Learn NYC property · Deeds, mortgages and sales

Foreclosure in New York: from the 90-day notice and lis pendens to the referee's deed

How a foreclosure works in New York, a judicial state — the 90-day pre-foreclosure notice, the lawsuit and its lis pendens, the settlement conference, the judgment and the referee's auction, the referee's deed — plus deeds in lieu, short sales, tenants' rights and how often foreclosure sales happen in New York City.

Foreclosure is the legal process by which a lender forces the sale of a property pledged for a loan that has not been repaid. New York is a judicial foreclosure state: a lender cannot simply take or sell the property, but must sue the owner in the State Supreme Court and win a judgment, and the sale is a public auction run under the court's order.

That makes a New York foreclosure long — the State's Department of Financial Services says the process takes about 15 months, with the court case alone seven to nine — and it leaves a trail of public records at each step. This page follows a mortgage foreclosure from the first missed payment to the deed. The City's own foreclosure for unpaid property taxes, the in rem action, is explained with the tax lien sale.

The steps of a mortgage foreclosure in New York.

Before the lawsuit

A borrower who falls behind usually gets a demand letter from the lender some 45 to 60 days after a missed payment. On a home loan — a one- to four-family house or condo unit the borrower lives in — New York then requires a 90-day notice: at least 90 days before suing, the lender must mail the borrower a notice listing at least five housing counseling agencies nearby, and must report it to the Department of Financial Services within three business days. This is the stage often called pre-foreclosure: the borrower is in default, and the notice starts the clock, but no case has been filed. Loans on investment property are outside this rule.

The lawsuit and the lis pendens

The lender starts the case by serving a summons and complaint. With it, the lender files a lis pendens — a notice of pendency — with the County Clerk of the borough where the property is. It warns anyone who later buys the property or lends against it that the property is the subject of a lawsuit, and binds them to its outcome as if they were parties. It lasts three years and can be extended by the court. In a foreclosure it must be filed at least 20 days before the final judgment.

A lis pendens is filed with the County Clerk, not recorded at the City Register, so it is not in ACRIS — and so BlockLot, which reads ACRIS, cannot see when a foreclosure case began. The homeowner, and on a building with tenants each tenant, must also receive written notices: the homeowner's warns that they do not have to leave the home yet; the tenants' tells them the building is in foreclosure.

The settlement conference

On a home loan where the borrower lives in the home, the court must hold a settlement conference within 60 days after the lender files proof of service. Both sides must negotiate in good faith — over a loan modification, a short sale or a deed in lieu — and the lender's representative must have authority to settle. A lender that does not can lose interest and fees, and be fined up to $25,000.

Judgment and the auction

If the case is not settled or defended, the court appoints a referee to compute how much is owed, and then grants a judgment of foreclosure and sale. The judgment orders the property sold at a foreclosure auction — a public auction to the highest bidder, run by the referee or the sheriff, generally within 90 days. The sale is advertised in a newspaper for three or four weeks first. The lender may bid, and can take the property itself if no one bids more. Until the sale, the owner can stop it by paying everything owed; after it, there is no right to buy the property back.

The referee then signs a referee's deed to the winning bidder. This is the record a foreclosure sale leaves in ACRIS: a deed whose grantor is "as referee", recorded like any other deed. A lender that buys at its own auction must put the property back on the market within 180 days of the deed.

How often, by BlockLot Intelligence's count

Foreclosure sales (referee's deeds), by year

Deeds whose seller is a court-appointed referee, by the date on the deed, in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens; a deed over several lots counts once. Staten Island's deeds are not in ACRIS. BlockLot Intelligence, computed October 10, 2026.

By BlockLot Intelligence's count of referee's deeds in ACRIS — Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens — there were 639 foreclosure sales in 2025. The low, 97 in 2021, came during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A foreclosed property rarely stays with its buyer for long. Of the 3,934 single-lot foreclosure sales from 2015 to 2022, 52.5% were followed by another deed on the lot within two years, and among those sold again within three years, the next deed came a median about 12 months after the auction.

From the foreclosure sale to the next deed

Single-lot referee's deeds dated 2015–2022, and the next deed on the same lot, for those that changed hands again within three years. The bar ends at the median; the pale band covers the middle half. BlockLot Intelligence, computed October 10, 2026.

ACRIS cannot say how long the case took before the auction: its start, the lis pendens, is filed with the County Clerk, so no timeframe from the start of a case to the sale is given here.

