Delinquent Property Taxes in New York: Settle Who Is Foreclosing Before You Trust Any Deadline
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · New York · Last updated October 21, 2026
New York's collection statute claims the whole state in one line and then hands much of it back: Real Property Tax Law article 11 applies to all counties, cities, towns and villages and supersedes any inconsistent general, special or local law, yet it is not applicable to a county, city or town that was already enforcing under a charter, administrative code or special law on January 1, 1993 and filed a local law by August 1, 1994 (RPTL 1104). Delinquent property taxes are taxes an owner failed to pay by the date their own taxing jurisdiction fixed, after which interest is added and the property can be taken to satisfy the debt. So the first question is not how long you have. It is which body is enforcing, under which law. The Department of Taxation and Finance keeps the opt-out list, and it names six counties, twenty one cities, and villages grouped under twelve county headings. Inside article 11 the shape is firm. The redemption period expires two years after lien date (RPTL 1110), lien date being the date the charge became a lien (RPTL 1102), and the county petitions the court at eighteen months (RPTL 1123). Nobody bids a rate and no certificate is auctioned: a final judgment leaves the tax district seized of an estate in fee simple absolute (RPTL 1136). Interest runs monthly, not as an investor's return. New York City is separate again and sells the debt. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in New York
Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How long do I have to redeem delinquent property taxes in New York?
Two years by default. The redemption period shall expire two years after lien date (RPTL 1110). A tax district may adopt a local law without referendum increasing it to three or four years after lien date (RPTL 1111), and may cut it to one year for property placed on a local registry of vacant and abandoned property (RPTL 1111-a).
What starts the redemption clock on New York delinquent property taxes?
Lien date, which means the date on which the tax or other legal charges represented thereby became a lien (RPTL 1102). It is not the date a bill was missed and not a sale date. The published notice of foreclosure can push the expiry later, never earlier, if it specifies a later date (RPTL 1110).
How much interest does New York add to delinquent property taxes?
Monthly, not an auction rate. Interest shall be added for each month or fraction thereof until such taxes are paid, at one-twelfth of an annual rate that shall in no event be less than twelve per centum per annum (RPTL 924-a). The Department of Taxation and Finance states the resulting rate is one percent per month or portion thereof.
Which office forecloses on delinquent property taxes in New York?
The enforcing officer of the tax district, by a court proceeding in rem. For a county that officer is the county treasurer or commissioner of finance, for a village the village treasurer, for a town the town supervisor, and for a city the official empowered by the city charter (RPTL 1102, 1120). Opted-out districts enforce under their own law.
Why a New York answer starts with a jurisdiction, not a date
New York is one state with more than one delinquent tax procedure, which is why a homeowner here has to identify the enforcing body before any deadline means anything. Delinquent property taxes are taxes missed past the date the taxing jurisdiction set, after which interest accrues and the parcel can be taken to pay them. Article 11 of the Real Property Tax Law supplies the default, an in rem foreclosure in court ending in a judgment and a deed (RPTL 1120, 1136). Districts that qualified and filed by 1994 sit outside it and keep their own charter or special law procedures (RPTL 1104), and a tax district may instead contract to sell some or all of the delinquent tax liens held by it (RPTL 1190). Two numbers survive that variety: the two year period measured from lien date, and monthly interest rather than a bid return.
A Horseheads house where the court papers land eighteen months in, not two years in
Two dates sit eighteen months apart on this one, and the earlier is the surprise. A house in the Town of Horseheads carries about 4,300 dollars of unpaid tax, and the County Treasurer puts its lien date, the date the charge became a lien (RPTL 1102), at January 1, 2025. Interest has accrued each month or fraction thereof since (RPTL 924-a). Chemung County files in County Court, captioned as a foreclosure of tax liens by proceedings in rem pursuant to Article Eleven of the Real Property Tax Law, covering named towns including Horseheads. The county may execute its petition at eighteen months after lien date (RPTL 1123), around July 2026, while the default redemption period does not expire until January 2027 (RPTL 1110), and the published notice must still allow six months from first publication (RPTL 1124). Delinquent payment goes to the County Treasurer's Office, not online.
