Tax warrants

A tax warrant is equivalent to a civil judgment against you and protects New York State's interests and priority in the collection of outstanding tax debt. We electronically file a tax warrant with the New York State Department of State as well as the county clerk’s office listed on the warrant, and it becomes a public record. A tax warrant creates a lien against your real and personal property, and may:

allow us to seize and sell your real and personal property,
allow us to garnish your wages or other income, or
affect your ability to buy or sell property.

You can search for a tax warrant using the New York State Tax Warrants search tool.

What happens

If you fail to timely resolve your tax debt, your past due tax debt becomes fixed and final, and we may file a tax warrant against you. Before we file a tax warrant, we will send you notice of the debt and give you an opportunity to resolve it.

When we file a tax warrant, we send you a copy of the warrant. If you fail to resolve your warranted balance, we will proceed with further collection action.

Once you pay your total warranted balance, we will send the New York State Department of State and the applicable county clerk a Satisfaction of Judgment stating you have paid your warranted debt in full. Each will file the Satisfaction of Judgment, and we will send you a copy. You should retain this copy for your records.

How to resolve

You must pay your total warranted balance in full to satisfy your tax warrant. If you can’t pay your tax debt in full, you may be able to set up an installment payment agreement (IPA) to prevent additional collection action. If you set up an IPA, the warrant will remain on file and continue to be a lien on your real and personal property until you pay your total warranted balance in full.

Pay your bill in full

Request proof your warrant has been paid in full

If you need proof you paid your warrant in full, we can send you one of the following:

Satisfaction of Judgement

We can provide a copy of your Satisfaction of Judgment only after the New York State Department of State has received and filed it.

Notice of Pending Warrant Satisfaction

A Notice of Pending Warrant Satisfaction verifies we are in the process of satisfying your tax warrant. Most title companies will accept this as proof a lien will be removed. Only you or your authorized representative may request this notice.

We can send you a Notice of Pending Warrant Satisfaction if:

we receive payment in full in guaranteed funds (certified check, bank check, wire transfer, money order, cash); or
you paid in full by credit card and the warranted balance is zero; or
your payment has posted to our system, and you supply proof (such as a bank statement) showing the payment has cleared your account.

Warrant payoff letter

If you need a warrant payoff letter, we can provide you an Outstanding Judgment Balance Due letter, which lists all outstanding warrants and the balance due projected to a specified date.

If you are unable to pay your warranted balance in full and one of the following apply, you may qualify for a release or subordination of lien:

you are attempting to obtain a loan using your property as collateral, or
you are selling your property and the proceeds will not be enough to pay your warranted balance in full.

Call us to request one of the above items, or ask another question related to a tax warrant. Be sure to enter your taxpayer ID or collection case number when prompted.

Updated: July 8, 2025