This page covers Brooklyn cases under New York law. KOR Law LLP's foreclosure and real estate practice handles foreclosures of homes, rental buildings and commercial property. Its post-judgment defense practice handles the enforcement steps that follow a money judgment. Every court detail below comes from the New York State court system's own pages, read on the date shown; rooms and schedules can change, so confirm them with the court before you go.
Where are Brooklyn foreclosure cases handled?
| Office | Where | What happens there |
|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court, Kings County, Foreclosure Office | 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 347-401-9169 | Auction scheduling, notices of sale and the court's sample foreclosure forms |
| Foreclosure Pre-Settlement, Foreclosure Settlement Conference Part A and Foreclosure Screening Settlement Part | Room 361, 360 Adams Street; 347-401-9124 | Foreclosure settlement conferences |
| Foreclosure auctions | Room 224, 360 Adams Street, every Thursday at 2:30 p.m. | Referee's sales under a judgment of foreclosure and sale |
| Kings County Clerk | Room 189, 360 Adams Street, listed as open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Window 10 for money judgments, Window 11 for notices of pendency and liens on block and lot, Window 9 for surplus money | Docketing and satisfying judgments, notices of pendency, surplus money certificates |
| Appellate Division, Second Department | The court system lists Kings County within the Second Department | Appeals from Supreme Court orders and judgments |
The settlement conference notices are published in Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), English, Haitian Creole, Russian and Spanish, and the court posts a list of Kings County foreclosure prevention legal services contacts on its foreclosure office page. The County Clerk's office also notes that a certified copy of a judgment is not needed if the copy is only being used to clear your credit.
How does a Brooklyn foreclosure move through the courthouse, step by step?
- Filing. The lender files in the Supreme Court, Kings County, and files a notice of pendency against the property; the County Clerk keeps notices of pendency at Window 11 in Room 189. Every foreclosure on the same block and lot goes to the same judge, even if an earlier case on that property was closed.
- Answer. The owner has 20 or 30 days to answer, depending on how the papers were served (CPLR 320); see how long you have to answer a foreclosure complaint in New York.
- Conference. For a home loan on a home the owner lives in, the court holds a settlement conference in Room 361 within 60 days after proof of service is filed (CPLR 3408).
- Order of reference. If the case does not settle and the plaintiff wins or the owner defaults, the court signs its own form order of reference, which must attach the property's chain of assignment.
- Judgment. The plaintiff must apply for a judgment of foreclosure and sale within one year after the order of reference, or the action is dismissed automatically unless a forbearance or settlement agreement was filed.
- Auction. Sales take place in Room 224 on Thursdays at 2:30 p.m., and any surplus is tracked by the court and claimed through the County Clerk at Window 9.
Each step, with the room-by-room rules, is in what to expect at Kings County Supreme Court in a foreclosure case.
How does judgment enforcement work for a Brooklyn resident?
A Supreme Court judgment is docketed by the County Clerk, and the Kings County Clerk handles money judgment searches, satisfactions and transcripts of money judgments at Window 10 in Room 189. A transcript filed here makes a judgment from another county or court a lien on Brooklyn real property (CPLR 5018(a)). When a creditor brings an enforcement proceeding on a Supreme Court judgment, it goes to the Supreme Court or a county court in a county where the debtor lives, works or regularly does business, so a turnover proceeding against a Brooklyn resident can be brought in the Supreme Court, Kings County; for a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, such proceedings go to the Civil Court (CPLR 5221(a)). In the city, the sheriff who acts on a property execution is the New York City Sheriff, an office of the Department of Finance; see what a sheriff can seize under a property execution.
When does a Brooklyn case go to the Commercial Division?
