This page explains New York law for people whose foreclosure or money judgment is tied to the Bronx: owners of homes and buildings in Bronx County, people who signed a personal guaranty for a business loan, and judgment debtors who live or work in the borough. It is the overview; the courthouse walk for a foreclosure has its own page. When a lender sues, KOR Law LLP responds through its foreclosure and real estate litigation practice, which covers home and commercial foreclosures, standing challenges and title disputes. Once a judgment exists, the firm's post-judgment defense practice takes on turnover petitions, receiver motions and homestead claims. Rooms, hours and fees below are taken from pages the courts and the city publish, checked on the date above; they can change, so confirm them before a trip to the courthouse.
Where are Bronx foreclosure and judgment matters handled?
| Office | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court, Bronx County, Civil Term | 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451 | Foreclosure actions, motions, judgments of foreclosure and sale, and many enforcement proceedings |
| Bronx County Clerk | Room 118; listed as open Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., closed for lunch 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.; (718) 618-3300 | Collects filing fees and keeps Supreme Court case records; its departments include Judgment, Dockets, E-File and the Records Room |
| Motion/Trial Support Office | Room 217 | The central clerk's office of the Civil Term, which checks papers for compliance; motions are returnable here |
| Help Center | Room 121 | Where the court sends people who are starting or defending a case without a lawyer |
| Foreclosure auctions | Courtroom 607 | Referee's sales under the Bronx County Auction Plan, scheduled through the Foreclosure Department at bxforeclosure@nycourts.gov |
| Commercial Division | One part, Part IA-32, at 851 Grand Concourse | Business cases that meet the Bronx threshold of $75,000 |
| Department of Finance land records, Bronx County office | 3030 3rd Avenue, 2nd floor, Bronx, NY 10455 | Recorded deeds, mortgages and satisfactions, also searchable online in ACRIS |
| Appellate Division, First Department | The court system's map places Bronx County in the First Department | Appeals from Supreme Court orders and judgments |
The court's foreclosure page also posts the Bronx Residential Foreclosure Part Rules, a Pending Foreclosure Auctions list, the administrative order that put the auction plan into effect on June 17, 2024, and Administrative Order 151/22 on settlement conferences in residential mortgage foreclosure actions. The statutes are the same in every borough, but the rooms, part rules and auction plans are not. Brooklyn cases are covered in foreclosure and judgment defense for Brooklyn (Kings County) cases. Manhattan has its own page on foreclosure and judgment defense for Manhattan (New York County) cases. For Queens, read foreclosure and judgment defense for Queens County cases.
How does a Bronx foreclosure move from first notice to sale?
- The 90-day notice. For a home loan, the lender or servicer must send the borrower a warning notice at least 90 days before suing (RPAPL 1304).
- Filing in the Bronx. A case that would affect title to real property is tried in the county where the property sits (CPLR 507), so the lender files in the Supreme Court, Bronx County, and pays its fees at the County Clerk in Room 118.
- The answer. The owner has 20 days after personal delivery of the summons, or 30 days when one of the other service methods listed in CPLR 320(a) was used, to appear in the case, usually by serving an answer.
- The conference. If the loan is a home loan and the owner lives there, the court must hold a settlement conference within 60 days after proof of service is filed (CPLR 3408(a)).
- The judgment. If the lender wins, the judgment of foreclosure and sale directs a referee to sell within 90 days and, for a one- to four-family home, names the servicer and its telephone number (RPAPL 1351(1)).
- The sale and after. The auction is held in Courtroom 607, the referee files a report of sale within 30 days (Bronx County Auction Plan; RPAPL 1355(1)), and any surplus or shortfall is decided after that.
Each step inside the building, with the fees and the auction plan, is set out in what to expect at Bronx County Supreme Court in a foreclosure case.
How does judgment enforcement reach a Bronx resident?
A money judgment docketed with the Bronx County Clerk binds the debtor's Bronx real estate for ten years after the judgment-roll is filed (CPLR 5203(a)). A judgment from another county reaches Bronx property once a transcript of its docket is filed with the Bronx County Clerk (CPLR 5018(a)), so a Manhattan or Brooklyn judgment can follow the debtor across county lines. When a creditor starts a court proceeding to enforce a state court judgment that did not come from the city's Civil Court, it brings that proceeding in the Supreme Court or a county court in a county where the debtor lives, works or regularly does business (CPLR 5221(a)(4)). For a Bronx resident, that can mean the Supreme Court, Bronx County. If the judgment came from the Civil Court of the City of New York, the enforcement proceeding goes back to that court (CPLR 5221(a)(3)). If the debtor owns and lives in a house, condominium unit or co-op in the Bronx, up to $204,825 of equity is protected from a money judgment under the current Department of Financial Services figure for the Bronx's tier (CPLR 5206(a)).
