§ 1123 — Petition of foreclosure

§ 1123. Petition of foreclosure. 1. Eighteen months after lien date,\nor as soon thereafter as is practicable, the enforcing officer shall\nexecute a petition of foreclosure pertaining to those properties which\nremain subject to delinquent tax liens; provided, however, that in the\ncase of property which is subject to a three or four year redemption\nperiod, such petition shall be executed thirty or forty-two months after\nlien date, respectively, or as soon thereafter as is practicable.\n 2. (a) The petition shall be filed with the clerk of the county in\nwhich the property is situated no later than two business days after the\nexecution thereof and shall be in substantially the following form:\n ........... Court,.......... County.\n IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE\n OF TAX LIENS BY PROCEEDING IN\n REM PURSUANT TO ARTICLE ELEVEN\n OF THE REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW\n BY.............................\n (insert name of tax district).\n PETITION OF FORECLOSURE\n The above-captioned proceeding is hereby commenced to enforce the\npayment of delinquent taxes or other lawful charges which have\naccumulated and become liens against certain property. The parcels to\nwhich this proceeding applies are as follows: (insert the descriptions\nand the names of the owners of record of each such parcel as of the date\nof the filing of the list of delinquent taxes).\n (b) In addition to the information required by this section, the\nenforcing officer may incorporate into the petition of foreclosure the\nsubstance of the notice of foreclosure pursuant to section eleven\nhundred twenty-four of this article. Where this option is exercised, the\ndocument may serve as both a petition of foreclosure and as a notice of\nforeclosure for purposes of this article.\n 3. In lieu of placing in the body of the petition the descriptions and\nnames of the owners of the parcels to which the proceeding applies, the\nenforcing officer may place such information in an attachment to the\npetition, in which case the content of the petition shall be revised\naccordingly.\n 4. The petition shall be dated and subscribed by the enforcing officer\nand affirmed by him or her as true under the penalties of perjury.\n 5. A duplicate copy of such petition shall be retained in the office\nof the enforcing officer.\n 6. Every person, including a tax district other than the one\nforeclosing, having any right, title or interest in, or lien upon, any\nparcel described in such petition may redeem such parcel in the manner\nprovided by title two of this article, or may interpose an answer in the\nmanner provided herein.\n 7. An answer to a petition of foreclosure shall be duly verified by\nthe respondent and shall set forth in detail the nature and amount of\nhis or her interest and any defense or objections to the foreclosure of\nthe tax lien. Such answer shall be filed in the office of the county\nclerk and served on the attorney for the tax district foreclosing on or\nbefore the last day for redemption, as specified in the notice of\npetition. Whenever an answer has been interposed as herein provided,\neither party shall have an absolute right to a severance of the\nproceeding as to the parcel or parcels to which the answer relates.\n 8. In the event of failure to redeem or answer by any person having\nthe right to redeem or answer, such person shall be in default and shall\nbe barred and forever foreclosed from all his or her right, title and\ninterest in and to the parcels described in such petition and a judgment\nin foreclosure may be taken by default as provided by this title.\n