After a complaint for foreclosure or satisfaction of a mortgage is filed, while the same is pending, and after a decree is rendered thereon, no proceedings whatever shall be had at law for the recovery of the debt secured by the mortgage, or any part thereof, unless authorized by the court.
§ 25-2140.Decree; effect upon right to recover for debt.
Article 21: Special Proceedings and Actions · Last amended 2002 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section blocks a separate lawsuit to collect the mortgage debt once a foreclosure complaint is filed and while it remains pending, and it continues that bar after the decree issues, unless the court authorizes the debt action to proceed.
Full Text of § 25-2140
Source
R.S.1867, Code § 848, p. 542; R.S.1913, § 8257; C.S.1922, § 9210; C.S.1929, § 20-2142; R.S.1943, § 25-2140; Laws 2002, LB 876, § 35.
Plain-English Summary
Section 25-2140 keeps a creditor from running two collection efforts on the same mortgage debt at once. From the moment a complaint for foreclosure or satisfaction is filed, through the entire time the case is pending, and even after the court enters a decree, no proceedings at law for recovery of the debt, or any part of it, may go forward. The bar does not expire when the decree comes down; it carries forward from filing straight through to judgment.
The court can lift that bar. If circumstances call for a separate legal proceeding on the debt alongside or after the foreclosure, the court may authorize it. Absent that authorization, a creditor pursuing foreclosure has to see the equitable case through rather than chase the same debt in a second lawsuit at law.
This section works alongside 25-2143, which addresses the reverse situation: what happens when a creditor already holds a judgment at law before trying to foreclose. Together they keep a single debt from generating two active proceedings without the court weighing in first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a lender sue on the promissory note while a foreclosure case is pending?
Generally no. Section 25-2140 bars proceedings at law to recover the debt while the foreclosure complaint is pending, unless the court authorizes the separate action.
Does the bar on a separate debt lawsuit end once the foreclosure decree is entered?
No. The section states the bar continues after the decree is rendered, not just while the case is pending.
What happens if the court authorizes a separate action on the debt?
Then the creditor may pursue proceedings at law for the debt despite the pending or decided foreclosure, since the bar applies only absent that authorization.
Does this section stop a lender from naming a guarantor in the same foreclosure suit?
No. Naming an additional obligor as a defendant within the same foreclosure case, addressed in 25-2141, is different from bringing a separate proceeding at law, which is what this section restricts.
Why would a court want to prevent two proceedings over the same debt?
It keeps a defendant from facing simultaneous collection efforts on one debt and keeps the foreclosure case as the primary vehicle for resolving it, unless the court decides otherwise.
Does the bar apply before any decree has been entered, or only afterward?
It applies from the moment the complaint is filed, continues while the case is pending, and carries on after the decree — the full span of the case.
Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the
Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
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