The Commercial Division hears business cases at 360 Adams Street when the amount in dispute meets the Kings County threshold of $150,000, not counting punitive damages, interest, costs and counsel fees (22 NYCRR 202.70(a)). Disputes over transactions involving commercial real property can qualify (202.70(b)(3)). Residential real estate disputes do not, and neither do proceedings to enforce a judgment, unless the judgment itself was obtained in the Commercial Division (202.70(c)(3), (5)). So a home foreclosure stays out of the Commercial Division, while a dispute over a transaction involving a commercial building may be assigned to it if the threshold is met. The thresholds in every county and the kinds of cases the Division takes are set out in whether a business dispute belongs in the New York Commercial Division.
What changes the answer for a Brooklyn owner or debtor?
- Home or investment property. The 90-day notice, the certificate of merit and the mandatory conference are tied to home loans and owner-occupants (RPAPL 1304; CPLR 3012-b, 3408). The differences are set out in commercial or residential foreclosure in New York.
- Which court entered the judgment. A Civil Court judgment is enforced through the Civil Court when the debtor lives, works or does business in the city; a Supreme Court judgment through the Supreme Court or a county court where the debtor lives or works (CPLR 5221(a)(3), (4)).
- A judgment from somewhere else. A judgment from another county or court reaches Brooklyn real property once a transcript is filed with the Kings County Clerk (CPLR 5018(a)). Judgments from other states follow their own route, explained in whether an out-of-state or federal judgment can be enforced in New York.
- Living in the property. Kings County is in the highest homestead tier: $204,825 under the current Department of Financial Services figures (CPLR 5206(a)). The rule for co-op apartments is in whether the homestead exemption protects a co-op.
- Married owners. A home held by spouses as tenants by the entirety raises its own limits on a creditor of one spouse; see whether a creditor of one spouse can force the sale of an entirety home.
For example: a Brooklyn owner facing both a foreclosure and a judgment
For example, imagine an owner of a two-family house in Brooklyn who lives on the first floor. (This is a made-up illustration, not a real client or result.) Her lender starts a foreclosure in the Supreme Court, Kings County, and a separate business creditor already holds a Supreme Court money judgment against her from a guaranty she signed for a company. She answers the foreclosure, goes to the conference part in Room 361, and asks the servicer about a modification.
Meanwhile, the judgment creditor serves a restraining notice on her bank. The restraint does not reach a base amount tied to the minimum wage (CPLR 5222(i)), and she fills in the exemption claim form the bank sent her with the notice (CPLR 5222-a). When the creditor later asks the court to make her turn over assets, that proceeding is brought in the Supreme Court, Kings County, where she lives. Her house is her home, so the homestead protection for Kings County applies to any attempt to sell it for the judgment. Each step has its own deadline, which is why the two cases have to be tracked side by side.
Common mistakes Brooklyn owners and debtors make
- Treating the conference as the whole case. The answer deadline runs separately from the conference date.
- Missing two conferences. Kings County marks a case off the conference calendar after two missed conferences.
- Searching only ACRIS for judgments. ACRIS holds recorded deeds and mortgages; docketed money judgments are searched at the Kings County Clerk, Window 10.
- Paying a judgment without getting it satisfied. A satisfaction can be filed at Window 10 in person or by mail; without it, the judgment still shows on the record.
- Ignoring surplus money. After an auction that brings more than the debt, the money waits in court for claimants.
What to do this week
- Write down the index number from every court paper you have.
- Check the date and method of service, and count the answer deadline.
- If a conference notice arrived, plan to be in Room 361 on that date.
- If a bank account was frozen, read what to do when a restraining notice freezes your account and return the exemption claim form in time.
- Gather the papers on our checklist for when a creditor starts enforcing a judgment.
- Speak with a lawyer about both tracks before the next deadline.
Frequently asked questions
Is every Brooklyn foreclosure heard at 360 Adams Street?
Foreclosures of Brooklyn property belong in the Supreme Court, Kings County, because an action affecting real property is tried in the county where the property is (CPLR 507). The court's foreclosure office, conference parts and auction room are all at 360 Adams Street.
Where can I check Brooklyn property records?