When does a Bronx dispute go to the Commercial Division?
The Bronx Commercial Division is a single part, Part IA-32, at 851 Grand Concourse. Its monetary threshold is $75,000, not counting punitive damages, interest, costs, disbursements and counsel fees (22 NYCRR 202.70(a)). The rule lists transactions involving commercial real property among the case types it will take (202.70(b)(3)). It shuts out residential real estate disputes, and it shuts out judgment enforcement too, except where the Commercial Division itself entered the judgment (202.70(c)(3), (5)). For a Bronx homeowner, that means the foreclosure stays on the ordinary track; for a business owner facing a loan or guaranty claim of $75,000 or more, Part IA-32 is a real possibility. The full test is in whether your business dispute belongs in the New York Commercial Division.
What changes the answer for a Bronx owner, guarantor or debtor?
- Home or investment property. The 90-day notice and the mandatory conference apply to home loans, and the conference only where the owner lives in the property (RPAPL 1304; CPLR 3408(a)). See which protections apply in a commercial or residential foreclosure.
- A guaranty instead of a mortgage. A lender can sue a guarantor on the written guaranty by a motion for summary judgment served with the summons, skipping the complaint (CPLR 3213).
- Which court entered the judgment. Civil Court judgments and Supreme Court judgments are enforced in different courts (CPLR 5221(a)(3), (4)).
- How old the judgment is. The real property lien runs ten years from the filing of the judgment-roll (CPLR 5203(a)); the renewal rules are in how long a New York judgment lasts.
- Whether you ever answered. A default judgment can be vacated for excusable default if the motion is made within one year after service of the judgment with notice of entry (CPLR 5015(a)(1)).
- The size of a business case. At $75,000 or more, a commercial dispute can be heard in the Bronx Commercial Division (22 NYCRR 202.70(a)).
For example: a Bronx guarantor with a Manhattan judgment
For example, imagine a woman who owns and lives in a condominium unit in the Bronx and who signed a personal guaranty for her company's equipment loan. (This is a made-up illustration, not a real client or result.) The company defaults, and the lender sues her in the Supreme Court, New York County, on the guaranty by a CPLR 3213 motion. A money judgment is entered there.
The lender then files a transcript of the judgment with the Bronx County Clerk, which makes it a lien on her condominium (CPLR 5018(a), 5203(a)). When she later talks to a bank about refinancing, the judgment shows up in the title search. If the lender asks a court to make her turn over assets, it can bring that proceeding in the Supreme Court, Bronx County, because she lives there (CPLR 5221(a)(4)). Since she lives in the unit, any effort to have it sold to pay the judgment runs into the Bronx homestead amount. Each of those steps has its own papers and deadlines, and each is a point to check that the rules were followed.
Common mistakes Bronx owners and debtors make
- Waiting for the conference to answer. The answer deadline under CPLR 320 runs on its own clock, whatever date the conference notice gives.
- Borrowing another borough's auction schedule. The Bronx plan names the room, Courtroom 607, but not a weekday. The date comes from the notice of sale and the court's pending auction list.
- Ignoring a judgment from another county. Once a transcript is filed in the Bronx, it is a lien on Bronx real estate.
- Searching only ACRIS. The city's system shows what was recorded against the property, such as deeds and mortgages; judgments docketed against a person are kept by the County Clerk.
- Letting the surplus go. A written notice of claim to surplus money must be filed before the report of sale is confirmed (RPAPL 1361(1)).
What to do this week
- Collect every court paper and write down each index number and which court it came from.
- Note how and when each paper was served on you, then work out the last day to answer.
- Search ACRIS for every document recorded against your property, and check the County Clerk's judgment records in your name.
- A bank account suddenly frozen? Start with what to do when a restraining notice freezes your account.
- Gather the papers on our foreclosure defense consultation checklist.
- Speak with a lawyer before the next court date or deadline.
Frequently asked questions
Is every Bronx foreclosure filed at 851 Grand Concourse?
