N.Y. Real Property Tax Law 1125 – Personal notice of commencement of foreclosure proceeding
§ 1125. Personal notice of commencement of foreclosure proceeding. 1. (a) Parties entitled to notice. The enforcing officer shall on or before the date of the first publication of the notice above set forth cause a notice to be mailed to (i) each owner and any other person whose right, title, or interest was a matter of public record as of the date the list of delinquent taxes was filed, which right, title or interest will be affected by the termination of the redemption period, and whose name and address are reasonably ascertainable from the public record, including the records in the offices of the surrogate of the county, or from material submitted to the enforcing officer pursuant to paragraph (d) of this subdivision, (ii) any other person who has filed a declaration of interest pursuant to section eleven hundred twenty-six of this title which has not expired, and (iii) the enforcing officer of any other tax district having a right to enforce the payment of a tax imposed upon any of the parcels described upon such petition.
Terms Used In N.Y. Real Property Tax Law 1125
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- delinquent tax: include any unpaid tax or other charge against lands owned by the state. See N.Y. Real Property Tax Law 1102
- Enforcing officer: means any elected or appointed officer of any tax district empowered or charged by law to enforce the collection of tax liens on real property; provided, however, that (a) where no law provides otherwise, the enforcing officer shall be (i) in a county which is a tax district, the county treasurer or commissioner of finance, (ii) in a city which is a tax district, the official so empowered or charged by the city charter, (iii) in a village which is a tax district, the village treasurer, and (iv) in a town which is a tax district, the town supervisor; and (b) when the duties and powers of an "enforcing officer" are vested in two or more elected or appointed officials, the governing body of the tax district shall designate which of such officials shall act as enforcing officer for the purposes set forth in this article. See N.Y. Real Property Tax Law 1102
- Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- legal charges: means :
(a) the cost of the mailing or service of notices required or authorized by this article;
(b) the cost of publication of notices required or authorized by this title;
(c) the amount of any interest and penalties imposed by law;
(d) the cost of recording or filing legal documents required or authorized by this article; and
(e) the reasonable and necessary cost of any search of the public record required or authorized to satisfy the notice requirements of this article, and the reasonable and necessary expenses for legal services of a tax district in connection with a proceeding to foreclose a tax lien; provided, that: (i) a charge of up to one hundred fifty dollars per parcel shall be deemed reasonable and necessary to cover the combined costs of such searches and legal expenses, and such an amount may be charged without substantiation, even if salaried employees of the tax district performed the search or legal services; and (ii) a tax district may charge a greater amount with respect to one or more parcels upon demonstration to the satisfaction of the court having jurisdiction that such greater amount was reasonable and necessary. See N.Y. Real Property Tax Law 1102 - Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Lien date: means the date on which the tax or other legal charges represented thereby became a lien, as provided by section nine hundred two of this chapter or such other general, special or local law as may be applicable, provided, that when the taxes of a school district are enforced by a tax district without being relevied by the tax district, and the lien date of the school district taxes differs from the lien date of the taxes of the tax district which are levied upon the same assessment roll, the later of the two such dates shall be deemed to be the lien date for purposes of this article. See N.Y. Real Property Tax Law 1102
- Person: means an individual, a corporation (including a foreign corporation and a municipal corporation), a joint stock association, a partnership, the state, and any other organization, state, government or county which may lawfully own property in the state. See N.Y. Real Property Tax Law 1102
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Tax district: means : (a) a county, other than (i) a county for which the cities and towns enforce delinquent taxes pursuant to the county administrative code, or (ii) a county wholly contained within a city;
(b) a city, other than a city for which the county enforces delinquent taxes pursuant to the city charter;
(c) a village, other than a village for which the county enforces delinquent taxes pursuant to section fourteen hundred forty-two of this chapter; or
(d) a town in a county in which towns enforce delinquent taxes pursuant to the county administrative code. See N.Y. Real Property Tax Law 1102
(b) Notification method. (i) Such notice shall be sent to each such party both by certified mail and ordinary first class mail, subject to the provisions of subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph. The notice shall be deemed received unless both the certified mailing and the ordinary first class mailing are returned by the United States postal service within forty-five days after being mailed. In that event, the enforcing officer or his or her agent shall attempt to obtain an alternative mailing address from the United States postal service. When notice is required to be sent to the commissioner of taxation and finance, an alternative notice may be used by the enforcing officer, in accordance with instructions prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and finance.
(ii) If an alternative mailing address is found, the enforcing officer shall cause the notice to be mailed to such owner at such address both by certified mail and by ordinary first class mail. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, such owner may redeem the parcel in question or serve a duly verified answer to the petition of foreclosure until either the thirtieth day after such mailing, or the date specified by the notice of foreclosure as the last day for redemption, whichever is later.