Relevant Laws
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1104 (which districts article 11 reaches, and which it does not)
Subdivision 1 provides that the article shall apply to all counties, cities, towns and villages in this state and shall supersede any inconsistent general, special or local law, subject to subdivision 2. Subdivision 2 provides that it shall not be applicable to a county, city or town which was authorized to enforce the collection of delinquent taxes pursuant to a county charter, city charter, administrative code or special law on January first, nineteen hundred ninety-three, adopted a local law continuing that enforcement no later than July first, nineteen hundred ninety-four, and filed a copy with the commissioner by August 1, 1994.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: tax districts that opted out of the tax enforcement program
The Department's own list of the tax districts that opted out under RPTL 1104, under the heading Tax districts that opted out of the tax enforcement program. It names six counties, twenty one cities including New York, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, and villages grouped under twelve county headings. The page carries an Updated March 2017 note near the top and an Updated: June 5, 2023 stamp at the foot, so a reader should treat it as the starting point for confirming their own jurisdiction rather than as a current roster.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1106 (how an opted-out district comes back under article 11)
Provides that a local law adopted under section 1104 may be repealed without referendum, that upon such a repeal the provisions of this article shall be applicable to taxes that become liens on or after the repeal's effective date, and that a copy of the repealing law must be filed with the commissioner within thirty days of adoption. This is why the Department's opt-out list can go out of date for any given district.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1102 (definitions, including lien date and enforcing officer)
Subdivision 4 provides that lien date means the date on which the tax or other legal charges represented thereby became a lien. Subdivision 3 defines enforcing officer and names the defaults: the county treasurer or commissioner of finance for a county, the official so empowered or charged by the city charter for a city, the village treasurer for a village, and the town supervisor for a town. Subdivision 2 defines delinquent tax as an unpaid tax, special ad valorem levy, special assessment or other charge imposed.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 924 (the penalty-free window on the default calendar)
Subdivision 1 directs that the collecting officer shall receive taxes at the times and places set forth. Subdivision 2 provides that taxes shall be received without interest by the collecting officer on or before the thirty-first day of January, or within thirty days of the date of the receipt of the tax roll and warrant pursuant to section nine hundred twenty of this title, whichever is later. Subdivision 3 provides that all interest received by the collecting officer shall belong to the city or town.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 924-a (the rate of interest on a delinquent tax)
Subdivision 1 sets the rate, except as otherwise provided by a general or special law or a local law adopted by a city pursuant to the municipal home rule law or any special law, at one-twelfth the rate of interest as determined pursuant to subdivision two or two-a of this section, and provides that such interest shall be added for each month or fraction thereof until such taxes are paid. Subdivision 2 ties the annual figure to the rate applicable to the third calendar quarter of each year, to be set on or before the fifteenth day of July in each year, and provides that the rate of interest prescribed by this subdivision shall in no event be less than twelve per centum per annum. Subdivision 2-a lets one named county's legislature prescribe the rate of interest at fifteen per centum per annum.
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: interest rates under RPTL section 924-a
The Department's own page states that the section 924-a rate is one percent (1%) per month or portion thereof, that this rate has not changed since it was instituted in 1983, and that interest rates in jurisdictions which are not subject to RPTL 924-a may differ. That figure is consistent with the statutory floor, because one-twelfth of twelve per centum per annum is one percent a month. The page was updated June 14, 2021.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1110 (redemption, and the two year period measured from lien date)
Subdivision 1 provides that real property subject to a delinquent tax lien may be redeemed by payment to the enforcing officer, on or before the expiration of the redemption period, of the amount of the delinquent tax lien or liens plus all charges authorized by law, and routes payment to the official authorized to accept it where the enforcing officer is not. Subdivision 2 provides that the redemption period shall expire two years after lien date, subject to an increase under section 1111 and a reduction to one year for residential vacant and abandoned property, and provides for a later expiry if the notice published pursuant to section eleven hundred twenty-four of this article specifies a later date. Subdivision 3 governs the certificate of redemption and cancellation of the notice of pendency.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1111 (local law extending the period to three or four years)
Subdivision 2 provides that a tax district may adopt a local law without referendum increasing the redemption period for residential or farm property to three or four years after lien date. Other subdivisions deal with the property classes the local law reaches and with how classification is treated in the proceeding. Because this is a local law option, the operative period for any parcel is the one the district has adopted, not the statewide default.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1111-a (the one year period for vacant and abandoned homes)
