Checking Liens Before a NYC Foreclosure Auction: ACRIS, County Clerk, DOF, DEP, OATH, HPD and eCourts

Besides ACRIS, check the foreclosure court file, the County Clerk, the City’s tax and water accounts, the OATH and HPD records, and the federal tax lien index. Before bidding at a NYC foreclosure auction, you need to know which liens (claims for money owed) the sale will wipe out and which you will still own. ACRIS, the City’s online property records, answers only part of that.

This guide covers court-ordered sales run by court-appointed referees in the five boroughs, with Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens examples and a note on Staten Island.

Why the check matters more at an auction

A normal purchase contract gives the buyer time to object to title problems. An auction does not. The winning bidder signs the terms of sale on the spot and pays a 10% deposit right away. Brooklyn’s model judgment requires the bidder to pay the referee “ten percent of the sum bid” at the sale. The Queens auction rules require bidders to have the full 10% at the time of the bid.

The closing deadline is short and set by the judgment: 45 days in the Brooklyn model form and 30 days in the Queens model form, unless the parties agree otherwise. A bidder who refuses to close over a title problem the terms of sale disclosed risks losing the deposit.

In a 2012 Brooklyn case, the winning bidder at a court-ordered auction of three Brooklyn properties balked over the title report and defaulted. The court rejected its objection: the properties were sold “as is” and subject to recorded mortgages, with no promise that the title was marketable or insurable. After a resale for less, the court kept $15,000 of the $43,500 deposit to cover the shortfall plus the referee’s fees and advertising costs, and returned only the rest.

The lien check happens before the auction, and the bid should already price in anything that survives.

Step 1: Read the judgment and the terms of sale

The judgment of foreclosure and sale (the court order directing the sale) and the terms of sale the referee reads at the auction define what you get. Get both in advance from the court file (Step 2), the plaintiff’s attorney or the referee named in the notice of sale.

The courts’ model judgments show the usual setup:

  • Sold “as is.” Subject to whatever an inspection would show, covenants and easements (recorded restrictions and others’ rights to use the land), and the rights of tenants or anyone else living there (Kings model form).
  • Taxes and water paid from the sale. The referee pays taxes, assessments, sewer rents and water charges that are liens. In New York City, it also pays certain city agency charges that have priority, as state foreclosure law requires.
  • Senior liens, if any, survive. A mortgage or lien senior to (ranked ahead of) the one being foreclosed is not paid from the sale. The buyer takes the property subject to it.
  • Transfer tax on the buyer. The Queens form makes the buyer pay recording costs and real property transfer tax, not the referee.

The terms of sale for a particular property often add more “subject to” items: open violations, specific senior mortgages, tenancies, a pending appeal, or a statement that the referee makes no promises about title. This varies by referee and by case. Read the actual terms of sale; the model form is only a starting point. The Queens rules require the terms of sale, “including any known encumbrances,” to be posted outside the courtroom by 9:30 a.m. on sale day.

Step 2: Read the foreclosure case in eCourts and NYSCEF

A foreclosure sale wipes out only the claims of parties properly named and served in the case. State foreclosure law lists who must be named: the owner, anyone else with an ownership interest, and every holder of a lien or claim ranked below the mortgage being foreclosed. The referee’s deed cuts off each party “who was duly summoned,” and anyone claiming through them after the notice of pendency was filed. A junior lienholder left out of the case is not bound. What that means for the buyer is in liens that survive a foreclosure sale in New York.

To check this:

  1. Find the case. WebCivil Supreme, part of the courts’ eCourts system, searches Supreme Court civil cases by index number, party name and more, and shows each case’s status and history.
  2. Open the file in NYSCEF. Most NYC foreclosures are filed electronically. The New York State Courts Electronic Filing system (NYSCEF) lets anyone search as a guest and view documents that are not sealed.
  3. Compare the list of defendants to your lien search. List every mortgage, judgment, mechanic’s lien (a claim by an unpaid contractor, worker or supplier) and federal tax lien you find in Steps 3 to 5. Each junior one should be named as a defendant, with an affidavit of service (proof it was served) in the file.
  4. Check the notice of pendency. This notice (a lis pendens) tells the public a lawsuit affects the property. It lasts three years unless an extension order is filed before it expires. Anyone who records a claim after it is filed is bound by the case (court procedure law). If it lapses, liens recorded later can attach without being bound by the case.
  5. Look for stays and open motions. A bankruptcy filing, an order to show cause (an urgent request to the judge) or an appeal can stop or undo a sale. The Kings County foreclosure sales page notes that some listed properties are not sold because of court stays or forbearance agreements (agreements by the lender to hold off).

Step 3: Search the City Register and the County Clerk

ACRIS (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx) shows recorded mortgages, assignments, satisfactions (payoff releases), condo common charge liens, tax lien sale certificates and federal tax liens. Search by BBL (borough, block and lot number) and by owner name. How to read ACRIS for title explains each document type.

