Short answer: New York foreclosures are lawsuits, and the law gives a homeowner 90 days of warning before one can even be filed. Once it is filed, the court itself schedules a settlement conference. Those two facts create real time, and the state publishes free help for using it. FastCashAnyHome buys New York houses for cash — call or text 267-388-0347.
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What follows is what New York’s court system and its Department of Financial Services publish, in the order it happens, with the free official resources at each step. It is not legal advice, and nothing here is a promise about how a case will end.
It is a lawsuit, and the clock starts long before the courthouse
The New York courts describe it without softening: “Foreclosure is a type of lawsuit. In a foreclosure the holder of your mortgage asks a court to let them sell your house at auction in order to pay off your debt.” The mortgage holder is the plaintiff; the homeowner is the defendant (NY Courts, Foreclosures, read 2026-09-01).
The court also notes something people get wrong: the plaintiff’s name may be unfamiliar, because the company collecting the monthly payment is often a mortgage servicer working for a lender the homeowner never dealt with.
The 90-day notice, and what the law makes it contain
Before any of that, there is a letter. NY Courts: “Under New York State law, the mortgage holder must mail you a 90 Day Pre-Foreclosure Notice at least 90 days before starting a foreclosure case. The notice must be mailed to you by regular and certified mail.”
The court lists what it has to say — how many days the loan is behind, the amount needed to catch up, the lender’s phone number, the state’s free helpline, and this:
“A list of at least five non-profit foreclosure avoidance counseling groups in your area who can help”
Five names, free, in the envelope, by law. Most people put that letter in a drawer.
And the notice is not a formality. NY Courts, on what happens if it is missing or wrong: “If you don’t get a notice or a correct notice before a court case is started against you, this is a reason that the court can dismiss the case” (NY Courts, 90 Day Pre-Foreclosure Notice, read 2026-09-01). That is a question for a lawyer or a counselor, not for us — but it is worth knowing the letter itself can matter.
⚠️ The trap inside the 90-day notice — this is the part almost nobody explains
The notice states a dollar figure and a date. It reads like an instruction: pay this by then, and the default is cured.
New York’s Department of Financial Services says that reading has cost people their cure:
“Quite often, the ‘cure date’ specified in the PFN is the earliest date on which the creditor can start a foreclosure action, which is 90 days after sending the PFN. When the borrower waits a full 90 days to provide the amount specified, any missed payments and associated interest and fees from the intervening months would be added to the deficiency.”
In plain words: paying exactly the number on the notice, on the last day it allows, can leave a homeowner still in default — because three more months of payments, interest and fees accrued while the clock ran. The figure was accurate on the day it was printed and stale by the deadline it named.
DFS says the law has since been amended to make the notice state the days and the dollars. We are deliberately not reproducing the notice’s wording here, because the department’s own page is ambiguous about which version is currently in force. The practical point survives either way: ask the servicer, in writing, for a payoff or reinstatement figure good on the day you intend to pay it. (DFS, Foreclosure Bill of Rights, read 2026-09-01.)
The settlement conference is scheduled for you — you do not have to ask
This is where New York differs most from its neighbours. A homeowner does not petition for a settlement meeting. The court sets one.
NY Courts: “The Court date is sometime during the first two months after the plaintiff files proof of service and a RJI.” The statutory basis is CPLR 3408. The meeting is between the homeowner, the plaintiff, and someone from the court — a Judge, a Court Attorney or a Court Referee — “to talk about your case and to see if your foreclosure can be resolved” (NY Courts, Foreclosure Settlement Conferences, read 2026-09-01).
Two things about it are worth planning around.
Going buys time. “If you go to the first settlement conference, you have an extra 30 days to file your Answer.”
Not answering ends it. “If you don’t file an Answer within 30 days of the first settlement conference and you can’t settle the case, the plaintiff can get a default judgment against you and you can lose your home.”
The court also says to bring paperwork — pay stubs, benefits information, monthly expenses, the mortgage statement, rental income, property tax statements, a tax return — and then says to go anyway if you have not prepared. The options actually discussed at these conferences include changing the loan terms, a short sale, and a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
The Answer deadlines themselves are short and they depend on how the papers arrived. DFS: “within 20 days after you have been personally served, and within 30 days if served on you by other means.”