Provides for expedited foreclosure of vacant and abandoned residential real property, under which such property may be subject to a redemption period of one year where the property has been placed on a local municipal roll, registry or list of vacant and abandoned property. This is the shortest clock in the article and it attaches to the property's listed status rather than to the owner's conduct.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1112 (several liens, redeemed newest first)
Governs redemption of property subject to more than one tax lien. The liens must be redeemed in reverse chronological order, they need not all be paid at once, and enforcement continues as long as the earliest lien remains unredeemed. The practical effect is that paying the most recent year does not stop the proceeding while an older year is still outstanding.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1120, 1123 and 1131 (the in rem proceeding, its timing, and default)
Section 1120 provides that a proceeding to foreclose a tax lien shall be commenced in the manner provided in this title. Section 1123(1) provides that eighteen months after lien date, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, the enforcing officer executes the petition of foreclosure, and that in the case of property which is subject to a three or four year redemption period such petition shall be executed thirty or forty-two months after lien date, respectively, with filing no later than two business days after the execution thereof. Section 1131 provides that in the event of a failure to redeem or answer by any person having the right to redeem or answer a judgment in foreclosure may be taken by default, and that a motion to reopen any such default may not be brought later than one month after entry of the judgment.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1124 and 1125 (published and personal notice)
Section 1124 requires the notice of foreclosure to be published in each of three non-consecutive weeks in a two month period in at least two newspapers designated by the enforcing officer, and the last day for redemption inserted in the notice must be a date at least six months after the date of the first publication of this notice, with any answer served on or before that date. Section 1125 requires personal notice to each owner and any other person whose right, title, or interest was a matter of public record, sent to each such party both by certified mail and ordinary first class mail, stating an inserted last date to redeem or the requirement to interpose a duly verified answer in the proceeding.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1136 and 1137 (final judgment, and the two year limit on attacking the deed)
Section 1136(3)(a) directs the court, where no answer is interposed for a parcel not redeemed as provided in that title, to make a final judgment awarding to such tax district the possession of the parcel and directing the enforcing officer to prepare and record a deed, and section 1136(3)(c) provides that upon execution of that deed the tax district, or the grantee as the case may be, shall be seized of an estate in fee simple absolute. Section 1137 provides that after two years from the date of the recording of such deed the presumption that the proceedings were regular becomes conclusive, and that a proceeding to set the deed aside must be commenced and a notice of pendency filed with the county clerk before then.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1142, 1144 and 1146 (homeowner bill of rights, warning notice, repayment plans)
Section 1142 provides that any owner of a residential property who occupies such property as their primary residence shall have the listed rights, including to receive homeowner warning notices pursuant to section eleven hundred forty-four of this title. Section 1144 provides that such notice shall include or be accompanied by the homeowner warning notice, reaches a tax district that does not enforce delinquent taxes pursuant to this article, and uses a form telling the owner to act within ninety days from the date this notice was mailed. Section 1146 authorizes, and does not require, a repayment plan local law for primary residences with a tax delinquency greater than five hundred dollars but less than thirty thousand dollars or such other limit as may be provided by such local law, over twelve, eighteen, twenty-four, or thirty-six months, and lets an owner cure a tax delinquency at any time until the date of redemption.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1184 (instalment payment of delinquent taxes, by local law)
Provides that a tax district is hereby authorized and empowered to enact and amend a local law providing for the payment of eligible delinquent taxes in instalments, and that the local law fixes the maximum term of installment agreements, which shall not exceed thirty-six months, and any required down payment, which shall not exceed twenty-five percent of the eligible delinquent taxes. On non-payment of an instalment within thirty days of its due date the tax district shall have the right to require the entire unpaid balance to be paid.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1182 and 1190 (reducing charges, and selling the liens instead)
Section 1182 lets the governing body of a tax district, by resolution, authorize the enforcing officer to cancel or reduce interest, penalties and other charges where it determines that doing so is for the best interests of the tax district, with the consent of any other municipal corporation entitled to the charges, which consent may be given by resolution adopted after a public hearing. Section 1190(1)(a) provides that, notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a tax district may enter into a contract to sell some or all of the delinquent tax liens held by it, which is the statutory basis for a lien sale route rather than a foreclosure.
