Relates to penalties for failure to comply with maintenance and reporting of vacant and abandoned properties, and reporting and release of information; provides for the sharing of information between municipalities; provides for enforcement for failure to report on abandoned and vacant properties.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1634--B
Cal. No. 200
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. KAVANAGH, ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing,
Construction and Community Development -- reported favorably from said
committee, ordered to first and second report, amended on second
report, ordered to a third reading, and to be reprinted as amended,
retaining its place in the order of third reading -- reported favora-
bly from said committee to third reading, amended and ordered
reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to penalties for failure to comply with maintenance and
reporting of vacant and abandoned properties, and reporting and
release of information
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 8 of section 1308 of the real
2 property actions and proceedings law, as added by section 1 of part Q of
3 chapter 73 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) Violations of this section may be heard before a hearing officer
5 or a court of competent jurisdiction. If it shall appear to the satis-
6 faction of the hearing officer or the court, based on the preponderance
7 of the evidence, that the mortgagee or agent of a mortgagee has violated
8 this section, a civil penalty may be issued by the hearing officer or
9 the court in the amount of up to [five] six hundred fifty dollars per
10 day per property for each day the violation persisted.
11 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 1310 of the real property actions and
12 proceedings law, as added by section 4 of part Q of chapter 73 of the
13 laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
14 1. The department of financial services shall maintain a statewide
15 vacant and abandoned property registry in the form of an electronic
16 database. The department of financial services may, in accordance with
17 the applicable provisions of the state finance law, retain a private
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05004-04-3
S. 1634--B 2
1 contractor to administer such database for the purposes of satisfying
2 this requirement. The information provided to the department of finan-
3 cial services pursuant to this section shall be deemed and treated
4 confidential, provided however, the superintendent of financial
5 services, in her or his sole discretion, may release the information if
6 it is in the best interest of the public. Any such released information
7 shall continue to be treated confidentially by the parties. The depart-
8 ment of financial services shall, upon written request, provide public
9 officials of any state district, county, city, town or village with
10 access to information specific to such public official's district, coun-
11 ty, city, town or village maintained on such database to further the
12 purposes of this section, section thirteen hundred seven of this article
13 or article nineteen-A of this chapter, or any other related law, code,
14 rule, regulation or ordinance, and such state district, county, city,
15 town or village that receives such information from the department of
16 financial services may share such information with another state
17 district, county, city, town, village or municipal landbank for the
18 purpose of coordinating and cooperating to further the purposes of this
19 section, section thirteen hundred seven of this article or article nine-
20 teen-A of this chapter or any other related law, code, rule, regulation
21 or ordinance.
22 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 1310 of the real property actions and
23 proceedings law, as added by section 4 of part Q of chapter 73 of the
24 laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
25 2. A lender, assignee or mortgage loan servicer shall submit or cause
26 to be submitted to the department of financial services information
27 required by the superintendent of financial services about any vacant
28 and abandoned residential real property, as that term is defined in
29 subdivision two of section thirteen hundred nine of this article, or as
30 the superintendent of financial services may otherwise define that term,
31 within twenty-one business days of when the lender, assignee or mortgage
32 loan servicer learns, or should have learned, that such property is
33 vacant and abandoned. Such information shall, at a minimum, include: (a)
34 the current name, title, mailing address, address for service of proc-
35 ess, and contact information, including direct phone number and email
36 address for [the] each lender, assignee [or] and mortgage loan servicer
37 responsible for maintaining the vacant property, and for each lender,
38 assignee and mortgage loan servicer that is authorized or required to
39 provide funds for the maintenance of such property; (b) whether a fore-
40 closure action has been filed for the property in question, and, if so,
41 the date on which the foreclosure action was commenced; and (c) the last
42 known address and contact information for [the mortgagor(s)] any mortga-
43 gor of record.
44 § 4. Section 1310 of the real property actions and proceedings law is
45 amended by adding a new subdivision 6 to read as follows:
46 6. (a) This section may be enforced in the same manner as provided in
47 paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subdivision eight of section thirteen
48 hundred eight of this article.
49 (b) A violation of this section may be heard before a hearing officer
50 or a court of competent jurisdiction. If it shall appear to the satis-
51 faction of the hearing officer or the court, based on the preponderance
52 of the evidence, that the lender, assignee or mortgage loan servicer has
53 violated this section by failing to submit or to cause to be submitted
54 to the department of financial services any information required by the
55 superintendent of financial services about any vacant and abandoned
56 property pursuant to this section, or failing to make an amended
S. 1634--B 3
1 submission when any such information has materially changed since the
2 latest submission, as required by subdivision three of this section, a
3 civil penalty may be issued by the hearing officer or the court in the
4 amount of up to five thousand dollars per property for each such fail-
5 ure.
6 § 5. Section 1310 of the real property actions and proceedings law is
7 amended by adding a new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
8 7. The superintendent of financial services shall publish on or before
9 February fifteenth each year an annual report presenting data regarding
10 properties that appeared on the registry during the most recent year
11 ending December thirty-first. Such data shall, at a minimum, include,
12 for each county, city, and town, the total number of properties and the
13 total number of dwelling units in such properties: (a) included in the
14 registry at the beginning of the year, (b) added to the registry during
15 the year, (c) removed from the registry during the year, and (d)
16 included in the registry at the end of the year. For properties included
17 in the registry at the end of the year, the data shall indicate, for
18 each county, city, or town, how many properties and dwelling units in
19 such properties have been included in the registry for (i) six consec-
20 utive months or less, (ii) one year or less, (iii) two years or less,
21 (iv) three years or less, or (v) longer than three years.
22 § 6. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
23 have become a law.
