New York Condominium Foreclosure Timeline Calculator — RPAPL Article 13 Judicial Foreclosure

How this calculator works

This is a procedural-timeline projector for a New York condominium common-charge lien foreclosure under RPL Sec. 339-aa and RPAPL Article 13. Given a default date, complaint filing date, service completion date, motion-for-judgment date, target sale date, and reference date, it returns:

1. The PROCEDURAL POSTURE of the foreclosure file (pre-default, pre-demand, pre-complaint, complaint-filed-pre-service, served-pre-judgment, judgment-pre-sale, or sale-complete).
2. The CPLR Sec. 306-b 120-day service-of-process deadline and the typical service-completion projection.
3. The CPLR Sec. 320(a) answer-deadline projection.
4. The RPAPL Sec. 1321 order-of-reference, referee's report, and judgment-of-foreclosure-and-sale projections.
5. The projected sale date (judgment plus 90 days to satisfy the RPAPL Sec. 231 4-week publication requirement and scheduling).
6. A multi-line milestone calendar showing every projected date in order.
7. A plain-language NEXT-ACTION recommendation tailored to the current posture.

Use the calculator before instituting foreclosure to project the timeline and budget legal costs; during the litigation to track upcoming deadlines; and during settlement negotiations to give the unit owner a realistic timeline for cure or sale.

The relevant RPL / GBL statute

The New York Condominium Act lives at RPL Article 9-B; lien enforcement is at RPL Sec. 339-aa. The judicial-foreclosure procedure lives at RPAPL Article 13.

RPL Sec. 339-z — Statutory condominium lien with six-month limited priority over the first mortgage. (See the companion lien-priority calculator for the priority math.)

RPL Sec. 339-aa — The board files a verified statement of lien with the recording officer (county clerk; NYC city register). The lien is enforceable in the same manner as a mortgage on real property — i.e., by judicial foreclosure under RPAPL Article 13. The lien continues for six years from the date the common charge became due unless an action to foreclose has been commenced.

RPAPL Article 13 (Sec. 1301-1391) — The exclusive judicial-foreclosure procedural framework for all real-property liens in New York. There is no power-of-sale foreclosure permitted under any circumstance.

RPAPL Sec. 1303 — HOMEOWNER-PROTECTION NOTICE. A colored single-page notice must be served with the summons in any foreclosure of an owner-occupied 1-4 family dwelling, informing the defendant of foreclosure-prevention resources.

RPAPL Sec. 1304 — 90-DAY PRE-FORECLOSURE NOTICE. A 90-day notice must precede the filing of a foreclosure action against an owner-occupied 1-4 family dwelling secured by a HOME LOAN. Whether a condominium common-charge lien qualifies as a "home loan" is litigated; most appellate authority holds NO, but practitioners include the notice as a matter of caution.

RPAPL Sec. 1320 — LIS PENDENS / LAWSUIT SUMMARY NOTICE. A required notice giving the defendant a summary of the lawsuit in plain English.

RPAPL Sec. 1321 — ORDER OF REFERENCE. After defendant default (or in any uncontested case), plaintiff moves for an order appointing a referee to compute the amount due. The referee files a report; plaintiff then moves for the judgment of foreclosure and sale adopting the report.

RPAPL Sec. 3408 — MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE for owner-occupied 1-4 family dwellings. The conference must be held within 60 days of the defendant's first appearance.

RPAPL Sec. 231 — SALE ADVERTISING. The sale must be advertised at least once a week for 4 weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county.

RPAPL Sec. 1361 — SURPLUS-MONEY PROCEEDINGS. Excess sale proceeds are held by the court clerk pending claims by junior encumbrancers and the owner.

CPLR Sec. 306-b — SERVICE DEADLINE. Service must be completed within 120 days of filing or the action is subject to dismissal.

CPLR Sec. 308 — SERVICE METHODS. Personal delivery (Sec. 308(1)); substituted service / deliver-and-mail (Sec. 308(2)); affix-and-mail / nail-and-mail (Sec. 308(4)) after due diligence.

CPLR Sec. 320(a) — ANSWER DEADLINE. 20 days from personal delivery; 30 days from any other method.

NY-specific gotchas (judicial foreclosure only, AG offering-plan supervision, no Surfside-style reserve mandate)

JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE ONLY — TIMELINE IS LONG. New York is one of the slowest foreclosure jurisdictions in the United States. Aggregate uncontested timeline projections: 24-36 months in New York City Supreme Court (Manhattan and Brooklyn run longer due to docket congestion); 18-30 months in suburban counties; 18-24 months in upstate counties. Contested cases extend to 36-60 months. Boards must budget legal costs across multiple years and structure operating-fund reserves to absorb the delay.

