other proceedings where the institutional lender appears as a party. The same holds true for the issuers of credit cards. That is, the mere fact of the relationship alone in these instances does not give rise to an inference that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned. 22 NYCRR 100.3(E)(1). Opinion 95-104 (Vol. XIII); 92-126 (Vol. X).