When you fall behind or stop making mortgage payments, it is important to understand the NY foreclosure timeline. Your lender could foreclose on your home but must follow certain legal requirements in order to do so. The NY foreclosure timeline demonstrates the steps that a lender must follow in order to take and sell your home for nonpayment. 
An experienced Melville, NY foreclosure lawyer can help you to understand the NY foreclosure timeline and can assist you in looking for alternatives to foreclosure that would be less damaging to your credit or that could even make it possible to keep your home. Contact Ronald D. Weiss, P.C. today to learn more about the NY foreclosure timeline and about how an attorney can help you.

NY Foreclosure Timeline

The NY foreclosure timeline can differ depending upon how quickly your mortgage lender acts. However, the general steps in the foreclosure process include the following:

• Day 1-15: Your mortgage payment is not sent in when required or during any grace period provided by the lender.
• Day 16-30: Your loan servicer may send you a late payment notice or attempt to contact you. A late fee will be assessed on your payment.
• Day 30-60: Your lender is required to send you a pre-foreclosure notice a full 90 days before starting foreclosure proceedings on a home that you live in. This 90-day requirement does not apply to investment homes. The notification from your lender must provide information on the amount necessary to make the loan current, as well as provide the names of at least five non-profit housing counseling organizations in your local area. The purpose of the 90-day window is to give you time to explore alternatives such as mortgage modifications, short sales or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
• Day 90: After at least 90 days have passed, your lender may bring a legal action for foreclosure. Depending on your lender, the foreclosure may be referred to the foreclosure department; an attorney may be hired; or a notice of lis pendens may be recorded with the court.

When your lender records a formal notice of lis pendens, you are served with notice of the foreclosure action through a “summons and complaint.” The lender has to file proof of service with the court and a settlement conference must be scheduled within 60 days. At the settlement conference, you will have the opportunity to meet with a representative from your mortgage lender and try to resolve the problem.
You are required to formally respond to the summons and complaint and if you fail to do so, the court will consider the lender’s evidence and decide based on this evidence alone whether the lender has the right to foreclosure. If you respond, then you will have the opportunity to present your own evidence.
Once a court rules on the foreclosure, a foreclosure sale is then scheduled and your home may be sold at a public auction. The New York Department of Financial Services indicates that this entire process typically takes around 445 days in New York from the time when you first missed your payment to the time of the foreclosure sale. You should be able to remain in your home during this time.
A foreclosure lawyer can help at every step of this process. Call Ronald D. Weiss, P.C. today to learn more about the NY foreclosure timeline and how you can get assistance to save your home or your credit.