A foreclosure of Bronx property belongs in the Supreme Court, Bronx County, because an action affecting title to real property is tried where the property is (CPLR 507). The Civil Term, the County Clerk and the auction courtroom are all in that building.
Where can I see what is recorded against my Bronx property?
ACRIS, the city Department of Finance's online system, shows recorded documents for the Bronx from 1966 to the present. The Department of Finance also lists a Bronx County office for land records at 3030 3rd Avenue, 2nd floor.
Can I get help at the courthouse without a lawyer?
The court refers self-represented litigants to its Help Center in Room 121. The same court page says paper motions can be mailed to the County Clerk in Room 118.
Where do appeals from Bronx cases go?
To the Appellate Division, First Department. The Court of Appeals' November 2025 decision on the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, Van Dyke v U.S. Bank, involved a Bronx mortgage, and the First Department heard the earlier appeals. The deadlines are in whether you can appeal or reargue a foreclosure judgment.
Who carries out a property execution in the Bronx?
In all five boroughs that job belongs to the New York City Sheriff, which sits inside the city's Department of Finance and lists the discovery and seizure of property and property auctions among its duties. The rules on what it can take are in what a sheriff can seize under a property execution.
Does KOR Law LLP have a Bronx office?
No. KOR Law LLP works from One World Trade Center, 85th Floor, in Manhattan, and handles Bronx County matters from that office.
What questions do Bronx owners and debtors ask?
Foreclosure
- Just served: what happens after you are served with a foreclosure summons in New York.
- A warning letter came first: New York's 90-day foreclosure notice.
- Writing the response: how long you have to answer a foreclosure complaint.
- Too late to answer: what if you missed the foreclosure answer deadline.
- A conference date: what happens at a New York foreclosure settlement conference.
- An application with the servicer: a loan modification after the case starts.
- Who holds the note: dismissal because the lender lacked standing.
- A default from years ago: how long a lender has to foreclose.
- A building, not a home: commercial or residential foreclosure protections.
- The figures look off: challenging the referee's report and the amount owed.
- A sale notice: where and when New York City foreclosure auctions are held.
- Money left after the sale: who gets foreclosure surplus money.
- A judgment you disagree with: appealing or rearguing a foreclosure judgment.
- Before a first meeting: what to bring to a foreclosure defense consultation.
- A paid-off loan still of record: a mortgage satisfaction that was never recorded.
- A cloud on the deed: when owners need a quiet title action.
Judgments
- Just entered: what happens after a money judgment is entered against you.
- An old judgment: how long a judgment lasts and the interest it adds.
- Protected property: what a judgment creditor cannot take.
- A co-op at risk: whether the homestead exemption covers a co-op.
- A home owned with a spouse: tenancy by the entirety and one spouse's creditor.
- A frozen account: a bank restraining notice.
- Questions in the mail: whether you must answer an information subpoena.
- A paycheck deduction: how much of your wages a creditor can take.
- A sheriff's notice: what a sheriff can seize under a property execution.
- A petition for your assets: responding to a turnover proceeding.
- A business or rents targeted: when a court appoints a receiver to collect.
- A closing in doubt: selling or refinancing with a judgment lien.
- A judgment from elsewhere: out-of-state and federal judgments in New York.
- No notice of the case: undoing a default judgment.
- Collection gone too far: whether a court can limit collection.
- Getting organized: what to gather when a creditor starts enforcing.
Loans, guaranties and deficiencies
- The sale fell short: deficiency judgments after a foreclosure sale.
- A low value: challenging the appraisal behind a deficiency.
- Your signature on a guaranty: defenses a personal guarantor has.
- Motion papers with the summons: what a CPLR 3213 motion is.
- A default notice: what follows a commercial loan default.
- A transfer under attack: fraudulent (voidable) conveyance claims.
- A stale claim: the time limit to sue on a note or guaranty.
- Two cases at once: suing on the note while foreclosing.
- Your company's shares for sale: UCC foreclosure sales of ownership interests.
- An offer of more time: what a forbearance agreement gives up.
- A judgment without a lawsuit: confessions of judgment after the 2019 change.
- Preparing to meet a lawyer: what to bring to a loan dispute meeting.
- A very high rate: whether a commercial loan is usurious.
- A receiver at your building: rent receivers during a foreclosure.
- On the lender's side: enforcing a defaulted commercial loan, step by step.