As a result of governmental intervention, New York boasts one of the longest foreclosure timelines in the country, taking an average of 1,061 days from the date of the filing of the foreclosure action to the sale of the property at auction, which is almost double the national average of 625 days.1 Most of these foreclosure cases are not contested, and those that see battle are based on technicalities to prolong the case while the borrower lives in the home for free.
The delay effects both lender and borrower as well as the public at large. First, as a result of burdening statutes and the lengthy foreclosure timeline, a number of lenders have left the residential foreclosure market making for less places to go shopping for a loan. Second, borrowers that surrender their homes relatively quickly will not be saddled with a judgment against them so large that it makes it impossible to start over on the road to buying another home. Third, the longer the foreclosure proceeding, the less homes there will be for sale on the market for buyers who can afford them, therefore, limiting the number of sales and raising home prices unjustifiably. It is a frequent occurrence that a modification made on a loan is quickly defaulted upon—thus providing further delay unnecessarily.
