Under the borrowing statute, if the plaintiff was a nonresident of New York when the out-of-state claim arose, which SOL governs?

• A. New York's SOL
• B. The shorter SOL of the two states
• C. The longer SOL of the two states
• D. The SOL of the state where accrual occurred

Answer: (B)

The borrowing statute requires that when a claim arises outside New York and the plaintiff was not a New York resident at the time the claim accrued, the action is governed by the shorter period of limitations between New York and the state where the claim arose. This prevents the plaintiff from shopping for a longer limitations period and helps ensure fairness across jurisdictions. So the applicable limit is whichever is shorter: New York’s SOL or the foreign state’s SOL. In this scenario, that means the shorter of the two governs. The other options would ignore the borrowing statute’s rule of selecting the shorter period or would apply a rule that doesn’t fit the nonresident accrual situation.