You were served with a foreclosure summons and complaint
A foreclosure case has been filed against you in New York. There is a deadline to respond, it is short, and it starts from the day you were served.
20 days if you were personally served in New York
30 days if you were served any other way
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This is a lawsuit,
not another letter.
The notices before this one came from your servicer. The summons and complaint come from a court case that now has your name on it.
The summons tells you that you are being sued and how long you have to respond. The complaint is the lender’s side of the story: who owns the loan, what it says you owe, and what it is asking the court to do about your property.
New York is a judicial foreclosure state, which means the lender cannot take the property without going through this case. That cuts both ways. It is a real lawsuit with real deadlines, and it is also a proceeding where you can appear, be heard, and raise a defense.
Do not stop reading at the first page
A separate notice on colored paper should have been served with these papers. If it was not, that is worth telling an attorney.
What happens next
The order of events after service.
Dates in a foreclosure case run from things that have already happened. Working out which ones apply to you is the first job.
- 01
Your answer is due
Within 20 days if you were handed the papers in person in New York. Within 30 days if you were served any other way, including by leaving papers with someone else, by mail, or outside the state.
Counted from the day you were served
- 02
Proof of service is filed
The lender files proof with the county clerk showing how and when you were served. That filing starts the clock on the settlement conference.
Filed by the lender, not by you
- 03
A settlement conference is scheduled
In a residential case the court must hold a mandatory settlement conference within 60 days after that proof of service is filed, or on a later date the parties agree to.
Required by CPLR rule 3408
In detail
What is actually in the envelope.
Foreclosure papers arrive as a stack. These are the parts that matter most to you, and what each one is for.
The summons
The summons is the document that starts the clock. It names the court and the county, names you as a defendant, and states how long you have to serve an answer.
Two deadlines exist and only one applies to you. If someone handed the papers to you personally, in New York, you have 20 days. If you were served in any other way, you have 30 days. Substituted service, where papers were left with another person and also mailed, is the common reason people get 30 days rather than 20.
- Find the affidavit of service or ask the court clerk how service was recorded
- Count the days from the date of service, not from the date you opened the envelope
- Write the deadline down before you do anything else
The complaint
The complaint sets out what the lender says: that it holds the note and mortgage, that you defaulted, what it claims is owed, and that it wants a judgment allowing the property to be sold.
Every numbered paragraph is an allegation, not a finding. An answer is where a homeowner admits, denies, or says they do not have enough information to respond to each one, and raises any defenses.
The colored-paper notice
New York requires a notice titled Help for Homeowners in Foreclosure to be delivered along with the summons and complaint. The law is specific about its form: it goes on its own page, printed on paper a different color from the summons and complaint, with the title in bold twenty-point type.
That level of detail exists because the notice is easy to lose in a stack of legal paper. Keep it, and keep the envelope everything arrived in.
What happens if you do not answer
Not answering does not end the case. It moves the case along without you. The lender can ask the court for a default, and the parts of the complaint you never responded to are treated as unopposed.
Missing the deadline is not always the end of the road. There are procedures for asking a court to accept a late answer or to vacate a default, and they generally require a reason for the delay and a defense worth hearing. They are harder than answering on time, which is why the deadline matters so much.
What to have ready
If you speak to an attorney, the conversation goes faster when the paperwork is in one place.
- Every page you were served, including the envelope
- The 90-day notice, if you received one, and the envelope it came in
- Any notice of default or demand letter from the servicer
- Your mortgage and note, if you have copies
- Recent statements and any record of payments you made
This page describes general New York foreclosure procedure. It is not legal advice, and procedure has exceptions, county practice and case law that no general page can apply to an individual situation. NewYorkForeclosureHelp.com is not a law firm, a lender, or a government agency. If a deadline, court date, or sale date is approaching, speak with an attorney promptly.
Common questions
What people ask after being served.
How many days do I have to answer?
Twenty days if you were personally served in New York. Thirty days if you were served any other way, including substituted service or service outside the state. The count runs from the date of service.
Does the settlement conference replace my answer?
No. The conference is a separate step. The court must hold one within 60 days after proof of service is filed with the county clerk, but the answer deadline runs on its own and is not paused by the conference being scheduled.
I missed the deadline. Is it over?
Not necessarily, but it is harder. There are procedures for asking the court to accept a late answer or to vacate a default. They usually require both an explanation for the delay and a defense the court can consider. Speak with an attorney promptly rather than waiting.
Can I just call the servicer and work it out?
You can keep talking to your servicer, and many cases do end in a loss-mitigation agreement. Talking does not stop the case or extend your answer deadline. Only a court can do that.
Do I have to move out?
No. Being served does not require you to leave. Ownership does not change at the start of a case. It can change after a judgment and a sale, which are separate steps later on.
Statutes and sources behind this guide
- F10: A New York foreclosure begins with service of a summons and complaint. (RPAPL Article 13), read 2026-09-09
- F11: The homeowner must answer within **20 days** if personally served in New York, and within **30 days** if served by any other method. (CPLR §§ 320, 3012), read 2026-09-09
- F12: RPAPL § 1303 requires a "Help for Homeowners in Foreclosure" notice delivered **with** the summons and complaint, printed on colored paper different from the summons and complaint, on its own page, with the title in bold 20-point type. (RPAPL § 1303), read 2026-09-09
- F17: CPLR Rule 3408 requires the court to hold a mandatory settlement conference in a residential foreclosure action within **60 days** after proof of service on the defendant is filed with the county clerk, or on an adjourned date agreed by the parties. (CPLR R. 3408), read 2026-09-09
Statutory claims on this page were checked against published New York law and court guidance on 2026-09-09 and are recorded, fact by fact, in the site's evidence file. Statutes change; the date is the date of the check.
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