SERVICE OF PROCESS IS A FREQUENT BOTTLENECK. CPLR Sec. 306-b imposes a 120-day cap on service from filing, but evasive defendants often require nail-and-mail under CPLR Sec. 308(4) which itself requires multiple due-diligence attempts at personal service. NYC defendants with doorman buildings are especially challenging — service on a doorman does not qualify as service on the defendant. Engage a skilled process server familiar with NYC building protocols.

OWNER-OCCUPIED PROCEDURAL PROTECTIONS APPLY EVEN TO CONDO LIENS. While there is litigation over whether RPAPL Sec. 1304's 90-day notice applies to condominium-lien foreclosures, the RPAPL Sec. 1303 colored notice and the RPAPL Sec. 3408 settlement conference are commonly required as a matter of practice in NYC courts. Confirm with counsel whether the unit is owner-occupied and include the protections to avoid procedural challenges that would delay the case further.

REFEREE-APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING IS A REGIONAL VARIABLE. NYC Supreme Court routinely takes 60-120 days to enter an order of reference under RPAPL Sec. 1321; suburban counties move faster (30-60 days); some upstate counties move faster still. Build the regional variance into project scheduling.

NO STATUTORY POST-SALE REDEMPTION WINDOW. Unlike Alabama, California, and several other states that grant a 30-day to one-year post-sale redemption window, New York extinguishes the right of redemption upon delivery of the referee's or sheriff's deed. Once the sale is held and the deed delivered, the unit owner has no statutory mechanism to recover the unit.

AG OFFERING-PLAN SUPERVISION DOES NOT EXTEND TO LIEN ENFORCEMENT. The Attorney General's Real Estate Finance Bureau supervises the offering and resale of condominium units under GBL Article 23-A (the Martin Act). The AG's authority does NOT extend to lien-enforcement actions — those proceed solely through the Supreme Court under RPAPL Article 13. AG oversight is a background regulatory feature, not a procedural step in the foreclosure.

NO SURFSIDE-STYLE RESERVE-FUNDING MANDATE. New York imposes no statutory minimum on condominium reserve funding (unlike Florida's post-Surfside Section 718.112 mandates or California's reserve-study requirements). Reserve adequacy varies widely and is not directly enforceable. See the companion reserve-funding calculator.

BANKRUPTCY HALTS EVERYTHING IMMEDIATELY. Unit-owner bankruptcy filings (Chapter 7 or 13) impose an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. Sec. 362 that immediately stops the foreclosure. Stay relief takes 30-90 days in Chapter 7; Chapter 13 plans can extend the stay 36-60 months. The bankruptcy filing also tolls the RPL Sec. 339-aa six-year limitations period during pendency.

What this calculator does NOT model

The calculator implements the TIMELINE PROJECTIONS under RPAPL Article 13. It does NOT:

• Distinguish between counties within New York for scheduling variance (NYC Supreme Court is slower than Albany Supreme Court, for example). The calculator uses NYC-typical scheduling as the baseline.
• Model contested-case scheduling — affirmative defenses, motion practice, discovery, and trial all add time that the calculator does not project.
• Compute lien amounts (see the companion New York condominium common-charge lien priority calculator).
• Apply the RPAPL Sec. 1304 90-day notice (litigated as to condominium liens; calculator does not assume application).
• Validate the form of pleadings, notices, or affidavits.
• Account for the bankruptcy automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. Sec. 362.
• Model surplus-money proceedings under RPAPL Sec. 1361 in detail.
• Model the post-judgment cure / open-the-judgment motion under CPLR Sec. 5015.

For any foreclosure filing, retain New York counsel with condominium-lien experience to validate the procedural posture, draft the pleadings, and prosecute the action to sale.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 against:

• RPL Article 9-B (New York Condominium Act, Sec. 339-d through Sec. 339-kk).
• RPL Sec. 339-aa — judicial enforcement of the condominium lien under RPAPL Article 13.
• RPAPL Article 13 (Sec. 1301 through 1391) — judicial-foreclosure procedure.
• RPAPL Sec. 1303 — homeowner-protection notice for owner-occupied 1-4 family.
• RPAPL Sec. 1304 — 90-day pre-foreclosure notice for owner-occupied 1-4 family.
• RPAPL Sec. 1320 — lis pendens / lawsuit summary notice.
• RPAPL Sec. 1321 — order of reference to compute amount due.
• RPAPL Sec. 1361 — surplus-money proceedings.
• RPAPL Sec. 3408 — mandatory settlement conference for owner-occupied.
• RPAPL Sec. 231 — sale advertising (4 weeks in newspaper of general circulation).
• CPLR Sec. 306-b — 120-day service deadline.
• CPLR Sec. 308 — service of process methods.
• CPLR Sec. 320(a) — answer deadline.
• Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums (CNYC) and Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) practitioner materials.