Local Government Snapshot

N E W YO R K S TAT E O F F I C E O F T H E S TAT E CO M P T R O L L E R
Thomas P. DiNapoli State Comptroller
2013
46,696
39,521

2014
43,868
39,057

August 2015

The Foreclosure Predicament Persists

New York State continues to experience
Figure 1.
high levels of foreclosure activity. The Office
Foreclosure Cases Filed in New York State
of the State Comptroller (OSC) reported on
the foreclosure problem in 2012, highlighting
Filings fell after new anti-robo-signing court
rules were issued in October 2010, but then rose as
its impact on local governments in New
lenders adjusted to meet the new requirements.
York State.1 Since then, trends in both new
foreclosure filings and the total number of
47,664
46,696
46,572
pending foreclosure cases indicate that
43,868
41,201
the problem is far from resolved. Although
33,508
new foreclosure filings have shown signs
26,706
of leveling off since 2013, they remain
25,411
significantly higher than prerecession levels.
In addition, the States courts are
16,655
experiencing difficulties working through a
large backlog of foreclosure cases pending
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
in the States long and complicated judicial
foreclosure process. This large pool
Source: New York State Unifiied Court System. Years are based on Court System
reporting periods. New court rules issued in 2010 required lenders to certify the
of properties in legal limbo weighs on
accuracy of the documents they present to the court.
local governments vitality in many ways,
including reducing property values, eroding
tax bases and propagating blight.
Figure 1.
In 2015, a number of major banks and
mortgage servicing companies operating
in New York State agreed to follow a set
of best practices in managing vacant
and abandoned properties with delinquent
mortgages even before the foreclosure
process begins.2 The practices include
inspecting, securing and maintaining the
properties throughout the delinquency
of the loan. This is a promising
development. Ultimately, however, all of
the stakeholdersincluding the courts,
the banks, local governments and other
groupsmust continue efforts to clear
the backlog of pending cases to stem the
spread of foreclosure-induced blight.

Trends in both new foreclosure

filings and the total number
of pending foreclosure cases
indicate that the problem is far
from resolved.

Division of Local Government and School Accountability

Local Government Snapshot

Statewide, New Foreclosure Filings Remain High, While Growth in Pending Cases
Has Tapered Off
Foreclosure filings rose rapidly after the housing
bubble burst and the recession of 2008-2009
took hold. As shown in Figure 1, between 2006
and 2009, the number of new foreclosure cases
filed jumped from 26,706 to 47,664, an increase
of 78 percent.3 In 2011 and 2012, new filings
declined as new court rules were issued requiring
lenders to affirm their claim to the property
(in response to instances of robo-signing, in
which lender representatives signed documents
without reviewing them).4 Since reaching a low
of 16,655 in 2011, filings climbed to 46,696 by
2013 before edging back to 43,868 in 2014, still
well above prerecession levels.
As shown in Figure 2, the number of pending
foreclosure cases has begun to level off after
growing by 27 percent between the beginning
of 2013 and mid-2014 (from 72,183 to over
91,600).

Figure 2.

Total Pending Foreclosures:

Jan. 2013 thorugh Feb. 2015 by Court Term
Statewide, from January 2013
through May 2014, the number
of pending foreclosure cases
100,000 grew by 27 percent.

95,000
90,000
85,000
80,000
75,000
70,000
65,000

91,620

92,070

Since May 2014, growth

has tapered off.
72,183
2013 2013 2013 2014 2014 2014
Term 1 Term 6 Term 11 Term 3 Term 8 Term 13
(Jan.) (May-Jun.) (Oct.-Nov.) (Mar.)

(Jul-Aug.) (Dec.-Jan.)

Source: New York State Unified Court System. Each year has 13 court terms with Term 1
beginning in early January.

Downstate Counties Outside of New York City Have Been Most Affected
Foreclosures are hitting some regions harder than others.
The downstate area outside of New York City
(Long Island and the Mid-Hudson region) has
the greatest number of pending foreclosures,
and has experienced relatively rapid growth
in the number of pending foreclosure cases
over the past two yearsfrom 25,097 at the
beginning of 2013 to 40,985 two years later, an
increase of 63 percent.5
Upstate, growth in pending cases was slower
over the same period, but still substantial: a 47
percent increase in pending cases.
In New York City, by contrast, the number of
pending foreclosure cases dropped nearly 10
percent between 2013 and 2015.

