What the default is
The letter should say what you failed to do, which for most homeowners is a number of missed monthly payments, and the amount required to bring the loan current.
Document guide
You received a notice of default or acceleration letter
This letter comes from your servicer, not from a court. It says you are in default, tells you what would cure it, and warns that the whole balance could be called due if you do not.
Usually at least 30 days to cure
Not a lawsuit, and not the 90-day notice
Not a law firm · free case review
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A contract step,
not a court step.
People often assume this letter is the foreclosure. It is the step in the mortgage contract that has to happen before a lender can treat the whole loan as due.
New York law does not itself require an acceleration letter. Almost every mortgage on a New York home contains a clause that does, and it is specific: the notice has to identify the default, say what action will cure it, give a date not less than 30 days out by which to cure, and state that failing to cure by that date may result in acceleration of everything secured by the mortgage and sale of the property.
It also has to tell you about your right to reinstate after acceleration and your right to bring a court action to argue that there is no default or to raise another defense. Those sentences are in the letter because the contract puts them there.
Three different documents
The default letter, the statutory 90-day notice, and the summons and complaint are separate things that arrive at different stages. Check the heading on what you received.
What the letter has to tell you
Four things to find on the page.
Read the letter with these in front of you. If one of them is missing or unclear, that is worth noting rather than shrugging at.
A cure date
A date not less than 30 days from when the notice is given, by which the default must be cured. Note that date. It is the operative deadline in this letter.
What happens if you do not
That failure to cure may result in acceleration of the sums secured by the mortgage and sale of the property. Acceleration is the change from owing the missed payments to owing the entire balance.
Your rights after acceleration
The right to reinstate, and the right to bring a court action asserting that no default exists or raising any other defense to acceleration and sale.
In detail
What acceleration changes.
Before acceleration you owe what you have missed. After it, the lender is treating the whole balance as due now. That is the difference the letter is warning you about.
Reinstatement and payoff are different numbers
A reinstatement quote is what it takes to bring the loan current: the missed payments, late charges, and any advances and fees. A payoff quote is the entire remaining balance.
Ask your servicer in writing for both, with a date they are good through. People often negotiate against a number they were told on the phone weeks earlier and find it has moved.
What the cure period is for
Thirty days is a floor set by the mortgage, not a promise that nothing happens on day 31. It is the window in which curing the default puts the loan back where it was.
It is also a good window in which to ask for a loss-mitigation review, because a complete application changes what a servicer may do next under federal servicing rules.
The wording can matter
New York courts have paid close attention to the language in these letters. A notice saying that failure to cure may result in acceleration is treated differently from one stating that the debt will be accelerated, because the second can amount to an acceleration in itself.
That difference has consequences for how a debt is treated later. It is not something to decide from a web page, and it is a good example of why having the actual letter reviewed is worth more than reading about letters in general.
What usually comes next
If the default is not cured and the loan is a home loan, New York requires a separate statutory 90-day pre-foreclosure notice before a foreclosure action can be commenced. That notice looks quite different: it carries prescribed statutory language and a list of housing counseling agencies.
A summons and complaint, if it comes, is later still. There is normally room between this letter and a courtroom, and that room is the point of acting now.
What to do this week
- Write down the cure date from the letter
- Ask the servicer in writing for a reinstatement quote and a payoff quote
- Ask what loss-mitigation options your loan allows and what a complete application requires
- Keep the letter and its envelope with anything else you have received
- Have the letter and your mortgage reviewed before the cure date passes
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
About a default or demand letter.
Is this a foreclosure?
No. It is a notice under your mortgage that you are in default. A New York foreclosure is a court case, and it starts with a summons and complaint served on you.
Is this the 90-day notice?
Probably not. The statutory 90-day pre-foreclosure notice carries prescribed language about the risk of losing your home and includes a list of at least five housing counseling agencies. If yours has that list, read the 90-day notice guide instead.
What happens on the cure date if I cannot pay?
The lender may accelerate, meaning it treats the entire balance as due, and may then move toward foreclosure. For a home loan in New York that still requires a 90-day notice first, and then a court case. Talk to your servicer and to an attorney before the date rather than after.
Can I still get a modification after this letter?
It can still be requested. Only the lender or servicer can approve one, and no one can promise it. Submitting a complete loss-mitigation application does affect what a servicer may do next under federal rules, which is a reason to make the application complete.
Should I keep paying something?
Partial payments are treated differently by different servicers and can occasionally complicate matters. Ask, in writing, how a partial payment will be applied before sending one.
Statutes and sources behind this guide
- F2: Most mortgages on New York homes contain a default/acceleration clause (commonly paragraph 22 of the uniform security instrument) requiring the lender to send a notice of default that specifies the default, what is needed to cure it, and a date not less than 30 days out by which the default must be cured. (Uniform NY security instrument ¶22), read 2026-09-09
- F3: An acceleration/demand letter is a contractual step, not a statutory one. New York law does not itself require it., read 2026-09-09
- F4: RPAPL § 1304 requires a 90-day pre-foreclosure notice for a home loan. The action may not be commenced until at least 90 days after the notice is given. (RPAPL § 1304), 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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