N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law 1135, 1196 and 1197 (surplus after a tax foreclosure sale)
Title 6 was added by Part BB of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024 and each of these sections shows a most recent revision date of April 26, 2024. Section 1196 provides that the enforcing officer shall determine whether a surplus is attributable to such sale and if so, the amount thereof, within forty-five days of the sale, and that on a public sale the amount to be so subtracted shall be the amount paid for the property. Section 1197(1) gives the right to any person who had any right, title, interest, claim, lien or equity of redemption in the parcel immediately before the judgment, claimed from the court having jurisdiction; subdivision 2 provides that on a public sale the amount paid for the property shall be accepted as the full value of the property; subdivision 4 keeps a residential proceeding open for at least three years from the confirmation of the report of sale; and subdivision 5 treats unclaimed surplus as abandoned and pays it to the tax district. Section 1135 gives a claimant the right to file with the clerk in whose office the report of sale is filed.
Chemung County: in rem Article Eleven foreclosure and surplus papers
The county's own court forms are captioned In the Matter of Foreclosure of tax liens by Proceedings in Rem Pursuant to Article Eleven of The Real Property Tax Law by the County of Chemung, filed in County Court and affecting parcels in named towns including Big Flats, Elmira, Horseheads and Southport and the City of Elmira. The packet shows how the surplus route works in practice: a notice of claim to surplus monies, a referee's report computing amounts due, a Certificate of Surplus Funds from the County Treasurer, and a referee's fee of 350 dollars deducted before release. Figures and fees in it are that county's, not a statewide schedule.
Chemung County Treasurer: where delinquent payments are taken
The county's property tax page states that delinquent tax payments cannot be made online and must be made directly to the Chemung County Treasurer's Office, located at 320 E. Market Street, Elmira, NY 14901. It is a worked illustration of the statutory rule in RPTL 1110 and 1102 that redemption is a payment to the enforcing officer, and of why a reader has to deal with the named office in their own jurisdiction rather than a statewide portal.
New York City Department of Finance: lien sales
The city's page states that when you are included in the lien sale the City of New York sells your debt to an authorized buyer, that this does not mean that your property has been sold, and that if the debt is not resolved the new lienholder can begin a foreclosure proceeding in court, generally no earlier than one year after the sale. It sets out a 5% surcharge on the entire lien amount and interest bands on sold charges by assessed value, including 6% per annum, compounded daily at the lowest band and 16% per annum, compounded daily at the highest, and records that the 2025 lien sale was held on June 3, 2025.
New York City HPD: Tax Lien Sale Outreach Fiscal Year 2026 Report (July 2026)
A city agency report recording that the mayor suspended New York City's lien sale on March 11, 2026 to conduct a six-month review, and that in Fiscal Year 2026 no owner outreach about the lien sale was conducted because of the pause. It also summarises Local Law 82 of 2024, which introduced four pathways for property owners to resolve their debts and preserve their equity: Structured Installment Agreements, hardship deferral programs, the Easy Exit framework, and the Preservation Track. Because the review period has now run, a city reader should confirm the current status with the Department of Finance.
Regional Variances
New York delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Judicial by default. The tax district forecloses the tax lien in rem in court (RPTL 1120), and on a parcel not redeemed and not answered for the court makes a final judgment awarding the tax district possession and directing a deed, after which the district or its grantee shall be seized of an estate in fee simple absolute (RPTL 1136). No certificate is auctioned and no rate is bid. Two departures matter: a district outside article 11 under RPTL 1104 uses its own charter, administrative code or special law, and any tax district may contract to sell some or all of the delinquent tax liens held by it (RPTL 1190).
Who is actually enforcing
Not a single answer. Article 11 applies to all counties, cities, towns and villages and supersedes inconsistent law, but is not applicable to a county, city or town that was enforcing under a charter, administrative code or special law on January 1, 1993 and filed a local law by August 1, 1994 (RPTL 1104). The Department of Taxation and Finance's opt-out list names six counties, twenty one cities, and villages grouped under twelve county headings, and a district can return to article 11 by repealing its local law without referendum (RPTL 1106).
Delinquency date
Fixed by the taxing jurisdiction rather than by one statewide date. On the default calendar taxes are received without interest on or before the thirty-first day of January, or within thirty days of the collecting officer's receipt of the tax roll and warrant, whichever is later (RPTL 924). Cities, villages and school districts run their own calendars, and RPTL 924-a applies except as otherwise provided by a general or special law or a city local law.
