Property tax foreclosure and the New York City lien sale
A mortgage is not the only way to lose a home in New York. Unpaid property taxes, and in the city unpaid water and repair charges, follow their own path to foreclosure, with different clocks, different ways out, and since 2024 a rule that the value above the debt comes back to you.
Two regimes: upstate redemption, city lien sale
Surplus value returns to the owner since 2024
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Where the property is
decides the rules.
Outside the five boroughs, the county or city enforces unpaid taxes itself under Article 11 of the Real Property Tax Law. Inside them, the City sells the lien to a private trust and the trust, or the City in rem, forecloses.
The Article 11 route is a redemption system: you can pay the delinquent taxes with interest and charges at any time up to a cut-off, two years after the lien date unless your locality has extended it to three or four for homes, and the property is yours. After the cut-off the tax district takes title through a court proceeding.
The city route starts with a lien sale. The City sells your unpaid tax, water and sewer and emergency-repair charges to a single authorized buyer; you still own the house, but the buyer holds a lien with accruing interest and can foreclose in court if it is not resolved. The City also brings its own in rem foreclosures.
The lien-sale list is public
Being on the City's lien-sale list, or any active tax or utility lien-sale list, makes a home "in foreclosure" under the Home Equity Theft Prevention Act. Any equity purchaser who approaches you is regulated from that moment.
Side by side
Upstate and the city.
Both end at a courthouse. Everything in between is different.
| Consideration | Outside New York City (RPTL Article 11) | New York City (lien sale and in rem) |
|---|---|---|
| Who enforces | The county, or a city or village that enforces its own taxes | The Department of Finance sells the lien; the trust's servicer collects; the City forecloses in rem |
| What is sold | Nothing until the end: the district takes title after the redemption period | The debt. The property is not sold at the lien sale |
| The clock | Redemption until two years after lien date, or three or four where the locality extended it for homes | Warning notices 90, 60, 30 and 10 days before the sale; lienholder identified within 90 days after |
| How to stop it | Pay the delinquent liens with charges before the redemption period expires; installment agreements where the district offers them | Pay the minimum on the notice; a one- to ten-year payment plan; PT AID deferral; SCHE, DHE or veterans exemptions; the Easy Exit Program; an emergency-repair certification |
| The end | A judgment of foreclosure transfers title to the tax district, which sells the property | A foreclosure action by the lienholder, or an in rem action by the City, ending in a judgment and sale |
| Surplus | Claimable by the former owner since 2024, by notice of claim before the report of sale is confirmed | Claimable through the foreclosure action as in any judicial sale |
The City's dollar thresholds and years-delinquent rules for one- to three-family homes change by local law and were amended again in January 2026; the current figures are on the Department of Finance lien-sale page linked below, not here.
Getting off the list
The ways out the City publishes.
- 01
Pay the minimum
The warning notice states a minimum amount that removes the property from the sale if paid by the deadline. Property tax through CityPay; water and sewer through DEP; emergency-repair charges through CityPay.
- 02
A payment plan
A standard agreement is open to every owner, lasts one to ten years, and needs no down payment. You must keep new charges current. PT AID plans, for an owner-occupied one- to three-family home or condo within the income limit, can defer payment; seniors can defer indefinitely.
- 03
An exemption
The Senior Citizen, Disabled Homeowners and veterans exemptions can keep a property out of the sale, or cancel a lien that was sold if the exemption is approved within 90 days of the sale date.
- 04
Easy Exit
An owner-occupied one- to three-family home or condominium, with no other property in the city and household income within the published limit, can be removed from the sale for one year while you arrange a plan.
- 05
Repair charges only
If the only debt is HPD emergency-repair charges on a tax-class-one home you live in, an emergency-repair certification removes the property for a year.
- 06
After the sale
A sold lien can still be paid or put on a plan with the lienholder's servicer, whose name the City mails you within 90 days. Interest accrues at the rate the sale terms set until it is.
In detail
Redemption, in rem, and the surplus rule.
Three things every owner in a tax foreclosure should understand, whichever side of the city line they are on.
Redemption is the whole game upstate
Under Article 11 the owner may redeem by paying the delinquent lien or liens, with every charge the law allows, to the enforcing officer at any time before the redemption period expires. Two years after lien date is the default; a tax district may adopt a local law extending it to three or four years for residential or farm property, and many have. Your county's treasurer or finance office publishes which applies.
Miss the date and the district moves for a judgment of foreclosure. Some districts allow late redemption up to the judgment by local practice; none is required to.
In rem means the case is against the property
A tax foreclosure is brought against the parcel, not the person, which is why notice is by mail and publication and why owners sometimes learn of it late. The list of parcels in the proceeding is filed with the county clerk and published. If your name is on a deed, the notice is meant to reach you; if you inherited without probate, it may not, and that is a reason to check the record.