After the sale

The sale pays the costs of the sale, then the lender's debt, interest and costs, then unpaid taxes and certain City charges. Anything left over — surplus money — is paid into the court, where the former owner and other creditors can claim it. If the sale did not cover the debt, the lender can ask for a deficiency judgment for the rest, within 90 days of the deed; the court credits the property's fair market value or the sale price, whichever is higher. Without a timely motion, the sale settles the debt.

Tenants in a foreclosed building keep their protections. Rent-stabilized and rent-controlled tenants keep their rights under the new owner. A tenant in an unregulated apartment can stay at least 90 days after the new owner's notice, or to the end of the lease — up to three years — if the lease predates the foreclosure, with exceptions.

A lender has six years to sue on a defaulted mortgage. The Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act of 2022 stopped lenders from restarting that clock by withdrawing a case and filing again.

Ways out before the auction

A loan modification — new terms on the same loan, negotiated with the lender.
A short sale — the owner sells the property for less than the mortgage balance, with the lender's approval.
A deed in lieu of foreclosure — the owner signs the property over to the lender voluntarily, in place of the court sale.

With a short sale or a deed in lieu, the borrower may still owe the shortfall unless the lender waives it in writing, and forgiven debt can be taxable. A condominium board's lien for unpaid common charges is foreclosed the same way as a mortgage.

Where you see this in BlockLot

A building's Sales history marks a deed whose seller is a court-appointed referee as a foreclosure sale (referee's deed). The distress search finds buildings with a foreclosure sale in the last 24 months, and an area's Liens, distress and legal table counts them lot by lot.

An area's foreclosure sales, counted lot by lot from referee's deeds.
Lots
Foreclosure sales

Questions people ask

How long does foreclosure take in New York? About 15 months, the State's Department of Financial Services says, with the court proceedings taking seven to nine months and the sale usually at least four months after the court's ruling.

What is a lis pendens? A notice, filed with the County Clerk, that a property is the subject of a lawsuit — in a foreclosure, the lender's case. Anyone who buys or lends against the property afterwards is bound by the case's outcome.

What is a referee's deed? The deed a court-appointed referee signs to the winning bidder after a foreclosure auction. It carries no promise about the title, and in ACRIS it is recorded as an ordinary deed with the referee as seller.

Can I stop a foreclosure in New York? Paying everything owed before the sale stops it, and the settlement conference exists to look for a modification, short sale or deed in lieu. Housing counseling agencies are listed on the 90-day notice.

What happens to tenants when a building is foreclosed? Rent-stabilized and rent-controlled tenants keep their rights. Other tenants can generally stay for at least 90 days, or to the end of their lease.

Who buys at foreclosure auctions? Anyone can bid, and the lender may bid too, taking the property if no one bids more; a lender that buys must put it back on the market within 180 days.

Mortgages, satisfactions, assignments and CEMAs — What a mortgage is and who the mortgagor and mortgagee are, the mortgage recording tax, and the documents that follow a loan in ACRIS — assignments when it is sold, CEMAs when it is refinanced, satisfactions when it is paid off — plus reverse mortgages, HMDA and loan-to-value.
Deeds in New York City: the kinds of deed, and grantor and grantee — What a deed is, the kinds New York law describes — bargain and sale, quitclaim, executor's, referee's — transfer-on-death and life estate deeds, who the grantor and grantee are, and what party 1 and party 2 mean on any document in ACRIS.
UCC filings, federal tax liens, mechanic's liens and other liens on property — The claims besides mortgages that can sit on a New York City property — UCC financing statements on co-op loans and fixtures, IRS federal tax liens, mechanic's liens, condominium common-charge liens and judgments — where each is filed, how long it lasts and how it ends.
Overdue property charges, interest and the tax lien sale — Overdue NYC property charges: late interest for FY 2026/27, payment plans, how the tax lien sale works, and why there was no sale in 2026.
Sale prices in the public record: ACRIS, DOF's sales files, $0 deeds and package deals — Where New York City sale prices are published — the price written on the deed in ACRIS and the Department of Finance's rolling and annualized sales files — why so many sales show $0, and how partial interests, package deals and non-arm's-length sales distort a price.
Comparable sales: how professionals use them, and how BlockLot picks them — What comparable sales are, how appraisers and assessors choose and adjust them, the units they compare on — price per square foot, per unit — and, as our own reading of the public record, how BlockLot picks a building's comparable sales and when it declines to estimate a value.

Sources

By BlockLot. Reviewed October 9, 2026. Figures by BlockLot Intelligence, computed from public data on October 10, 2026. This page explains the rules in general; it is not legal or tax advice. For a decision about a specific property, check the official source or ask a professional. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.