Figure 3.

Pending Foreclosure Cases by Region

(Snapshot at beginning of the year)
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0

Downstate, Excluding
New York City
New York City
Upstate

2013

2014

2015

Source: New York State Unified Court System. Data is as of Term 1 of the annual court
calendar (corresponding roughly to the month of January). Downstate includes Long
Island and the Mid-Hudson region.

N e w Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e C o m p t r o l l e r

Local Government Snapshot

Gauging the Magnitude of the Problem at the County Level
Looking only at numbers of properties in foreclosure, it is not possible to get a sense of the prevalence of
foreclosure activity in particular areas of the State. One indicator that conveys the severity of the problem is the
foreclosure rate, which represents pending foreclosure cases as a percentage of housing units. This rate is
an approximate measure, however, because the foreclosure cases include both residential and nonresidential
properties and a single foreclosed property may have multiple housing units. For example, a residential property
with four apartments counts as four housing units, even if the property has only one mortgage. Despite these
limitations, the measure offers a means of comparing the scope of the problem across regions and counties.6
Statewide, the pending caseload in 2015 represents 1.13 percent of housing units, which amounts to 1 in 88
housing units.
The foreclosure rate is up from 0.89 percent at the beginning of 2013 (or 1 in 112 housing units). As expected,
however, the situation varies widely across the State.
Figure 4 graphs the county-level data showing the percentage change in the number of pending foreclosure
cases from the beginning of 2014 to the beginning of 2015 (Term 1 of the court calendar, which corresponds
roughly to the month of January) on the horizontal axis and the foreclosure rate on the vertical axis. Where
each county falls relative to these two axes gives a sense of the relative severity of the problem in each county.
The upper right quadrant shows the counties where the foreclosure problem is most acute: those with both
increasing foreclosure caseloads and high foreclosure rates. Except for Suffolk County, all of the downstate
counties outside New York City occupy the upper right quadrant.
Also, the four counties with the highest foreclosure rates are all located downstate: Suffolk (2.82 percent,
or one in every 35 housing units), Nassau (2.47 percent, or one in every 40 housing units), Rockland (2.26
percent, or one in every 44 housing units), and Putnam (2.10 percent, or one in every 48 housing units).
Counties in Western New York and the Finger Lakes regions, in contrast, tended to have lower pending
foreclosure rates and decreasing caseloads.
These findings are in line with previous OSC research that shows that the foreclosure problem has tended to
hit hardest in areas where the housing market had boomed in the years preceding the recession.7 What is
notable, however, is the persistence of the problem. In many places, not only has the situation not improved, but
it has continued to get worse, albeit in most cases at a somewhat slower rate.

Home Equity Loans Could Pose Additional Challenges

Defaults on home equity line-of-credit loans (HELOCs) could stall improvementparticularly in regions where
home values have not yet rebounded. During the housing boom, as home values continued to rise, many
homeowners took out long-term home equity loans that offered interest-only payments in the early years of
the amortization period before resetting to higher payments that include both interest and principal payments.
Borrowers facing HELOC resets who have substantial equity in their homes will likely refinance. However,
borrowers whose homes have lost value may owe more than their homes are worth. They will likely be unable
to refinance associated loans or pay them off by selling their homes. These borrowers could face foreclosure
if they are unable to make the new higher loan payments. RealtyTrac estimates that from 2015 through 2018 in
New York State 132,492 HELOCs originating between 2005 and 2008 will reset.8

N e w Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e C o m p t r o l l e r

N e w Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e C o m p t r o l l e r

-40%

-35%

Low Foreclosure Rate,

Decreasing Caseload

Low Concern:

-50% -45%

Schuyler

Median

Improving:

High Foreclosure Rate,

Decreasing Caseload

-30%

Wyoming

-25%

Yates

Cattaraugus

Chautauqua

-15%

-5%

0%

Putnam

Otsego

5%

10%

15%

Saint Lawrence

20%

At Risk:

30%

35%

Essex

Greene

Low Foreclosure Rate,

Increasing Caseload

25%

Monroe,
Niagara

Oswego

Schoharie
Warren

Ulster

Orange

40%

High Foreclosure Rate,

Increasing Caseload

Greatest Concern:

