New York has a specific statute that requires a lender to provide 90 days notice to a homeowner before they initiate a foreclosure lawsuit. The failure of the lender to provide the 90 days notice can in the answer to the foreclosure lawsuit provide a defense to the foreclosure lawsuit. In the event you have a defense such as a failure to serve a pre-foreclosure notice or the statute of limitations, which talks about the time period the lender has to initiate the lawsuit, these defenses must be specifically plead in the answer to the Summons and Complaint. To protect yourself, it is highly recommended that you contact a law firm that handles foreclosure defense to draft the answer for you and take the appropriate legal action in the Supreme Court to protect your rights and possibly get the lawsuit dismissed.

Time to Answer

Under New York State law if served with a Summons and Complaint, you have 20 days to submit a written response to the Summons and Complaint, which is called an Answer, if the Summons and Complaint is personally handed to you by a process server. If you receive the Summons and Complaint that is dropped off at your home or sent to you by another means, you have 30 days from the time of service to respond to the Summons and Complaint. If you do not provide a written response to the Court and the bank’s attorney within the appropriate time limitation, you have defaulted in the foreclosure lawsuit. A default is an indication that you are not contesting the lawsuit which is designed to sell your home and cause you to be evicted. This is always a mistake!

The law firm of Schlissel DeCorpo LLP has been helping families deal with mortgage and foreclosure problems for more than 30 years. We can be reached at 718-350-2802, 516-561-6645 or 631-319-8262 or by e-mail at info@sdnylaw.com.

New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 1304 requires lenders and servicing companies who want to bring a legal action regarding a mortgage on a residential home in the State of New York must provide 90 days written notice to the borrower regarding the home loan foreclosure before starting legal action. The notice needs to be mailed to the homeowner by regular mayor and certified mail.

90 Day Notice To Homeowners Required

Homeowners challenge the compliance with a statute on a regular basis. It is a complete defense to the foreclosure lawsuit that the homeowner was not properly served the requisite notice under Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 1304.The mailing of this notice is considered a condition precedent to the initiation of the foreclosure lawsuit. The financial institution or servicing company must be in a position to provide an affidavit of service of the mailing of the pre-foreclosure notice.

There have been numerous decisions by the Supreme Court Judges and the Appellate Courts dismissing cases for the slightest mistake or deviation that the financial institution, its services and its attorneys have made with regard to failing to fulfill the strict compliance with the terms of this 90 day pre-foreclosure mailing.

Elliot S. Schlissel and his law office has been protecting homeowners in foreclosure cases for more than 3 decades. He can be reached at elliot@sdnylaw.com and 800-344-6431.