Penalty and interest before any sale
Monthly interest, no separate statewide penalty percentage. Interest is added for each month or fraction thereof until the taxes are paid, at one-twelfth of an annual rate that shall in no event be less than twelve per centum per annum (RPTL 924-a). The Department of Taxation and Finance states the resulting section 924-a rate is one percent per month or portion thereof and has not changed since 1983, and that rates in jurisdictions not subject to section 924-a may differ.
Time before the court step
The enforcing officer executes the petition of foreclosure eighteen months after lien date, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, filing it no later than two business days after execution (RPTL 1123). Where the district has adopted a three or four year redemption period the petition is executed at thirty or forty two months after lien date instead. So the paperwork starts roughly six months before a default two year period runs out.
Redemption period and clock
The redemption period shall expire two years after lien date (RPTL 1110), and lien date means the date on which the tax or other legal charges represented thereby became a lien (RPTL 1102). A local law without referendum can increase it to three or four years after lien date (RPTL 1111), and it drops to one year for residential property placed on a local roll, registry or list of vacant and abandoned property (RPTL 1111-a). If the published notice of foreclosure specifies a later date, that later date governs (RPTL 1110, 1124).
Redeemer's charge
Monthly simple interest on the debt, not a premium and not a bid return. Redemption is payment of the amount of the delinquent tax lien or liens plus all charges authorized by law (RPTL 1110), with interest for each month or fraction thereof under RPTL 924-a. There is no auction-set rate and no minimum investor return on this route, because nobody buys a certificate. In New York City, by contrast, sold charges accrue at 6% per annum, compounded daily at the lowest assessed-value band and 16% per annum, compounded daily at the highest, plus a 5% surcharge on the entire lien amount.
Other redemption costs
Set by the district and the court rather than by a statewide schedule, because RPTL 1110 adds only all charges authorized by law. The governing body may, by resolution, authorize the enforcing officer to cancel or reduce interest, penalties and other charges where it determines that is for the best interests of the tax district (RPTL 1182). County practice shows the court-side costs: Chemung County's own surplus papers price the referee's fee at 350 dollars, deducted before funds are released. That figure is that county's.
Notice to the owner
Three layers. Personal notice goes to each owner and any other person whose right, title, or interest was a matter of public record, sent both by certified mail and ordinary first class mail with an inserted last date to redeem (RPTL 1125). Public notice is published in each of three non-consecutive weeks in a two month period, with the last day to redeem at least six months after first publication (RPTL 1124). A homeowner warning notice must accompany the personal notice and also applies in a tax district that does not enforce delinquent taxes pursuant to article 11, telling the owner to act within ninety days from the date it was mailed (RPTL 1142, 1144).
Where to redeem
Payment to the enforcing officer of the tax district (RPTL 1110), with statutory defaults of the county treasurer or commissioner of finance, the official so empowered or charged by the city charter, the village treasurer, or the town supervisor (RPTL 1102). Where several liens are outstanding they must be redeemed in reverse chronological order and enforcement continues as long as the earliest lien remains unredeemed (RPTL 1112). Chemung County, as one example, takes delinquent payment only at its Treasurer's Office, not online.
Surplus proceeds
Claimable under title 6, added by Part BB of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024. Within forty five days the enforcing officer determines whether a surplus is attributable to the sale and the amount (RPTL 1196). Any person who had any right, title, interest, claim, lien or equity of redemption immediately before the judgment may claim it from the court having jurisdiction (RPTL 1197), and may file with the clerk in whose office the report of sale is filed (RPTL 1135). A residential proceeding stays open at least three years from confirmation of the report of sale, and unclaimed surplus is treated as abandoned and paid to the tax district.
Payment plan
A local option, not a statewide right. A tax district is authorized and empowered to enact a local law for instalment payment of eligible delinquent taxes, with a maximum term not exceeding thirty-six months and any down payment not exceeding twenty-five percent of the eligible delinquent taxes (RPTL 1184). RPTL 1146 similarly authorizes a repayment plan local law for primary residences owing more than five hundred dollars and less than thirty thousand, over twelve, eighteen, twenty-four or thirty-six months. In New York City, Local Law 82 of 2024 introduced four separate resolution pathways.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other New York guides
Ready to Draft Your Document?
Get AI-powered legal documents with attorney review included. Plans start at $39.99/mo.
Get Started