The state of New York is in the Mid-Atlantic Northeastern part of US is the third most populous in the country and shares an international border with Canada. New York is a city as well as a state and it seems contradictory that in such a prosperous zone news about bank foreclosures in New York should hit the headlines. New York is famous for being the gateway of immigration and is a symbol of the prosperity of the young nation in finance, culture, communications and industry. Yet bank foreclosures in New York continue to darken the pages of present day annals. Today bank foreclosures in New York dot the scene and the listings in the daily newspapers.

The sub-prime mortgage loans are held responsible for bank foreclosures in New York today. Foreclosure is a judicial process by which the lender tries to realize pending dues by seizing the property that had been kept as collateral or security in the mortgage agreement. Foreclosures refer loosely to all the stages of the process – default, delinquency, auction and repossession. In nine times out of ten it is the banks that have been the lenders and hence the talk is about bank foreclosures in New York. In 2007 there were 18,000 bank foreclosures in New York city – accounting for more than all the foreclosures in the state. According to figures one out of every 40 houses having a mortgage at the end of the second quarter 2007 are part of bank foreclosures in New York. Thus the number of bank foreclosures in New York city are double that of bank foreclosures in New York state. The numbers of bank foreclosures in New York point to a raging foreclosure tsunami.

Worried about bank foreclosures in New York, Ms Maloney a Democrat held a Congressional hearing in City Hall to highlight it. Many from industry, the government and non-profit help agencies were invited to take part in a two hour session before they were forced to vacate the premises for others in line. Queens (20.9%) and Brooklyn (18.3%) were responsible for one fifth of foreclosure homes in New York State. Sub-prime loans comprise of 15% of mortgages in New York State and 60% of its foreclosures. However bank foreclosures in New York are not as bad as in Cleveland and Las Vegas. New York metropolitan region is set to suffer $10 billion losses related to bank foreclosures in New York.