What to Bring to a NY Foreclosure Consultation

Bring every page of the summons and complaint and a note of exactly how and when you received them, the 90-day notice with its envelopes, your note, mortgage and any modification, your payment history and loss mitigation letters, and any settlement conference notice. Under New York law, those papers set your deadline to answer and show whether the lender's required notices were sent the right way.

This page covers New York law, for homeowners and owners of investment and commercial property. A first meeting is most useful when the papers are in hand, because several foreclosure protections turn on dates, envelopes and exact wording. The New York court system's CourtHelp guide says a foreclosure takes about a year from the start of the case to the sale, and the answer deadline comes first. KOR Law LLP's foreclosure defense practice represents commercial and residential borrowers, guarantors and property owners. For the order of events, see what happens after you are served with a foreclosure summons in New York. If the dispute is about a business loan or a personal guaranty, use the companion list in what to bring to a first meeting about a loan dispute.

Which papers set the first deadline?

Papers to bring and what each one shows (New York)
Bring	Why it matters	Rule
Every page of the summons and complaint, plus a note of who handed them over, to whom, where and when, and any copy that came by mail	The time to appear is 20 days after personal delivery, or 30 days after service is complete for other methods such as delivery to someone else at the home with mailing	CPLR 320(a), 308
The "Help for Homeowners in Foreclosure" notice on colored paper	For an owner-occupied one-to-four family home, it must come with the summons and complaint, on its own page, in set type sizes	RPAPL 1303
The attorney's certificate and the loan documents attached to the complaint	In a home loan case against a resident, the complaint must come with a certificate that the plaintiff is the creditor entitled to enforce, with the mortgage, note and assignments attached if they are not already in the papers	CPLR 3012-b(a)
The 90-day notice and every envelope it came in	It must be sent by registered or certified mail and by first-class mail, in a separate envelope from any other mailing, with a list of at least five housing counseling agencies for the county	RPAPL 1304(2)
Any settlement conference notice from the court	Sets the date and lists the papers each side must bring	CPLR 3408(e)

The answer deadline is the one that cannot wait; what goes into the answer, and which defenses are lost if left out, is explained in how long you have to answer a foreclosure complaint in New York. Why the envelopes matter, and what happens if the lender got the notice wrong, is in New York's 90-day foreclosure notice.

What will the court file add to your papers?

The court file fills gaps in what you received. CourtHelp explains that the plaintiff files the summons and complaint in the Supreme Court along with a lis pendens, a notice warning others that there is a case about the property. In a home loan case against a resident, the plaintiff must also file proof of service within 20 days of service, however service was made (CPLR 3408(a)). That affidavit states the date, time, place and method the process server claims, and for delivery to another person at the home it must identify that person (CPLR 308(2)). Compare it with your own note of what happened. When service was made by delivery to someone else or by affixing to the door, service is complete ten days after proof of service is filed, and the 30-day answer period runs from then (CPLR 308(2), (4); 320(a)).

Read the complaint for one more statement. Every lender, assignee or servicer must file information about the 90-day notice with the Superintendent of Financial Services within three business days of mailing it, and the complaint must affirmatively allege that the plaintiff complied (RPAPL 1306(1)).

Which loan documents should you collect?

The note and mortgage you signed, and any modification, extension, consolidation or forbearance agreement.
Every letter telling you the loan was sold, assigned or transferred to a new servicer, and any assignment or allonge you received.
Monthly statements and your own proof of payments, such as bank records or cancelled checks.
Default, acceleration and demand letters, with their envelopes.
For a property held in an LLC or another entity, the entity's formation papers and any personal guaranty you signed. The firm's article on when a commercial mortgage on your home becomes your biggest liability explains why those papers can change the whole case.

What should you bring for the settlement conference?

In a home loan case where the borrower lives in the property, the court holds a mandatory settlement conference within 60 days after proof of service is filed (CPLR 3408(a)). The conference notice tells each side what to bring. For homeowners, CPLR 3408(e) lists current income tax returns, expenses, property taxes, any loss mitigation applications already submitted, benefits information, and rental agreements or proof of rental income. The lender, for its part, must bring the payment history, an itemization of what is needed to cure and to pay off the loan, the mortgage and note, and loss mitigation application forms; if it has denied a modification, it must bring the denial letter and the values used in its net present value evaluation.

Bring copies of every modification application you sent, with proof of the date it was sent, and every letter you received in reply. What happens at the conference, and the good-faith duty that applies to both sides, is covered in what happens at a New York foreclosure settlement conference.

The servicer's written replies matter for federal law too. Under the federal servicing rule, whether a protection applies is decided as of the date the servicer received a complete application (12 CFR 1024.41(b)(3)), and the servicer must send written notices saying whether an application is complete. Those letters fix the dates explained in whether you can still get a loan modification after a foreclosure case starts.

What else should you write down?

Occupancy. Whether you live in the property as your principal home, and whether tenants live there. Several protections apply only to a home loan on a residence the borrower occupies, and tenants are entitled to their own notices (RPAPL 1303).
History of the loan. When you first fell behind, and whether an earlier foreclosure was filed and later discontinued or dismissed. Old defaults raise questions covered in how long a lender has to foreclose in New York.
Other liens. Second mortgages, judgments and tax bills. If you paid off an earlier mortgage that still appears on title, see what to do when a paid-off mortgage was never marked satisfied.
Contact from third parties. The state's required homeowner notice warns about people who approach homeowners with offers to "save" their home; keep any such letters too.

