Foreclosure and eviction are not the same
Loss of a home due to the foreclosure of a mortgage is a terrible situation for the people living there, whether they owned the property before the foreclosure sale, were family members of the owner, or they were tenants paying rent to a landlord. To be clear, the best time to put on a robust foreclosure defense is long before it comes to that, but tenants who could be forced to look for a new home during the present housing crisis don’t always have many rights during the foreclosure.
A mortgage foreclosure is concluded by a judge ordering the property sold by a neutral referee. After that sale, whoever owns the property has the right to start a “holdover” eviction against anyone who is living there. The new owner has to send notice to those tenants, and if those tenants don’t move out on their own then the next step is to serve papers that include a court date.
Tenants in New York, including holdover tenants, had their rights expanded through the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, and then evictions were suspended entirely during the pandemic. The current New York eviction moratorium lasts until January 15, 2022, meaning that if you’re in a home that was previously foreclosed upon, that’s the earliest that a case against you may be brought in court.
If you receive notice of an eviction court date and do not appear or hire an attorney, then a default judgment of eviction could be signed, along with a warrant of eviction. If you believe that you should not be removed from your home, or need time or financial assistance to find a new place to live, then going to court is very important. Eviction warrants are served by county sheriffs in the Hudson Valley, and the only legal eviction is one that is carried out by sheriff’s deputies.
Do not confuse foreclosure with eviction. Even if you have lost your home due to a mortgage foreclosure, your right to continue living in that space can’t also be taken away from a tenant who has not been given a day in court first. You may not be locked out or physically removed from your home, except by sheriff’s deputies with a signed warrant of eviction. Retaining an attorney is a powerful way to assert your rights, and we offer free consultations on this tricky issues.