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- $1B County GDP
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Yates County
Yates County
Yates County is in New York's Finger Lakes region wrapped around Keuka Lake, anchored by Penn Yan (county seat and largest village). The economy mixes wine and tourism (Keuka Lake Wine Trail, Dr. Konstantin Frank, Bully Hill), dairy and grape agriculture, the largest concentration of Mennonite farms in NY State, and Birkett Mills (world's largest buckwheat producer). The County Clerk operates from 417 Liberty Street.
Property in Yates
What every owner, heir, and investor should know.
Owning a home in Yates.
Yates is a small, low- to moderate-cost Finger Lakes market with strong Keuka Lake second-home demand.
- STAR / Enhanced STAR, senior, veteran, and agricultural exemptions apply.
- Property tax cycle: school bills September; county/town bills January.
- Tax-foreclosure redemption under RPTL Article 11 (two-year window).
- Foreclosure surplus rights under RPAPL § 1361.
- Watch for Keuka Lake shoreline overlays, vineyard / agricultural-district overlays, and Mennonite-community ag rules.
Investing in Yates.
Yates offers Keuka Lake / wine-country STR upside and very low entry prices on rural / agricultural land.
- Tax-foreclosure auctions run by the County Treasurer (annual).
- Judicial foreclosure auctions held at the Yates County Courthouse, Penn Yan.
- Land records search via Yates County Clerk records.
- Real Property parcel lookup at yatescounty.org.
- NYSCEF case search for lis pendens.
- Watch for Keuka Lake STR rules, vineyard agricultural assessments, and shoreline overlays.
After a Yates foreclosure or tax deed sale.
Yates uses New York's judicial foreclosure process and runs in rem tax foreclosure under RPTL Article 11.
- Mortgage foreclosures filed in Supreme Court, 7th Judicial District.
- Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale executed by court-appointed Referee.
- Surplus money proceedings under RPAPL § 1361.
- County Treasurer holds annual tax-foreclosure auction.
- Post-Tyler v. Hennepin reforms require return of tax-foreclosure surplus to former owner.
- Notices published in The Chronicle-Express (Penn Yan) and Finger Lakes Times.
Courts and records in Yates.
- Yates County Courthouse — 415 Liberty Street, Penn Yan, NY 14527 — 7th Judicial District
- Supreme Court & County Court — Yates County Courthouse
- Family Court — 415 Liberty Street, Penn Yan
- Surrogate's Court — 415 Liberty Street, Penn Yan
- 7th Judicial District (Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Yates)
- Appellate Division, 4th Department — 50 East Avenue, Rochester
- County Clerk — 417 Liberty Street — (315) 536-5120 — yatescounty.org
- Real Property Services — 417 Liberty Street — (315) 536-5172
- County Treasurer — 417 Liberty Street — (315) 536-5192
- Sheriff — 227 Main Street, Penn Yan — (315) 536-4438