What changes the answer about what to bring?

How the papers reached you. Personal delivery starts a 20-day clock; delivery to someone else at the home with mailing, or affixing to the door with mailing, starts a 30-day clock from completed service (CPLR 320(a); 308(2), (4)). Bring every envelope that came by mail afterward.
Who the borrower is and how the property is used. The 90-day notice and the mandatory conference apply to a home loan, which requires a borrower who is a natural person and a home the borrower occupies as a principal dwelling (RPAPL 1304(6)(a); CPLR 3408(a)). For anything else, see which protections apply in a commercial or residential foreclosure, and bring entity and guaranty papers.
Tenants in the building. The foreclosing party must deliver a separate tenant notice within ten days of serving the summons and complaint, by certified and first-class mail in a building with fewer than five units (RPAPL 1303(4)). Bring the leases and ask tenants what they received.
An earlier foreclosure on the same loan. If a prior action accelerated the loan, the lender generally cannot later deny that acceleration in a statute of limitations dispute, unless the prior case was dismissed on an express court ruling, made on a timely defense, that the loan was not validly accelerated (CPLR 213(4)(a)). Bring the old summons, any discontinuance and any dismissal order.
A default already entered. A court may relieve a party from a judgment for an excusable default if the motion is made within one year after the judgment was served with notice of its entry (CPLR 5015(a)(1)). Bring every court paper with its envelope, so the dates can be checked.

For example: getting ready for a first meeting

For example, imagine a Brooklyn owner who lives in her one-family house. (This is a made-up illustration, not a real client or result.) On April 7 a process server leaves the summons and complaint with her adult daughter at the house, and a copy is mailed to her on April 9. The proof of service is filed April 21, so service is complete May 1 and her answer is due by May 31, 30 days later (CPLR 308(2), 320(a)). Because she lives there and the loan is a home loan, the conference must be held within 60 days after April 21 (CPLR 3408(a)).

Before her consultation she writes down those dates and gathers every page of the complaint, including the attached note and two assignments, the colored homeowner notice, the 90-day notice with the one envelope she kept, her statements and the modification application she sent in March with the servicer's letter calling it incomplete. She also brings her tax returns and benefit letters for the conference. With those papers on the table, the meeting can test service, the 90-day notice and the chain of assignments in one sitting. Courts and contacts for her borough are on our page about foreclosure and judgment defense for Brooklyn (Kings County) cases.

Common mistakes when preparing for a consultation

Bringing only the first pages. The exhibits at the back of the complaint, such as the note, mortgage and assignments under CPLR 3012-b, are often where the questions are.
Throwing away envelopes. The 90-day notice must go by two kinds of mail in its own envelope (RPAPL 1304(2)), and postmarks are often the clearest record of what was sent.
Not writing down how service happened. Who received the papers, where and when decides which clock applies. Write it down while you still remember.
Waiting for the conference notice. The answer clock runs from service, not from the conference date.
Leaving out the modification history. Earlier applications are on the homeowner's conference list (CPLR 3408(e)), and the dates on servicer letters can matter under federal law.
Forgetting entity papers. If an LLC holds the property, its documents and any guaranty can decide which rules apply.

What to do this week

Write down when, where and how the papers reached you, and who received them.
Count the answer deadline from that date. If it may have passed, read what happens if you missed the deadline to answer a foreclosure in New York.
Put every page of the summons, complaint and exhibits in order, with the colored notice.
Find the 90-day notice and every envelope, servicer letter and loan statement from the past year.
Collect tax returns, benefit letters, leases and property tax bills for the conference.
Make copies of everything and keep the originals at home.

Frequently asked questions

What if I lost the 90-day notice or its envelopes?

Bring whatever you still have and write down what you remember receiving. Under RPAPL 1304(2), notice is considered given on the date it is mailed, so the lender's mailing proof will matter, and the complaint must allege the plaintiff's filing with the state about that notice (RPAPL 1306(1)).

I received a 90-day notice but no court papers yet. What should I bring?

Bring the notice, its envelopes and your recent statements. For a home loan, the lender must send it at least 90 days before suing (RPAPL 1304(1)), and it lists housing counseling agencies for your county, which is the time to contact one.

Do I have to leave my home while the case is pending?

No. The state's required homeowner notice says you are not required to leave your home unless and until it is sold at auction under a judgment of foreclosure and sale, and that you remain responsible for taking care of the property and paying property taxes (RPAPL 1303). CourtHelp adds that only a judge can order you to move.

What if a default judgment was already entered?

Bring the judgment and the papers that came with it. CPLR 5015(a) lists the grounds for relief, including excusable default, fraud or misconduct by the other side, and lack of jurisdiction; see whether you can undo a default judgment in New York.

Should I bring property tax and insurance records?

Yes. Property taxes are on the homeowner's conference list (CPLR 3408(e)), and the homeowner notice reminds owners they must keep paying them during the case (RPAPL 1303).

This page explains New York law in general terms. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts and documents, and no particular outcome can be promised.

What should you bring to a foreclosure defense consultation in New York?