Foreclosure and judgment defense lawyer for Queens County cases

This page explains New York law for Queens County foreclosure and judgment cases. KOR Law LLP's foreclosure and real estate litigation practice defends residential and commercial borrowers, guarantors and property owners. Its enforcement and post-judgment practice defends judgment debtors against turnover petitions, restraining notices, receiver motions and similar collection steps. Court details below come from the official Queens pages read on the date shown; confirm rooms and calendars before you go.

Where are Queens foreclosure and judgment matters handled?

Queens splits foreclosure work between two civil courthouses: the conference office and auction room are in Jamaica, while the Master Foreclosure Judge's status calendar sits in Long Island City. The Help Center offers interpreter service on request, and the conference part's web page posts a court form for answering a foreclosure complaint.

How does a Queens foreclosure move from summons to sale?

1. Complaint. Queens part rules ask every residential foreclosure complaint to say whether the loan is on an owner-occupied home of one to four families and is subprime, high-cost or nontraditional, whether the 90-day notice required by RPAPL 1304 was served, and that the plaintiff holds the note and mortgage or a valid assignment of them.
2. Request for a conference. Where the rules apply, the plaintiff files a request for judicial intervention for a settlement conference when it files the affidavit of service with the Queens County Clerk. State law sets the conference within 60 days after proof of service is filed (CPLR 3408(a)).
3. Answer. The answer is due 20 or 30 days after service, depending on how the summons was served (CPLR 320(a)). If no answer has been filed by the first conference, the court must warn the homeowner that defenses may be lost (CPLR 3408(l)).
4. Virtual conference. The Residential Foreclosure Part meets on Microsoft Teams, and no in-person appearance is required.
5. Release. If the case does not settle, the referee's order releases it and schedules a status conference, or a preliminary conference if an answer was served and the parties want significant discovery.
6. Judgment and sale. A judgment of foreclosure and sale directs a sale by a referee within 90 days of its date (RPAPL 1351(1)). In Queens, no auction goes forward unless it is on the court's Auction Calendar.
7. After the sale. The referee files a report of sale within 30 days after delivering the deed (RPAPL 1355(1)), and any surplus is deposited with the County Clerk's Office.

The part rules, conference days and Friday bidding rules are set out one at a time in what to expect at Queens County Supreme Court in a foreclosure case.

How does judgment enforcement work for a Queens resident?

A money judgment docketed with the Queens County Clerk is a lien on the debtor's Queens real property for ten years after the judgment-roll is filed (CPLR 5203(a)). A judgment docketed in another county reaches Queens property once a transcript is filed here, and it then has the same effect as a Queens Supreme Court judgment (CPLR 5018(a)). The Clerk's Docket of Judgments in Room 106 charges $25 to file each transcript of a money judgment and $15 for each additional transcript issued for filing in another county. A satisfaction of a money judgment can be filed in person or by mail with no filing fee, and a certificate of disposition costs $10. Personal checks are not accepted.

On a Supreme Court judgment, enforcement proceedings such as a turnover petition are brought in the Supreme Court or a county court in a county where the debtor lives, is regularly employed or does business in person (CPLR 5221(a)(4)), so a Queens resident can face one in the Supreme Court, Queens County. A Civil Court judgment is enforced in the Civil Court instead (CPLR 5221(a)(3)). Property executions in the five boroughs are carried out by the New York City Sheriff, an office of the Department of Finance; what can be taken is covered in what a sheriff can seize under a property execution in New York.

When does a Queens business case go to the Commercial Division?

The Commercial Division in Queens sits at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard and takes business cases when the amount in dispute reaches the Queens threshold of $100,000, not counting punitive damages, interest, costs, disbursements and counsel fees (22 NYCRR 202.70(a)). Qualifying subjects include transactions involving commercial real property and business dealings with commercial banks and other financial institutions (202.70(b)(3), (6)). Residential real estate disputes are excluded, and so are proceedings to enforce a judgment unless the judgment was obtained in the Commercial Division (202.70(c)(3), (5)). The Queens Commercial Division promotes mediation, and a case may be referred to a mediator by the assigned commercial judge, the Administrative Judge or the parties' consent. The tests are explained in whether your business dispute belongs in the New York Commercial Division.

What changes the answer for a Queens owner or debtor?

• Where the property is. An action affecting real property is tried in the county where the property is (CPLR 507), so an owner with buildings in two boroughs faces two courts with different local rules. For property in Brooklyn, see foreclosure and judgment defense for Brooklyn (Kings County) cases. Manhattan property is covered in foreclosure and judgment defense for Manhattan (New York County) cases. Bronx property is covered in foreclosure and judgment defense for Bronx County cases.
• Home or investment property. The 90-day notice applies to home loans, and the mandatory conference applies only where the defendant lives in the property (RPAPL 1304; CPLR 3408(a)). The full comparison is in commercial or residential foreclosure in New York.
• Living in the home. Queens falls in the homestead tier set at $150,000 in the statute and currently $204,825 under the Department of Financial Services' 2024 adjustment (CPLR 5206(a)). Co-op owners should read whether the homestead exemption protects a co-op apartment.
• Where the judgment came from. A judgment from another New York county needs a transcript filed in Queens to reach Queens real property (CPLR 5018(a)). A judgment from another state follows a different route, set out in whether an out-of-state or federal judgment can be enforced in New York.
• Spouses on the deed. A home held by a married couple as tenants by the entirety limits what a creditor of one spouse can do; see whether a creditor of one spouse can force a sale.

