After consistently dropping over a ten-year period of time foreclosure filings and judgments have begun rising again in Westchester County. While not reaching the highs seen during the end of the real estate bubble bursting from 2009 through 2015, there has been a statistical doubling of both filings and judgments over the past 14 months according to Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni, who as Clerk of the County’s Supreme Court is responsible for the filing of the foreclosure cases and their ultimate decisions.
Idoni said, “There can be a number of reasons for the bump in these cases. There was a definitive drop in filings during Covid-19 but since mid-2022 the filings have begun to rise again for the first time in a decade.”
Idoni noted from the period of 2007-2015 over 2,000 filings per year were the norm as the financial institutions attempted to recover from the bad loans common during the housing bubble. Judgments jumped substantially from 2015 through 2017 then leveled off and dropped until the past fourteen months.
Foreclosure Filings 2006 -2023
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023*
1545 2150 2190 3064 2453 1641 1810 2696 2320 2120 1411 1210 1146 1041 380 224 503 113
· Through February 13, 2023
Filings jumped 137% between 2021 and 2022. In the first two months of 2022, 27 total filings were received. In the first two months of 2023, 113 have already been received, an increase of 318%.
Judgments jumped from a 16-year low of 134 in 2022 to 268 in 2022, a 50% increase.
Foreclosure Judgments 2015-2022
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
1181 1176 1062 880 715 219 134 268
Idoni stated that the days of massive numbers of foreclosures appear to have ended. However, foreclosure matters can often take two to three years to clear the courts. Idoni once again added, “One foreclosure is too many. But those facing foreclosure can try to avoid it by getting professional assistance.”