(iii) If no alternative mailing address can be found, then in the case of an owner, the enforcing officer shall cause a copy of such notice to be posted as provided herein on the property to which the delinquent tax lien relates; in the case of a non-owner, the enforcing officer shall cause a copy of such notice to be posted in his or her office and in the office of the clerk of the court in which the petition of foreclosure has been filed. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the party to whom such notice is directed may redeem the parcel in question or serve a duly verified answer to the petition of foreclosure until either the thirtieth day after such posting or delivery, or the date specified by the notice of foreclosure as the last day for redemption, whichever is later.
(iv) Where an owner is listed as "unknown" on the tax roll and the name of such owner cannot be found in the public record, the notice shall be mailed to the property address by ordinary first class mail addressed to "occupant" and a copy thereof shall be posted on the property to which the tax lien relates.
(c) Posting of notice. When a notice is required to be posted on the property to which the delinquent tax lien relates pursuant to this section, the posting shall be deemed sufficient if it is either (i) affixed to a door of a residential or commercial structure on the premises, or (ii) attached to a vertical object, such as a tree, post or stake, and plainly visible from the road. Provided, that if, when visiting the premises for this purpose, the enforcing officer or his or her agent should find thereon an occupant of suitable age and discretion, he or she may deliver such notice to such occupant in addition to or in lieu of posting it. The process of so posting or delivering such notice shall warrant the imposition of an extra charge of one hundred dollars against the parcel, in addition to any other charges authorized by section eleven hundred twenty-four of this title and without regard to any limitations set forth therein.
(d) Changes of address. It shall be the responsibility of any party entitled to notice pursuant to this section to notify the enforcing officer when his, her or its address changes. Such notification need not be in any particular form as long as it is in writing, affirmatively states that such party's address has changed or uses language to that effect, and sets forth the new address. It shall not suffice to submit to the enforcing officer an item that merely displays the new address, such as a check upon which the new address has been imprinted, or a letter or envelope which uses the new address as the return address, unless such submission includes language clearly indicating that such address is that party's new address. In the event that a foreclosure proceeding is challenged on grounds of lack of notice, and the party raising this issue failed to provide a current address to the enforcing officer pursuant to this paragraph, the court having jurisdiction may take such failure into account when evaluating whether reasonable notice was given.
(e) Public record. For purposes of this section, the public record shall be deemed to consist of the books maintained by the recording officer of the county in which the property is located pursuant to § 315 of the real property law, the books kept by the clerk of the surrogate's court of the county in which the property is located pursuant to section twenty-five hundred two of the surrogate's court procedure act, the tax rolls in the possession of the enforcing officer dated from the applicable lien date forward.
2. The notice to be so mailed shall consist of (a) a copy of the petition and, if not substantially the same as the petition, the public notice of foreclosure, provided that such copies need not include the descriptions or the names of the owners of any parcels in which the addressee does not have an interest, and (b) a statement substantially as follows:
To the party to whom the enclosed notice is addressed:
You are presumed to own or have a legal interest in one or more of the parcels of real property described on the enclosed petition of foreclosure.
A proceeding to foreclose on such property based upon the failure to pay real property taxes has been commenced. Foreclosure will result in the loss of ownership of such property and all rights in that property.
To avoid loss of ownership or of any other rights in the property, all unpaid taxes and other legal charges must be paid prior to…………. (insert the last date to redeem) or you must interpose a duly verified answer in the proceeding. You may make payment to……………. (insert name, title and address of the official to whom such payments are to be made) in the amount of all such unpaid taxes and legal charges prior to that date. You may wish to contact an attorney to protect your rights.
After…………. (insert the last date to redeem), a court will transfer the title of the property to the………….. (Name of the tax district) by means of a court judgment.
Should you have any questions regarding this notice, please call………… (insert the name of the enforcing officer) at……………. (insert telephone number). Dated,…………….. (Insert date).
3. (a) An affidavit of mailing of such notice shall be executed.
(b) The failure of an intended recipient to receive any such notice shall not invalidate any tax or prevent the enforcement of the same as provided by law.
(c) The service of the notice required by this § of the civil practice law and rules.
4. (a) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude the enforcing officer from issuing, at his or her discretion, a duplicate of any such notice, clearly labeled as such, through means other than ordinary first class mail, including but not limited to personal service, registered or certified mail, facsimile transmission, or electronic mail.
(b) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude the enforcing officer from issuing, at his or her discretion, one or more informal notices to an owner or other party prior to issuing the notice required by this section.
(c) The failure of the enforcing officer to mail any such discretionary notice, or the failure of an intended recipient to receive such a notice, shall not invalidate any tax or prevent the enforcement of the same as provided by law.
5. Any notice mailed by ordinary first class mail pursuant to subdivision one of this section may also be mailed in duplicate by certified mail at the option of the enforcing officer.