New York has a specific statute that requires a lender to provide 90 days notice to a homeowner before they initiate a foreclosure lawsuit. The failure of the lender to provide the 90 days notice can in the answer to the foreclosure lawsuit provide a defense to the foreclosure lawsuit. In the event you have a defense such as a failure to serve a pre-foreclosure notice or the statute of limitations, which talks about the time period the lender has to initiate the lawsuit, these defenses must be specifically plead in the answer to the Summons and Complaint. To protect yourself, it is highly recommended that you contact a law firm that handles foreclosure defense to draft the answer for you and take the appropriate legal action in the Supreme Court to protect your rights and possibly get the lawsuit dismissed.

Time to Answer

Under New York State law if served with a Summons and Complaint, you have 20 days to submit a written response to the Summons and Complaint, which is called an Answer, if the Summons and Complaint is personally handed to you by a process server. If you receive the Summons and Complaint that is dropped off at your home or sent to you by another means, you have 30 days from the time of service to respond to the Summons and Complaint. If you do not provide a written response to the Court and the bank’s attorney within the appropriate time limitation, you have defaulted in the foreclosure lawsuit. A default is an indication that you are not contesting the lawsuit which is designed to sell your home and cause you to be evicted. This is always a mistake!

The law firm of Schlissel DeCorpo LLP has been helping families deal with mortgage and foreclosure problems for more than 30 years. We can be reached at 718-350-2802, 516-561-6645 or 631-319-8262 or by e-mail at [email protected].