The value above the debt is yours since 2024
Until 2023 a New York tax district that foreclosed a home kept everything, however small the tax debt. In Tyler v. Hennepin County the United States Supreme Court held that keeping the value beyond the debt is a taking. New York amended Article 11 in 2024, retroactively to the date of that decision: a former owner may claim the sale proceeds above the taxes, interest, penalties and authorized charges by filing a written notice of claim with the clerk before the report of sale is confirmed. The enforcing officer determines the surplus within 45 days of the sale, and for a home the proceeding stays open at least three years if no one claims at first.
If you lost a home to tax foreclosure on or after 25 May 2023, ask an attorney whether a surplus claim exists.
The city rules move
The lien sale runs under Administrative Code § 11-319, which the City Council reauthorises and amends periodically; the most recent amendment was Local Law 62 of 2026, and the City has been restructuring how distressed liens on homes are handled. The Department of Finance page linked below carries the current year's eligibility thresholds, candidate lists and sale date. Treat any figure you read elsewhere, including on other sites, as out of date until you have checked it there.
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 tax liens and the lien sale.
Can I lose my house for unpaid property taxes in New York?
Yes. Outside New York City the county or city forecloses under the Real Property Tax Law once the redemption period, two years after the lien date unless the locality extended it to three or four, has run. In the five boroughs the City sells the lien and the buyer can foreclose in court, or the City forecloses in rem itself.
What does it mean that my lien was sold in the NYC lien sale?
The City sold the debt, not the house. A single authorized buyer now holds the lien, interest keeps accruing, and if it is not paid or put on a plan the lienholder can start a foreclosure case. Within 90 days of the sale the City mails you the lienholder's name and who to contact.
How do I get off the NYC lien sale list?
Pay at least the minimum on the warning notice, enter a payment plan of one to ten years, apply for a PT AID deferral or the Easy Exit Program if it is your one- to three-family home or condo and you meet the income limit, or claim an exemption such as SCHE, DHE or the veterans exemption, which can keep you out of the sale or cancel a lien sold within 90 days.
If the county takes my house for taxes, do I get the extra value?
Since a 2023 Supreme Court decision and a 2024 New York law, yes: a former owner can claim the sale proceeds above the taxes, interest and charges by filing a notice of claim before the report of sale is confirmed, and for a home the proceeding stays open at least three years if nobody claims at first.
Someone offered to buy my house because it is on the lien sale list. Is that regulated?
Yes. Being on an active tax or utility lien-sale list puts a home "in foreclosure" under New York's Home Equity Theft Prevention Act, so any equity purchaser must use a written contract with a cancellation right and cannot have you sign a deed until that right has ended.
Statutes and agency sources behind this guide
- X1: Outside New York City an owner may redeem by paying the delinquent liens with charges any time before the redemption period expires: two years after lien date by default. (RPTL § 1110), read 2026-09-10
- X2: A tax district may extend the redemption period for residential or farm property to three or four years by local law. (RPTL § 1111), read 2026-09-10
- X3: Keeping the value of a tax-foreclosed home beyond the tax debt is a taking under the Fifth Amendment. (Tyler v. Hennepin County, 598 U.S. 631 (2023)), read 2026-09-10
- X4: A former owner may claim the surplus above taxes, interest and charges by filing a notice of claim before the report of sale is confirmed; the enforcing officer determines the surplus within 45 days; residential proceedings stay open at least three years. (RPTL §§ 1135, 1136, 1196, 1197 (L.2024 ch. 55, Part BB)), read 2026-09-10
- X5: The NYC lien sale sells the debt (property tax, water and sewer, emergency-repair charges) to one authorized buyer; the property is not sold, but the lienholder can foreclose in court. (NYC Department of Finance), read 2026-09-10
- X6: Warning notices arrive 90, 60, 30 and 10 days before the sale; within 90 days after it the owner is told the lienholder's name. (NYC Department of Finance), read 2026-09-10
- X7: Ways out published by DOF: payment, a one- to ten-year payment plan, PT AID deferral, SCHE/DHE/veterans exemptions, the Easy Exit Program and an emergency-repair certification. (NYC Department of Finance), read 2026-09-10
- X8: Lien-sale eligibility thresholds are set by Administrative Code § 11-319, amended by Local Law 2026/062 on 29 January 2026. (NYC Administrative Code § 11-319), read 2026-09-10
- X9: The City can also enforce tax liens through an in rem foreclosure under Administrative Code Title 11, Chapter 4. (NYC Administrative Code Title 11, Ch. 4), read 2026-09-10
Claims were checked against the Real Property Tax Law, the Supreme Court's opinion, the 2024 amendments and the Department of Finance's lien-sale page on 2026-09-10 and are recorded in the site's evidence file. City thresholds and dates are not stated because they change yearly.
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