What stays true the whole way through
New York’s Department of Financial Services publishes a Consumer Bill of Rights for exactly this situation. Three lines from it are worth carrying around:
- You do not have to leave early. “You have the right to stay in your home and the duty to maintain your property unless and until a court orders you to vacate.” DFS adds the reason it matters: a home that looks abandoned can be foreclosed through a faster court process.
- Free help is a right, not a favour. “You have a right to be represented by an attorney and may be eligible for free legal or housing counseling services.”
- And the one that applies to us. “You have a right to be free from harassment or foreclosure scams. Strongly consider consulting with an attorney or housing counselor, if available, before signing any papers.” DFS gives a number for it: the Consumer Hotline, (800) 342-3736.
Run that check on FastCashAnyHome too. We are not affiliated with any government programme, we do not do loan modifications, we do not charge homeowners a fee, and we do not ask for money up front. What we do is buy the house.
Where a cash sale honestly fits — and where it does not
A fast sale may help some homeowners avoid a completed foreclosure, but timing matters; if a sale date is already scheduled, contact your lender, attorney, or housing counselor right away.
A sale turns a payoff problem into a closing with a date on it. The mortgage and any liens are paid from the proceeds through the title company, and whatever is left belongs to the owner. It does not undo a judgment, beat a clock that has already run, or replace a lawyer.
The trade-off, stated rather than buried: a cash as-is offer is below what a repaired, marketed, financeable house would fetch after sixty to ninety days on the market. When the time exists and the house can be shown, listing usually nets more. When it does not, a defined date has real value.
What a New York seller actually nets
Two New York-specific costs land on the seller and change the arithmetic before anyone talks about price.
The state transfer tax is the seller’s. New York State charges “two dollars for each $500, or fractional part thereof, of consideration” — 0.4% — and “The base tax and additional base tax are paid by the grantor (seller)…except as provided in a contract between seller and buyer” (NY Dept. of Taxation and Finance).
Inside the five boroughs there is a second one on top. New York City’s Real Property Transfer Tax on a one- to three-family house, condo or co-op is “1% of the price” at $500,000 or less and 1.425% above it, and it applies “whenever the sale or transfer is more than $25,000” (NYC Department of Finance). Most New York City houses sell above the $500,000 line, so the realistic combined figure in the city is the 1.425% plus the state’s 0.4%.
That is true whoever buys the house. It is on this page so the number is not a surprise at closing.
Free, official New York help — before you call anyone selling something
- NY Courts foreclosure help — case basics, how to Answer, settlement conferences, judgments, and a free DIY Answer form program.
- NY DFS Foreclosure Bill of Rights — your rights before, during and after a case.
- DFS Consumer Hotline — (800) 342-3736 — the number New York publishes for foreclosure harassment and scams.
- The five counseling groups in your own 90-day notice — free, local, and already sitting in the letter.
Questions
Can you buy a house that already has a foreclosure case filed?
Often, yes. A filed case is not a completed sale, and the payoff is handled at closing through the title company. What decides it is where the case stands and what is owed — which is why looking early leaves more options than looking late.
Do I have to move out while the case is running?
Not until a court orders it. That is New York’s published position, and DFS pairs it with a duty to keep the property maintained.
Do I owe you anything?
No. No fee, no commission, nothing up front. Existing mortgages and liens are paid from the sale proceeds at closing, the same as in any sale.
Will you tell me if selling is the wrong move?
Yes. If the settlement conference, a modification or a listing looks better than selling, we will say so — and every free resource above exists whether or not we ever speak.
How fast can a sale close?
Typically 30 days or less, with flexible dates. If an auction date is already set, the honest answer depends on that date and the payoff, and it is a conversation for your lawyer or counselor as much as for us.
Do you buy across New York?
We buy in New York, and we are straight about where we know the market well. If a property is somewhere we are not the right buyer, we will say so rather than waste your week.
This page is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. New York foreclosure procedure is set by statute and court rule and it changes. For advice about a specific case, speak to a New York attorney or a housing counselor — the free options are listed above.
Talk to a person: 267-388-0347.