Madison
Onondaga

Columbia
Westchester
Albany
Bronx

Sullivan

Fulton

Rockland

Nassau

Montgomery

Cortland

Lewis

Saratoga

Kings

Upstate
Counties
Upstate
Counties
New
York
CityCity
Boroughs
New
York
Boroughs
Other
Downstate
Counties
Other
Downstate
Counties

-10%

New York

Allegany

Rensselaer

Dutchess

Schenectady

Change in Pending Foreclosure Cases, 2014 to 2015

-20%

Tompkins

Richmond

Orleans

Queens

Washington

Clinton

Suffolk

Source: New York State Unified Court System and U.S. Census Bureau with OSC calculations. The foreclosure rate represents pending foreclosures as a percentage of housing units.
Housing unit data is from the American Community Survey (five-year, 2013). See the appendix for the data used for this chart. Foreclosure data is based on snapshots from
Term 1 of the court calendar. Data is not available for Hamilton County.
Source: New York State Unified Court System and U.S. Census Bureau with OSC calculations. The foreclosure rate represents pending foreclosures as a percentage of housing units. Housing
unit data is from the American Community Survey (five-year, 2013). See the appendix for the data used for this chart. Foreclosure data is based on snapshots from Term 1 of the court calendar.
Data is not available for Hamilton County.

0.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.5%

2.0%

2.5%

3.0%

2015 County Foreclosure Rate and Growth in Pending Foreclosure Cases

Foreclosure Rate, 2015

Figure 4.

Local Government Snapshot

Local Government Snapshot

Small Signs of Improvement
One sign that we could begin to see a
noticeable reduction in the statewide
pending caseload is that foreclosure
activity at the beginning of the process (lis
pendens filings, a pre-foreclosure action in
which lenders file notification of a pending
lawsuit) is slowing, while activity at the end
of the process (notices of sale, notification
that the property has been scheduled for
public auction) is accelerating. Indeed, in
New York City, the foreclosure crisis appears
to have already turned the corner, with 2014
results showing year-over-year decreases in
both lis pendens filings and notices of sale
compared to 2013. In the rest of the State,
lis pendens filings grew by only 1.3 percent
from 2013 to 2014, while notices of sale grew
by 78 percent.9
Another encouraging sign is that a number
of State governmental entitiesincluding
the Unified Court System, the Department
of Financial Services and the Attorney
Generalare making efforts to resolve
cases that have become stalled, to monitor
properties with delinquent mortgages and
to return vacant abandoned properties to
productive use. The courts are modifying their
processes to reduce the number of settlement
conference appearances per foreclosure
case and speed up the foreclosure process.10
The Department of Financial Services (DFS)
has studied the foreclosure process and
made recommendations for legislative and
administrative reforms to streamline the
process.11 DFS is also developing a registry
of vacant and abandoned properties and will
share the information with local officials.12
The New York State Attorney General has
awarded nearly $33 million to land banks
across the State. The land banks will use
the funds to combat blight by a variety
of means, including demolishing vacant
and abandoned homes, renovating and
reselling properties, and supporting other
development activities.13

Figure 5.

Activity at the Beginning of the Foreclosure Process Is

Starting to Slow...
Lis Pendens Filings, 2011 to 2014
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0

25,593
11,489

25,937

17,331

9,080

10,456

2011

2012

Rest of
State
New York
City

13,928

13,120

2013

2014

While Activity at the End of the Foreclosure Process Is

Starting to Speed Up
Notices of Sale, 2011 to 2014
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0

4,679
2,629

Rest of
State
New York
City

2,117

2,336

1,363

1,161

1,383

1,202

2011

2012

2013

2014

Source: Renwood RealtyTrac.

A lis pendens filing is a pre-foreclosure action in which the lender files notification of a pending
lawsuit. A notice of sale is notification that the property has been scheduled for public auction.

N e w Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e C o m p t r o l l e r

Local Government Snapshot

Appendix.

