To see whether a New York City property is headed for a tax lien sale, look up its borough, block and lot on the Department of Finance’s lien sale page and in past lien sale lists. A lien sale moves unpaid property tax, water and sewer charges, and HPD emergency repair or Alternative Enforcement Program charges to a private lienholder. The owner keeps the property, but the debt grows and, if it stays unpaid, the lienholder can foreclose.
Most properties that get a warning never reach the sale. In the city’s Tax Lien Sale Lists data, 29,972 properties were on the 90-day notice list for the 2025 sale, and 4,545 (15.2%) had liens sold on June 3, 2025. Condo units, vacant land and one-family homes reached the sale more often than two-family houses and apartment buildings, where many entries were water and sewer debt only.
How to check a property on the NYC lien sale list
- Find the property’s borough, block and lot (BBL). It is on the tax bill and in the Department of Finance’s property tax bill search.
- Open DOF’s lien sale page. When a sale is scheduled, it lists the properties at risk; between sales it shows the last sale date.
- For past cycles, use the lien sale archives or the open data list, filtering by borough, block and lot. Each row shows the notice stage (90, 60, 30 or 10 days, or Final Sale) and whether the debt was water and sewer only.
- Read the stage. A 90-day entry is a warning. “Final Sale” means the lien went to the buyer.
- If a lien was sold, DOF mails the owner the lienholder’s name and authorized representative within 90 days of the sale. Payoffs go to that representative, not to the City.
- Check the current tax and water account too. New charges after a sale are still billed by the City.
Which debts can be sold, and when
DOF’s eligibility table sets a minimum amount and a minimum time overdue by property type. The main rules:
- One- to three-family homes: property tax debt of at least $5,000 overdue three years. Water and sewer debt of $3,000 overdue one year for two- and three-family homes. A one-family home that owes only water and sewer charges is outside the sale, though DEP may shut off service.
- Condo units and co-op buildings: $5,000 of property tax overdue three years, or $1,000 of water and sewer, AEP or emergency repair charges overdue one year.
- HDFC rental buildings: $5,000 of any covered debt overdue two years.
- All other property, including most rental and commercial buildings: $1,000 overdue one year for any covered debt.
- HPD charges: Emergency Repair Program and AEP charges count only if posted on or after January 1, 2006. For owner-occupied one- to three-family homes, the table marks AEP and emergency repair debt as not applicable.
A pending dispute is no shield. DOF says an owner contesting an assessment or charge must still pay in full or enter a payment agreement to keep the lien out of the sale, and gets a refund if the dispute succeeds.
What the 2025 lien sale list shows
We downloaded every 2025 row of the city’s Tax Lien Sale Lists on October 24, 2026 and matched properties across notices by borough, block and lot. These are our calculations. The 2025 cycle is the latest in the data; “share sold” means properties on the 90-day list that also appear in the Final Sale list.
| Property type (building class) | On 90-day list | In final sale | Share sold | 90-day entries with water/sewer debt only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walk-up apartments (C) | 8,983 | 975 | 10.9% | 52.8% |
| Two-family homes (B) | 7,978 | 925 | 11.6% | 70.5% |
| One-family homes (A) | 2,183 | 419 | 19.2% | 0% |
| Mixed residential and store (S) | 2,112 | 259 | 12.3% | 47.8% |
| Store buildings (K) | 1,489 | 218 | 14.6% | 12.2% |
| Vacant land (V) | 1,138 | 303 | 26.6% | 1.6% |
| Residential condo units (R4) | 940 | 346 | 36.8% | 0.1% |
| Other condo units (R), including parking and garage units | 1,924 | 708 | 36.8% | 2.5% |
| Elevator apartments (D) | 702 | 33 | 4.7% | 47.7% |
| All properties | 29,972 | 4,545 | 15.2% | 40.7% |
- The list shrinks at each notice: 29,972 properties at 90 days, 26,511 at 60 days, 21,546 at 30 days and 18,445 at 10 days, then 4,545 in the sale. Every sold lien had been on the 10-day list.
- Water-only debt is resolved more often: 6.6% of properties whose 90-day entry was water and sewer only reached the sale, compared with 21.1% of the rest.
- Condo parking and garage units stand out: 171 of 316 condo parking units (54%) and 259 of 620 condo garage units (42%) on the 90-day list reached the sale.
- By borough: the share sold ranged from 13.8% in Brooklyn and 13.9% in the Bronx to 17.4% in Queens and 17.5% in Manhattan. Brooklyn had the most properties on the 90-day list (12,078).
- Earlier cycles: 3,721 of 22,019 properties (16.9%) in 2019 and 2,841 of 11,194 (25.4%) in the December 2021 sale. The 2020 lists stop at the 10-day notice.
What a sold lien costs
Once a lien is sold, the owner owes the lienholder, and DOF lists what the lienholder can add:
- A 5% surcharge on the whole lien amount. Owner-occupants with combined income up to $110,750 who own no other city property can ask DOF for a waiver.
- Interest compounded daily: 6% a year for properties assessed at $250,000 or less, 9% for $250,000 to $450,000, and 16% above $450,000.
- Administrative costs, including an estimated $300 for notices and advertising.
- Foreclosure can begin one year after the sale if the lien is unpaid and there is no payment agreement, or sooner if a semi-annual interest payment is more than 30 days late or current taxes go unpaid for six months.
Before the sale, an owner can pay, enter a payment plan, file an Easy Exit application, apply for an exemption or file a probate application, according to DOF’s 2025 sale announcement. Senior, disabled, veterans and not-for-profit exemptions approved within 90 days after the sale can cancel a sold lien.
Checklist if you are buying or inheriting a NYC property
- BBL searched in the current and recent lien sale lists, with the notice stage noted.
- If a lien was sold: the lienholder’s representative named, and a written payoff that includes surcharge and interest.
- Current property tax and water and sewer balances checked with the City.
- HPD emergency repair charges checked (see our HPD emergency repair charges guide); open HPD violations can turn into these charges.
- Exemptions the owner qualifies for (senior, disabled, veteran, not-for-profit) filed on time.
- A title search that shows the lien and its release at closing.
Building violations are the other side of the record. Our HPD violations lookup shows how long serious violations stay open, and our DOB and ECB violations analysis covers unpaid penalties. For liens outside New York, see our property lien search guide.
Counts are our calculations from the Department of Finance’s Tax Lien Sale Lists on NYC Open Data (2025 rows; dataset last updated December 1, 2025; downloaded October 24, 2026), matched by borough, block and lot. Building class groups follow the first letter of the city’s building class code. DOF lien sale pages checked October 24, 2026.