Recorded deeds, mortgages, assignments and satisfactions for Brooklyn property can be searched from 1966 to the present in ACRIS, the New York City Department of Finance's property records system. Docketed money judgments are a separate set of records kept by the Kings County Clerk, which runs searches at Window 10 in Room 189.
Can a judgment lien stop me from selling my Brooklyn home?
A docketed Supreme Court judgment is a lien on the debtor's real property in the county where it is docketed (CPLR 5203). How liens are handled at a sale or refinance is explained in whether you can sell or refinance property with a judgment lien on it.
Who is the sheriff for a Brooklyn property execution?
In New York City it is the New York City Sheriff, part of the Department of Finance. The sheriff acts on an execution issued by the court clerk or by the creditor's attorney as an officer of the court (CPLR 5230(b)).
Where do appeals from Brooklyn cases go?
To the Appellate Division, Second Department, which the court system lists as covering Kings County. The deadlines are in whether you can appeal or reargue a foreclosure judgment in New York.
Does KOR Law LLP have a Brooklyn office?
The firm's office is at One World Trade Center in Manhattan. It represents borrowers, guarantors, property owners and judgment debtors in Brooklyn matters from there.
What questions do Brooklyn owners and debtors ask?
Foreclosure
- Papers just arrived: what happens after you are served with a foreclosure summons in New York.
- Before the case: New York's 90-day foreclosure notice and lender errors.
- The deadline passed: what happens if you missed the deadline to answer a foreclosure.
- A conference notice came from Room 361: what happens at a New York foreclosure settlement conference.
- Still negotiating: a loan modification after the case starts.
- Who owns the loan: the standing defense in New York foreclosures.
- An old default: the foreclosure statute of limitations and the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act.
- The numbers look wrong: the referee's report and the amount owed.
- A sale has been scheduled: where and when foreclosure auctions are held in New York City.
- The sale brought more than the debt: who gets the surplus money after a foreclosure sale.
- A first meeting: what to bring to a foreclosure defense consultation.
- A paid loan still on title: a mortgage satisfaction that was never recorded.
- A clouded title: quiet title actions in New York.
Judgments
- A money judgment has been entered: what happens after a money judgment is entered against you in New York.
- An old judgment: how long a New York judgment lasts and how much interest it adds.
- What is protected: property a judgment creditor cannot take.
- A subpoena arrived: answering an information subpoena.
- Wages are being taken: how much of your wages a creditor can take.
- A court proceeding for assets: how a turnover proceeding works.
- Rents or a business at stake: when a court appoints a receiver.
- The judgment came by default: undoing a default judgment.
- Collection has gone too far: asking a court to limit collection.
Loans, guaranties and deficiencies
- A shortfall after the auction: whether a lender can get a deficiency judgment after a foreclosure sale.
- The value looks wrong: challenging the appraisal behind a deficiency judgment.
- You signed a guaranty: the defenses a personal guarantor has.
- Motion papers instead of a complaint: CPLR 3213 motions against guarantors.
- A default letter on a business loan: what happens after a commercial loan default.
- A transfer is being challenged: voidable (fraudulent) transfers in New York.
- An old debt resurfaces: how long a lender has to sue on a note or guaranty.
- Two lawsuits over one loan: suing on the note while foreclosing.
- Your company's equity is being sold: UCC foreclosure sales of ownership interests.
- The lender offers more time: what a forbearance agreement costs.
- A judgment appeared without a lawsuit: confessions of judgment in New York.
- A first meeting: what to bring to a loan dispute consultation.
- A high-cost business loan: whether the loan is usurious under New York law.
- A receiver for your building: rent receivers during a foreclosure.
- For lenders: enforcing a defaulted commercial loan, step by step.
Other boroughs
- A Queens property or debtor: foreclosure and judgment defense for Queens County cases.
- A Manhattan property or debtor: foreclosure and judgment defense for Manhattan (New York County) cases.
- A Bronx property or debtor: foreclosure and judgment defense for Bronx County cases.