County-Level Foreclosure Data

Pending Foreclosure Cases
at Beginning of Year
(Court Term 1)
County

2013

2014

2015

Pending
Foreclosure
Percentage Case Trend,
Change
2013 to 2015,
2014 to
High and Low
2015
Marked

Foreclosure Rate:
Pending
Foreclosures
as Percentage
of Housing Units

Total
Housing
Units for
Every One
Foreclosure
Case

Capital District
Albany
Columbia
Greene
Rensselaer
Saratoga
Schenectady
Warren
Washington
Capital District Total

757
229
159
571
769
937
286
277
3,985

1,062
296
247
872
923
1,207
318
403
5,328

1,241
313
326
867
948
1,239
389
393
5,716

16.9%
5.7%
32.0%
-0.6%
2.7%
2.7%
22.3%
-2.5%
7.3%

0.90%
0.96%
1.12%
1.21%
0.95%
1.82%
1.00%
1.36%
1.13%

111
104
89
82
105
55
100
73
89

Central New York

Cayuga
Cortland
Madison
Onondaga
Oswego
Central New York Total

101
124
231
842
183
1,481

209
153
233
1,398
277
2,270

197
166
277
1,629
359
2,628

-5.7%
8.5%
18.9%
16.5%
29.6%
15.8%

0.54%
0.81%
0.87%
0.80%
0.67%
0.76%

185
123
114
125
149
131

Finger Lakes
Genesee
Livingston
Monroe
Ontario
Orleans
Seneca
Wayne
Wyoming
Yates
Finger Lakes Total

152
133
1,379
138
149
50
206
78
37
2,322

181
199
2,370
259
190
72
317
93
59
3,740

173
191
2,622
254
162
79
307
66
44
3,898

-4.4%
-4.0%
10.6%
-1.9%
-14.7%
9.7%
-3.2%
-29.0%
-25.4%
4.2%

0.68%
0.70%
0.82%
0.53%
0.88%
0.49%
0.75%
0.37%
0.33%
0.74%

147
142
122
190
113
203
133
271
306
135

Long Island
Nassau
Suffolk
Long Island Total

6,374
9,729 11,554
12,313 16,227 16,046
18,687 25,956 27,600

18.8%
-1.1%
6.3%

2.47%
2.82%
2.66%

40
35
38

Mid-Hudson
Dutchess
Orange
Putnam
Rockland
Sullivan
Ulster
Westchester
Mid-Hudson Total

922
1,624
1,705
881
1,792
2,302
297
697
800
1,093
1,924
2,356
507
718
800
680
1,013
1,285
2,030
3,574
4,137
6,410 11,342 13,385

5.0%
28.5%
14.8%
22.5%
11.4%
26.9%
15.8%
18.0%

1.44%
1.67%
2.10%
2.26%
1.62%
1.54%
1.12%
1.49%

70
60
48
44
62
65
89
67

N e w Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e C o m p t r o l l e r

Local Government Snapshot

Appendix.

County-Level Foreclosure Data

Pending Foreclosure Cases
at Beginning of Year
(Court Term 1)
County

2013

2014

2015

Pending
Foreclosure
Percentage Case Trend,
Change
2013 to 2015,
2014 to
High and Low
2015
Marked

Foreclosure Rate:
Pending
Foreclosures
as Percentage
of Housing Units

Total
Housing
Units for
Every One
Foreclosure
Case

Mohawk Valley
Fulton
Hamilton
Herkimer
Montgomery
Oneida
Schoharie
Mohawk Valley Total

288
NA
136
280
441
89
1,234

389
NA
187
390
657
137
1,760

445
NA
216
435
649
177
1,922

14.4%
NA
15.5%
11.5%
-1.2%
29.2%
9.2%

1.56%
NA
0.65%
1.88%
0.62%
1.03%
0.89%

64
NA
154
53
160
97
112

North Country
Clinton
Essex
Franklin
Jefferson
Lewis
Saint Lawrence
North Country Total

552
167
68
154
26
100
1,067

644
183
123
206
48
154
1,358

624
244
120
243
51
174
1,456

-3.1%
33.3%
-2.4%
18.0%
6.3%
13.0%
7.2%

1.74%
0.96%
0.48%
0.42%
0.34%
0.33%
0.69%

57
105
210
239
297
299
145

3,903
4,563
4,924
13,853 11,240 11,402
881
898
814
12,497 12,421 10,667
1,100
1,619
1,360
32,234 30,741 29,167

7.9%
1.4%
-9.4%
-14.1%
-16.0%
-5.1%

0.96%
1.14%
0.10%
1.27%
0.77%
0.86%

104
88
1043
79
130
116

694
207
194
232
377
15
232
134
81
2,166

2.8%
19.7%
-1.0%
10.5%
14.2%
-48.3%
-1.3%
8.1%
-13.8%
4.8%

0.77%
0.54%
0.79%
0.75%
1.23%
0.16%
0.48%
0.61%
0.19%
0.64%

130
185
127
134
81
630
210
165
515
156

81
109
100
233
299
225
475
535
380
1,597
2,362
2,493
536
714
792
2,922
4,019
3,990
72,183 88,580 91,928

