Add §316-c, RP L; add §94-e, Exec L; add §96-a, St Fin L
Enacts the "homeowner fraud protection and property alert act"; relates to establishing a statewide electronic property recording alert system to allow property owners to receive notification when an instrument affecting their property is recorded in the official records of any county; establishes the county recording modernization fund.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9731
IN SENATE
April 2, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the real property law and the executive law, in relation
to establishing a statewide property recording alert system to prevent
deed theft and real estate fraud; and to amend the state finance law,
in relation to establishing the county recording modernization fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "homeowner fraud protection and property alert act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds that deed
4 theft and fraudulent property transfers pose a grave threat to the
5 stability of New York families and communities. Predatory actors target
6 seniors, immigrants, and homeowners of color, stripping them of genera-
7 tional wealth and destabilizing neighborhoods.
8 While New York City's Automated City Register Information System
9 (ACRIS) has provided a model for protecting homeowners through property
10 alerts, most of New York's 62 counties lack such protections. This
11 uneven access to fraud prevention tools leaves millions of New Yorkers
12 vulnerable.
13 The legislature therefore declares that it is the policy of the state
14 of New York to establish a uniform, statewide property recording alert
15 system, ensuring that every homeowner-from Brooklyn to Buffalo-has
16 access to timely notice when legal instruments are recorded against
17 their property.
18 This act, the "homeowner fraud protection and property alert act",
19 will:
20 1. Provide real-time alerts to homeowners whenever a deed, mortgage,
21 lien, or satisfaction is recorded.
22 2. Modernize county recording offices across New York, bringing them
23 into the 21st century with digital, accessible, and secure systems.
24 3. Establish New York as a national leader in technology-driven
25 consumer protection and homeowner justice.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13722-01-5
S. 9731 2
1 § 3. The real property law is amended by adding a new section 316-c to
2 read as follows:
3 § 316-c. Statewide property recording alert system. 1. Creation of
4 system. The department of state, in consultation with the office of
5 information technology services and county recording officers, shall
6 establish and maintain a statewide electronic property recording alert
7 system.
8 2. System functionality. (a) The system shall allow property owners to
9 register their property and receive real-time notification whenever an
10 instrument affecting their property, including deeds, mortgages, liens,
11 or satisfactions, is recorded in the official records of any county.
12 (b) Notifications shall be delivered by electronic mail, text message,
13 automated telephone call, or postal mail, as designated by the regis-
14 trant.
15 (c) Notifications shall be available in the ten most common non-Engl-
16 ish languages in the state.
17 (d) The system shall comply with accessibility standards under the
18 Americans with Disabilities Act.
19 3. County participation. (a) Every county recording officer shall
20 integrate its recording system with the statewide alert system pursuant
21 to standards established by the department of state.
22 (b) Counties may apply for grants under subdivision five of this
23 section to support integration and modernization.
24 4. Enrollment. (a) Property owners may enroll free of charge through
25 an online portal, by telephone, by mail, or in person at the office of
26 the county recording officer.
27 (b) Upon the conveyance or refinancing of property, closing agents and
28 title companies shall provide enrollment forms to all property owners.
29 5. Grants for county modernization. The department of state shall
30 provide grants from the county recording modernization fund established
31 pursuant to section ninety-six-a of the state finance law for:
32 (a) technology upgrades to digitize paper-based records;
33 (b) cybersecurity improvements; and
34 (c) integration with the statewide alert system.
35 6. Funding. (a) The system shall be funded through annual appropri-
36 ations of the legislature.
37 (b) The department of state is authorized to impose a recording
38 surcharge not to exceed five dollars per instrument, the proceeds of
39 which shall be deposited into the county recording modernization fund
40 established pursuant to section ninety-six-a of the state finance law.
41 (c) Civil penalties and settlements collected in deed theft prose-
42 cutions may be directed to the county recording modernization fund
43 established pursuant to section ninety-six-a of the state finance law.
44 7. Reporting. The department of state shall submit an annual report to
45 the governor and the legislature detailing:
46 (a) the number of properties enrolled;
47 (b) the number of alerts issued;
48 (c) referrals to law enforcement;
49 (d) cases of fraud prevented; and
50 (e) county modernization progress.
51 § 4. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 94-e to read
52 as follows:
53 § 94-e. Coordination with the office of the attorney general. The
54 department of state shall coordinate with the office of the attorney
55 general and local district attorneys to establish protocols for referral
S. 9731 3
1 of suspicious filings detected through the statewide property recording
2 alert system.
3 § 5. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 96-a to
4 read as follows:
5 § 96-a. County recording modernization fund. 1. There is hereby estab-
6 lished in the joint custody of the state comptroller, the commissioner
7 of taxation and finance, and the department of state a fund to be known
8 as the county recording modernization fund.
9 2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys received by the department of
10 state from the recording surcharge authorized by section three hundred
11 sixteen-c of the real property law, and of civil penalties and settle-
12 ments collected in deed theft prosecutions as provided in section three
13 hundred sixteen-c of the real property law.
14 3. Moneys of the fund shall be used to fund grants provided pursuant
15 to section three hundred sixteen-c of the real property law for technol-
16 ogy upgrades to digitize paper-based records, cybersecurity improve-
17 ments, and integration with the statewide alert system.
18 § 6. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
19 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
20 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
21 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
22 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
23 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
24 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
25 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
26 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
27 § 7. This act shall take effect eighteen months after it shall have
28 become a law; provided, however, that the department of state may
29 promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of
30 this act immediately.