For a bidder, the key question is priority: which claims come first. Find the mortgage being foreclosed, then sort every other recorded lien into senior (recorded earlier, or moved ahead by a subordination agreement) and junior. A senior mortgage is the single most expensive thing a bidder can miss.

County Clerk. Money judgments, notices of pendency and mechanic’s liens are filed with the County Clerk, not the City Register, so they are not in ACRIS. In Brooklyn, the Kings County Clerk runs money judgment searches at Window 10 in Room 189. By mail, it costs $10 for a two-year search plus $5 for each additional two years. Queens has its own County Clerk office. Search the borrower’s name and any earlier owner whose judgments could still be within their ten-year life. How judgments attach and expire is explained in the title search found a lien or judgment.

Staten Island. Richmond County has no City Register. Deeds, mortgages and federal tax liens are at the Richmond County Clerk, along with judgments and notices of pendency.

Step 4: Check DOF, DEP, OATH and HPD

The referee normally pays tax and water liens from the sale money. Charges not paid that way, or shifted to the buyer by the terms of sale, come out of your pocket.

  • Department of Finance (DOF). Check the property account for taxes, HPD emergency repair charges and converted ECB judgments. Check DOF’s lien sale lists and ACRIS for tax liens the City already sold.
  • Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Check the water and sewer balance. DEP’s online account is for the owner, so a bidder usually relies on a title company’s water search or the figures in the case file.
  • OATH (the City’s hearings office). Check for unpaid ECB judgments against the owner. A docketed (officially entered) ECB judgment is treated like any other judgment. If it is junior, the City should be a named defendant.
  • HPD and the Department of Buildings (DOB). Check for violations, vacate orders and open permits. Violations are not liens, but they survive the sale and drive repair costs.

Where each record lives is in checking a NYC property for violations, permits and charges. Which ECB and HPD charges follow the property to a new owner is in ECB and HPD charges after a sale.

Step 5: Federal tax liens

A notice of federal tax lien on NYC property is filed with the City Register for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, and with the Richmond County Clerk for Staten Island (state lien law). It is indexed by the taxpayer’s name, so run a name search, not only a BBL search.

If the federal lien is junior, two outcomes matter:

  • The United States was named in the foreclosure. The sale can wipe out the lien. But federal law gives the United States the right to redeem (buy back) the property for 120 days after the sale when the lien is for federal taxes, or longer if state law allows a longer period. The price is what the buyer paid plus 6% interest and certain expenses.
  • The United States was not named. If the lien notice was filed before the foreclosure began, the sale is made “subject to and without disturbing” the federal lien. The buyer takes title with the IRS lien still attached.

Check the NYSCEF defendants for “United States of America” and for service on the U.S. Attorney. A 120-day redemption window also affects resale and financing until it runs out.

Checklist

Source Bidder impact What to find
Terms of sale Defines what survives “Subject to” items
Judgment Taxes paid from proceeds Payment order, closing date
NYSCEF / eCourts Unnamed liens survive Defendants, service, stays
ACRIS Senior liens survive Senior and junior mortgages
County Clerk Check each was named Judgments, lis pendens, mechanic’s liens
DOF account Usually paid by referee Taxes, HPD repair charges, converted ECB
DOF lien sale lists Confirm payoff Sold tax liens
DEP Usually paid by referee Water and sewer balance
OATH Check each was named ECB judgments
HPD / DOB Survive; repair cost Violations, vacate orders
Federal tax lien index 120-day redemption or survives IRS liens
Richmond County Clerk Replaces ACRIS All Staten Island filings

Title insurance after the referee’s deed

A referee’s deed (the deed the auction buyer receives) can be insured, but not automatically. Title insurers treat a property coming out of foreclosure as a higher-risk file and each sets its own conditions. Expect a close review of who was named and served and whether the notice of pendency lapsed (one underwriter’s rules are below).

A pre-auction title report, run against the foreclosure case, is the clearest preview of what you are buying. Expect exceptions (items the policy won’t cover) for anything the terms of sale leave the buyer subject to, for unnamed parties, and for any open redemption period.

Details for attorneys and title professionals

  • The 2012 Brooklyn case. It was a court-ordered auction in a mechanic’s lien foreclosure, not a mortgage foreclosure, decided by the Supreme Court in Kings County (a trial-level court in New York). The properties were sold subject to “mortgage liens of record,” meaning recorded mortgages.
  • Underwriter guidance. Stewart’s published New York agent guidelines (2022) require a full review of the foreclosure file when no owner’s (fee) policy was issued out of the foreclosure. They also require bankruptcy searches against the foreclosed owners and close attention to named parties, service and notice of pendency lapses. The policy must list exceptions (in Schedule B, its list of items not covered) for defenses based on service or standing, meaning whether the foreclosing lender had the right to sue (sections XIV.D.1 and XVI.B.7). That is one underwriter’s guidance; others set their own conditions.
  • Federal redemption right. The 120-day right applies when the lien arises under the internal revenue laws.

Official sources

Related guides

Korvane Title is preparing to launch in New York. It is not licensed as a title insurance agent and does not accept title orders. Content on this site is general information, not legal advice.