Updated September 8, 2026. Quick answer: New York protects a tiered amount of home equity depending on county, adjusted for inflation every three years by the Department of Financial Services under the statute’s own indexing instruction. The base figures printed in CPLR 5206 are $150,000 in the New York City boroughs plus Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester and Putnam counties; $125,000 in Dutchess, Albany, Columbia, Orange, Saratoga and Ulster counties; and $75,000 everywhere else. DFS’s current notice puts the amounts actually in force, effective April 1, 2024, at $204,825 for the first tier, $170,700 for the second, and $102,400 for the rest of the state, with the next scheduled adjustment April 1, 2027.
This is protection against an ordinary money judgment creditor under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5206, a different question from a property tax bill or exemption, which this page does not cover.
New York homestead exemption at a glance
| Protected amount | New York protects a tiered amount of home equity depending on county, adjusted for inflation every three years by the Department of Financial Services under the statute’s own indexing instruction. The base figures printed in CPLR 5206 are $150,000 in the New York City boroughs plus Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester and Putnam counties; $125,000 in Dutchess, Albany, Columbia, Orange, Saratoga and Ulster counties; and $75,000 everywhere else. DFS’s current notice puts the amounts actually in force, effective April 1, 2024, at $204,825 for the first tier, $170,700 for the second, and $102,400 for the rest of the state, with the next scheduled adjustment April 1, 2027. |
|---|---|
| Filing/declaration | Not required: No recorded declaration is required; the exemption applies automatically to property owned and occupied as a principal residence. |
| Married couples / joint owners | The statute does not spell out treatment between living spouses beyond ordinary joint-ownership rules, but it does guarantee continuity after the homeowner’s death: the exemption carries on for a surviving spouse and children. |
| If you sell the home | Money from selling the homestead stays protected for one year after the debtor receives it, unless a new exempt homestead is acquired first. |
How it works in New York
- No filing required. No recorded declaration is required; the exemption applies automatically to property owned and occupied as a principal residence.
- Married couples and joint owners: The statute does not spell out treatment between living spouses beyond ordinary joint-ownership rules, but it does guarantee continuity after the homeowner’s death: the exemption carries on for a surviving spouse and children.
If you sell the home
Money from selling the homestead stays protected for one year after the debtor receives it, unless a new exempt homestead is acquired first.
What it does not protect against
The exemption doesn’t apply if the judgment was for the purchase price of the home itself, and an exempt homestead is never shielded from property taxes or a tax sale.
Read it yourself
Verbatim from N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5206: “Property of one of the following types, not exceeding one hundred fifty thousand dollars for the counties of Kings, Queens, New York, Bronx, Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester and Putnam; one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars for the counties of Dutchess, Albany, Columbia, Orange, Saratoga and Ulster; and seventy-five thousand dollars for the remaining counties of the state in value above liens and encumbrances, owned and occupied as a principal residence, is exempt from application to the satisfaction of a money judgment, unless the judgment was recovered wholly for the purchase price thereof” Read the full official text before relying on any figure here. A second citation, New York Department of Financial Services official notice of the current CPLR-indexed exemption amounts (CPLR §§ 5206(a), (d) and (e)), effective April 1, 2024, next adjustment April 1, 2027, is available here. Exemption law is fact-specific, and this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.