-8.3%
-24.7%
-29.0%
5.5%
10.9%
-0.7%
3.8%

0.38%
0.55%
0.57%
0.59%
0.80%
0.61%
1.13%

260
182
176
168
125
164
88

New York City

Bronx
Kings
New York
Queens
Richmond
New York City Total
Southern Tier
Broome
Chemung
Chenango
Delaware
Otsego
Schuyler
Steuben
Tioga
Tompkins
Southern Tier Total
Western New York
Allegany
Cattaraugus
Chautauqua
Erie
Niagara
Western New York Total
Grand Total

590
212
165
171
326
21
162
113
81
1,841

675
173
196
210
330
29
235
124
94
2,066

Source: New York State Unified Court System and U.S. Census Bureau with OSC calculations. Foreclosure data is not available for Hamilton
County. Pending foreclosure counts are based on snapshot data from Term 1 of the court calendar (which covers most of the month of January).
Census data on the number of housing units is from the American Community Survey (five-year estimates with the most recent data from 2013).
Foreclosure cases include both residential and nonresidential properties, and so the foreclosure rate and total housing units for every one
foreclosure case metrics are intended to convey an approximate sense of the relative prevalence of properties in foreclosure.

N e w Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e C o m p t r o l l e r

Local Government Snapshot

1

Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), Cleaning it up: The Foreclosure Problem and the Response of Local Governments (March 2012).
Available at: www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/foreclosure.pdf.

Governor Cuomo Announces Major Mortgage Companies Agree to Measures to Combat Vacant Abandoned Zombie Properties, Governor

Andrew Cuomo press release, May 18, 2015,

www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-major-mortgage-companies-agree-measures-combat-vacant-abandoned-zombie,
accessed June 3, 2015.

New York State Unified Court System, 2014 Report of the Chief Administrator of the Courts, p. 3.

New York State Unified Court System, 2012 Report of the Chief Administrator of the Courts, pp. 1-2.

Data from the New York State Unified Court System. Data is as of Term 1 of the annual court calendar (corresponding roughly to the month of

January). See the appendix for county-level data on pending foreclosures organized by region. County-level data on pending foreclosures prior to
2013 is not available.

Foreclosure figures include both residential and nonresidential properties. A property may have more than one than foreclosure case against it (if it has

more than one delinquent loan). Also, a single foreclosure case may involve properties with multiple housing units. Housing unit data is from the Bureau
of the Census (American Community Survey, five-year estimates, with most recent data from 2013). Consequently, the foreclosure rate is not an exact
figure, but rather provides an estimate of the relative scale of the foreclosure problem in different areas of the State. New York City is atypical because it
has a much greater proportion of multi-family residential properties than other regions of the State.

OSC, Upstate/Downstate: New Yorks Diverging Housing Market (June 2010).

Available at: www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/snapshot/0610snapshot.pdf.

RealtyTrac, 56 Percent of 3.3 Million HELOCs Scheduled to Reset with Higher Rates in Next Four Years are on Underwater Homes (March 2015),
available at: www.realtytrac.com/news/mortgage-and-finance/heloc-resets-report/.

Data from Renwood RealtyTrac. These data do not include all foreclosure resolutions, notably settlements (where a foreclosure is avoided by
settlement between the lender and borrower) and dismissals. If a property fails to sell at auction, the title is typically transferred to the lender.

10

The efforts of the courts are discussed in the annual Report of the Chief Administrator of the Courts: Pursuant to Chapter 507 of the Laws of 2009,
available at: www.nycourts.gov/publications/index.shtml#Foreclosure.

11

New York State Department of Financial Services, Report on New Yorks Foreclosure Process (May 2015), available at:
www.dfs.ny.gov/reportpub/fore_proc_report_052015.pdf.

12

Governor Cuomo Announces Major Mortgage Companies Agree to Measures, op. cit.

13

A.G. Schneiderman Awards $20 Million to Land Banks Across New York State, New York State Attorney Generals Office, Press Release,
October 15, 2014.

New York State Office of the State Comptroller

Division of Local Government and School Accountability
110 State Street, 12th Floor Albany, New York 12236

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August 2015