In Rem Enforcement

Enforcement Action for Late Payment
If charges are less than one year overdue, Finance will not take any enforcement action. In addition, if your property is a Class One property or Class Two condominium or cooperative property, you will not be subject to a foreclosure or lien sale unless a charge is three years overdue.

However, to enforce payment of long-outstanding property tax, Finance may begin a tax foreclosure action to take title of the property from the owner who has not paid tax and interest within a legally prescribed time frame. These foreclosure actions are known as In Rem Foreclosure Proceedings, meaning that the Department takes action to foreclose on the property itself but does not enter into personal judgment against the owner(s).

Taxpayers can protect themselves from tax enforcement actions by keeping their tax payments up to date.

These actions are not entered into casually, nor are they begun without the taxpayer receiving many tax bills and warning notices. Finance will mail both a Notice of Possible Foreclosure and Final Foreclosure Warning before taking action.

What you should do if you receive a Notice of Possible In Rem Tax Foreclosure.
The Notice of Possible In-Rem Tax Foreclosure is a letter Finance sends to taxpayers who owe certain past property tax debt.  If the property is included in the In-Rem Foreclosure you can lose ownership.

You must respond to this notice immediately and pay the back taxes and interest you owe to avoid foreclosure.  If you cannot pay in full, you may qualify for a formal installment plan to stop foreclosure and pay over time.  Call us using the phone numbers on the notice for further information.

In Rem Actions
If a property is included in an In-Rem action it is possible it will be foreclosed.

Property included in tax foreclosure documents filed in New York State Supreme Court is part of the In-Rem action conducted together by Finance and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).

Pre In Rem – Property owners are notified of potential forclosure action. This is the earliest and least expensive time to stop foreclosure.  It allows for a payment agreement with a smaller down payment and less administrative fees.

Post In Rem – Legal paperwork is being processed.  There is still time to begin a payment agreement plan, but it will be more expensive.

Registering to Receive In Rem Foreclosure Notices
In Rem foreclosure notices are sent to the property owner at his or her mailing address and to the party who is registered to receive tax bills on the owner’s behalf (if any). All other parties who may have a legal interest in a parcel must register to receive a Notice of Foreclosure for an In Rem action against the property.

To register, the interested party should submit a Request for In Rem Notification to the address on the form.

Final Judgment
Property is included in the action and can soon be foreclosed, resulting in a loss of your ownership.  You can still recover your property.  But it now requires a large portion of the amount due as an agreement down payment to stop foreclosure.