New York runs 6 different redemption windows
Which one applies is decided by the parcel, not by the state, so read the condition before trusting the headline figure.
How the clock works
In Article 11 jurisdictions redemption runs before the public ever buys. The owner or anyone with an interest can redeem by paying the enforcing officer the delinquent tax liens plus all charges, until the redemption period expires: two years after the lien date by default, or a later date if the published notice of foreclosure names one. A tax district may by local law extend the period for residential or farm property to three or four years, and to four or five years for the residential property of an owner ordered to active military duty for at least six contiguous months or killed in action during that activation. Separately, RPTL 1111-a sets a one-year period for residential property outside cities of one million or more when the enforcing officer makes an affidavit that it is vacant and abandoned and it has been placed on the municipality's roll of vacant and abandoned property. When one tax district holds several liens on a parcel they are redeemed newest first, and foreclosure continues while the oldest lien is unpaid. Anyone who neither redeems nor answers is barred, and the final judgment extinguishes every equity of redemption, so a buyer at the county's later auction takes property no longer subject to redemption. Suffolk County, which enforces outside Article 11, instead sells each year's liens to the county itself, allows redemption within twelve months of that sale (thirty-six months for a one, two or three family residence), then records a tax deed to the county and accepts redemption applications within six months of recording.
Who can redeem
Every person, including another tax district, having any right, title or interest in, or lien upon, a parcel on the List of Delinquent Taxes, which includes owners, heirs, mortgagees and other lienholders of record.
What the owner pays to redeem
The amount of the delinquent tax lien or liens, including all charges authorized by law: interest at the RPTL 924-a rate (never less than 12 percent a year, charged monthly), penalties, mailing, publication, recording and search costs, and an allowance for foreclosure administration and attorney fees of up to 250 dollars per parcel or 2 percent of the taxes, interest and penalties, whichever is greater, or more with court approval.
What sends a parcel to the sale
A statutory clock, not an investor's application. The tax becomes a lien on the lien date (January 1 for county taxes). About ten months later the enforcing officer files the List of Delinquent Taxes with the county clerk. Eighteen months after the lien date (thirty or forty-two months for property on a three or four year redemption period) the enforcing officer executes and files a petition of foreclosure in rem, publishes notice in two newspapers and mails notice to owners and parties of record. The redemption period ends two years after the lien date by default, or on a later date stated in the published notice. A parcel not redeemed and not successfully answered goes to final judgment, which awards the parcel to the tax district and directs a deed to it, or at the enforcing officer's request a deed directly to another party. Only after that can the county offer the property for sale.
What the deed conveys
The foreclosure judgment and deed vest the tax district, or a grantee named in the judgment, with an estate in fee simple absolute, and every prior owner, lienholder and the State of New York is barred and forever foreclosed. The county then conveys that title to the auction buyer. The Article 11 deed is presumptive evidence that the proceedings were regular, and the presumption becomes conclusive two years after the deed is recorded; a motion to reopen a default judgment must be brought within one month of entry. Counties commonly convey by quitclaim deed and make no title warranty, so buyers should still order a title search.
In New York the owner's ordinary redemption right closes before the county offers the parcel rather than running against the winning bidder; check the rule above for any exception, and note that a federal tax lien can carry its own 120-day IRS redemption right. See how redemption periods work across states. What winning the tax deed sale conveys is set by statute, in the card above; budget for a quiet title action if an insurer will not accept that title.
Verified Sep 27, 2026 against New York statutes.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the office that runs the sale before you bid.