How a New York foreclosure usually begins
Foreclosure of a house in New York goes through the court system rather than happening by notice alone, so a lender has to file a case in State Supreme Court and carry it to a judgment before any sale. For home loans, the law requires certain warnings to be sent before the case is filed, and once it is filed, many owner-occupied homes are scheduled for settlement conferences run by the court. You generally remain the owner, and can usually stay in the home, while the case moves forward. Cooperative apartments are an exception worth knowing about: because a co-op loan is typically secured by shares rather than by real property, the lender may be able to sell without bringing a court case. Commercial properties usually go through the courts as well, and lenders there often ask for a receiver to collect rents while the case is pending.
Papers and records to keep together
Keep every letter from the servicer and the lender, with envelopes where the dates matter, along with copies of the note and mortgage if you have them. A payment history, bank statements showing what you paid, and any record of a modification or forbearance request help reconstruct what happened. If you applied for help, keep proof of what you sent and when, because federal servicing rules can limit some foreclosure steps while a complete application is under review, depending on when it was submitted. If you want to write down what was said on calls with the servicer, ask your lawyer first how to do it. Be wary of anyone who asks for an upfront fee to save the house or asks you to sign over the deed; New York regulates people who offer that kind of help to distressed owners.
Choices a first conversation narrows down
The first question is whether you want to keep the property or leave it on the most workable terms. Keeping it might run through a modification, a repayment arrangement, or a refinance; leaving might mean a sale before judgment, a short sale, or handing over the deed. Bankruptcy is sometimes part of the picture and sometimes not. We look at where the matter stands, whether papers have already been served, and what has been said to the servicer in writing. If a summons and complaint have arrived, there is a deadline to respond, and talks with the lender do not by themselves extend it.
