I Was Served With a Foreclosure Summons in New York — What Do I Do?
I got served with a foreclosure summons, what do I do?
Note the date you were served and don't ignore the papers — you generally have a limited window, often twenty to thirty days depending on how you were served, to respond with a formal Answer. Ignoring a foreclosure summons doesn't make the case go away; it risks a default judgment against you without ever having a chance to raise a defense. Read the papers carefully and contact an attorney promptly.
First, Understand What You Were Actually Served
A foreclosure case begins with a summons and complaint, along with additional notices New York law requires — including a notice, separate from the main complaint, informing homeowners of their rights and directing them to housing counseling resources. Look for the index number, the court (Suffolk County Supreme Court or Nassau County Supreme Court), and the date you were served, since your response deadline runs from that date.
The Response Deadline
Under New York's civil procedure rules, the time to respond to a summons generally depends on how you were served — commonly twenty days if you were served by personal, in-hand delivery, or thirty days if service was made another way permitted by law, such as leaving papers with a person of suitable age at your residence and mailing a copy. Because the calculation depends on the specific method of service in your case, don't estimate — confirm the exact deadline, ideally with an attorney, rather than assuming.
What Happens If You Do Nothing
If no Answer is filed within the deadline, the lender can move for a default judgment. A default judgment effectively means the case proceeds as though the homeowner has no objection to the foreclosure, which can significantly narrow the options available later. This is the single most important reason not to set the papers aside.
Filing an Answer
An Answer is the formal written response to the complaint. It typically responds to each allegation and can raise affirmative defenses — legal arguments for why the foreclosure shouldn't proceed as filed, such as the lender lacking standing to sue, defects in how the pre-foreclosure notice was sent, improper service of the summons itself, or errors in how the debt was calculated. Whether any of these defenses actually apply depends entirely on the specific facts and documents in your case, which is why this isn't something to draft from a generic template.
What Comes Next Procedurally
If the property is owner-occupied one-to-four family housing, the case should also be scheduled for a mandatory settlement conference regardless of whether an Answer has been filed. That conference is a separate opportunity to discuss loss mitigation options like a loan modification. Filing an Answer and pursuing the settlement conference process are not mutually exclusive — many homeowners do both.
Practical First Steps in the Days After Being Served
Locate every document you were given, including any that may have been left at your door or mailed separately. Gather your mortgage statements, any correspondence with your loan servicer, and basic financial documents like recent pay stubs and bank statements. Contact an attorney as soon as possible given the response deadline — the earlier a case is reviewed, the more options are typically still available.
When it is worth a call
- You were just served with a foreclosure summons and complaint
- You are unsure how or when you were served, and whether your response deadline has already started running
- A default judgment has already been entered against you
- You want to understand what defenses might apply before your deadline passes
Common questions
- I was served by having papers left with someone else at my house — is that legal?
- New York permits several methods of service beyond personal, in-hand delivery, including leaving papers with a person of suitable age and discretion at your residence, followed by mailing a copy. Whether service was done correctly in your specific case is a factual question worth having an attorney review, since defective service can itself be a defense.
- Can I negotiate directly with the lender instead of responding to the lawsuit?
- You can try to communicate with the lender or servicer, but that does not substitute for responding to the court case within your deadline. The lawsuit and any settlement conference process continue on their own track regardless of informal conversations with the servicer.
- What if the deadline to answer has already passed?
- Options may be more limited but are not necessarily gone — depending on the stage of the case, it may be possible to seek permission from the court to file a late answer or address a default judgment. This depends heavily on the specific procedural posture of the case, so it is worth having an attorney assess it promptly rather than assuming nothing can be done.
- Do I have to go to court myself?
- An attorney can appear on your behalf for most court appearances, including settlement conferences and routine motions. There may be certain proceedings where your personal presence is expected, which your attorney would tell you about in advance.
Talk it through with Mitch
Bring the situation, not a diagnosis. A short conversation usually makes the next step obvious.