For example: a Queens owner facing a foreclosure and an out-of-county judgment

Common mistakes Queens owners and debtors make

• Going to Jamaica for a Teams conference. The settlement calendar is held remotely, and the camera must be on during any appearance before a judge or court attorney-referee.
• Asking for an adjournment by phone. The part rules say no adjournments are granted by telephone.
• Treating a settlement as the end. The referee directs the parties to file a stipulation of discontinuance with the County Clerk within 90 days of the conference order; without it, more conferences may follow.
• Bringing a personal check to the County Clerk. Fees are paid by postal money order, certified check or New York State attorney's check payable to the Queens County Clerk, or in cash in person.
• Searching only ACRIS for judgments. ACRIS holds recorded deeds and mortgages; docketed judgments are searched through the County Clerk's Judgment and Block Index Search.
• Paying a judgment and stopping there. Until a satisfaction is filed, the judgment stays on the docket, even though filing one costs nothing.

What to do this week

1. Write down the index number from every court paper.
2. Note the date and method of service, and count the answer deadline from it.
3. If a conference notice arrived, install Microsoft Teams and test your camera and microphone before the date.
4. If a bank account was frozen, read what to do when a restraining notice freezes your account and return the exemption claim form on time.
5. Gather the papers on our checklist for when a creditor starts enforcing a judgment.
6. Speak with a lawyer about both the foreclosure and the judgment before the next deadline.

Frequently asked questions

Is every Queens foreclosure heard in Jamaica?

The case belongs in the Supreme Court, Queens County, because the property is in Queens (CPLR 507). Conferences are held online, the auction room is in Jamaica, and the Master Foreclosure Judge's status calendar meets in Courtroom B-10 of the Long Island City courthouse.

Where can I look up Queens property records and judgments?

Recorded deeds, mortgages and other documents for Queens property can be searched from 1966 to the present in ACRIS, the Department of Finance's property records system. Supreme Court records and docketed judgments are kept by the Queens County Clerk, which offers its records and a Judgment and Block Index Search online.

What does it cost to clear a paid judgment from the Queens record?

The Queens County Clerk charges no fee to file a satisfaction of a money judgment, in person or by mail. If you also need a certificate of disposition, it costs $10. How liens are handled at a closing is explained in whether you can sell or refinance property with a judgment lien on it.

Can someone in Queens get free help with court procedure?

Yes. The Supreme Court Help Center in Room 100 of the Jamaica Courthouse gives free information, forms and referral information to people without a lawyer, though its staff do not give legal advice.

Where do appeals from Queens cases go?

To the Appellate Division, Second Department, which the court system lists as covering Queens. The time limits are in whether you can appeal or reargue a foreclosure judgment in New York.

Does KOR Law LLP have a Queens office?

No. KOR Law LLP works from One World Trade Center, 85th Floor, New York, NY 10007, and handles Queens matters from that office.

What questions do Queens owners and debtors ask?

Foreclosure

• Served this week: what happens after a foreclosure summons is served in New York.
• Counting the days: how long you have to answer a foreclosure complaint, and what goes in the answer.
• Too late to answer: what to do after missing the foreclosure answer deadline.
• Before the lawsuit: the 90-day pre-foreclosure notice and lender errors.
• The Teams conference: what happens at a foreclosure settlement conference.
• An application still pending: getting a loan modification once the case has started.
• Who holds the note: dismissal when the lender lacked standing.
• A default from years ago: the time limit to foreclose and the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act.
• Home or business property: which protections apply in a commercial or residential foreclosure.
• Checking the payoff figure: the referee's report and challenging the amount owed.
• A Friday sale date: where and when New York City foreclosure auctions are held.
• Money left after the sale: who can claim foreclosure surplus money.
• After the judgment: appealing or rearguing a foreclosure judgment.
• Preparing for a meeting: what to bring to a foreclosure defense consultation.
• A paid mortgage still of record: when the satisfaction was never recorded.
• A dispute over ownership: what a quiet title action does for an owner.

Judgments

• Just entered: what happens after a money judgment is entered against you.
• How long it lasts: the life of a New York judgment and the interest it adds.
• A case you never knew about: undoing a default judgment.
• From another state or a federal court: enforcing an outside judgment in New York.
• A frozen account: responding to a restraining notice on a bank account.
• Questions in the mail: whether you must answer an information subpoena.
• Your paycheck: how much of your wages a creditor can take.
• Protected property: what a judgment creditor cannot take.
• A co-op apartment: whether the homestead exemption covers co-op shares.
• A home owned with a spouse: tenancy by the entirety and a creditor of one spouse.
• Selling or refinancing: clearing a judgment lien at a sale or refinance.
• The sheriff: what can be seized under a property execution.
• A turnover petition: how to respond to a turnover proceeding.
• A receiver motion: when a court appoints a receiver to collect a judgment.
• Collection gone too far: asking the court to limit or stop collection.
• Getting organized: what to gather when enforcement starts.

Loans, guaranties and deficiencies

• A default notice on a business loan: what follows a commercial loan default.
• The lender's side: how a lender enforces a defaulted commercial loan.
• A personal guaranty: defenses available to a personal guarantor.
• A motion instead of a complaint: CPLR 3213 motions against guarantors.
• Two cases over one loan: suing on the note and foreclosing at once.
• An old note or guaranty: the time limit to sue on a note or guaranty.
• A shortfall after the sale: deficiency judgments after a foreclosure sale.
• The value used: challenging the appraisal behind a deficiency judgment.
• A building's rents: rent receivers in a commercial foreclosure.
• The interest rate: usury defenses to a commercial loan.
• An offer of more time: what a forbearance agreement gives up.
• A judgment without a lawsuit: confessions of judgment after the 2019 change.
• Ownership interests at auction: UCC foreclosure sales of an ownership interest.
• A transfer under attack: fraudulent (voidable) conveyance claims.
• A first meeting on a loan dispute: what a borrower or guarantor should bring.