Queens Foreclosure Attorney

There are several legal options to stop or delay a foreclosure: filing for bankruptcy (which triggers the automatic stay), pursuing a mortgage modification through New York Supreme Court settlement conferences or Bankruptcy Court Loss Mitigation, defending the foreclosure complaint, negotiating reinstatement or a payoff, an emergency order to show cause for a stay, and appeals to the Appellate Division, Second Department. Our Queens foreclosure attorneys evaluate every option in a free consultation and recommend the customized strategy that fits your situation.

Filing a bankruptcy petition triggers the federal Automatic Stay the minute the case is filed. The stay immediately halts the foreclosure sale, even if it is scheduled for the next day. Chapter 13 lets you cure mortgage arrears over a 3-to-5-year repayment plan while keeping your home. Chapter 11 and Subchapter V offer similar protections for business owners or individuals with higher debt. We routinely file emergency bankruptcy petitions for Queens homeowners with sales on the calendar.

Yes. New York law actually requires mandatory settlement conferences in Supreme Court foreclosure cases where lenders and borrowers must negotiate in good faith. We also pursue modifications through Bankruptcy Court Loss Mitigation programs and through direct applications to lenders outside of court. A successful modification typically rolls your arrears into the new loan balance with adjusted rate and term — one new mortgage payment instead of catching up on the old one.

Foreclosure defense in New York involves answering or moving to dismiss the foreclosure complaint, challenging the lender’s standing, opposing motions for summary judgment and judgment of foreclosure and sale, opposing the referee’s computation, cross-moving for relief, filing emergency orders to show cause for a stay, and appealing adverse rulings to the appellate division. New York is a judicial foreclosure state with strong homeowner protections, and a properly defended case can take years to resolve.

A deed-in-lieu is a negotiated agreement where the homeowner voluntarily transfers the property to the lender in exchange for cancellation of the mortgage debt. It avoids the public foreclosure record, can include cash-for-keys relocation assistance, and usually releases the borrower from any deficiency judgment. Deed-in-lieu makes sense when modification is not feasible, the homeowner is ready to move on, and there is no junior lien complicating title.

In New York, the lender can seek a deficiency judgment if the foreclosure sale price is less than the amount owed. Bankruptcy discharges any deficiency judgment along with the mortgage debt. Negotiated solutions like deed-in-lieu, short sale, or settlement can also be structured to waive the deficiency. We never let a Queens homeowner walk away from a foreclosure without addressing the deficiency exposure.

We offer a free initial consultation with no obligation. Our legal fees vary based on the strategy chosen — modification, defense, bankruptcy, litigation, or deal-making each have different fee structures, and we offer affordable flat fees and payment plans for most matters. The cost of doing nothing — losing your home, a deficiency judgment, damaged credit — is almost always far greater than the cost of representation.

New York foreclosure is a slow, judicial process. After your first missed payment, the lender typically waits 90 days before declaring default, then files a Supreme Court foreclosure summons and complaint. From filing to actual sale typically takes 2 to 5 years in Queens, with several mandatory steps in between (settlement conferences, motion practice, referee’s report, judgment of foreclosure and sale). The earlier you engage counsel, the more options you have — but even with a sale date set, we can still file bankruptcy or an emergency order to show cause to stop it.