A 4623: Excludes real property conveyances from the written notice requirement when such property is being conveyed by the state of New York or any of its political subdivisions as part of a foreclosure proceeding.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4623 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SEMPOLINSKI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to excluding certain real property conveyances from the written notice requirement The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 291 of the real property law, as amended by chapter 2 641 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 291. Recording of conveyances. A conveyance of real property, within 4 the state, on being duly acknowledged by the person executing the same, 5 or proved as required by this chapter, and such acknowledgment or proof 6 duly certified when required by this chapter, may be recorded in the 7 office of the clerk of the county where such real property is situated, 8 and such county clerk or city registrar where applicable shall, upon the 9 request of any party, on tender of the lawful fees therefor, record the 10 same in said office. Every such conveyance not so recorded is void as 11 against any person who subsequently purchases or acquires by exchange or 12 contracts to purchase or acquire by exchange, the same real property or 13 any portion thereof, or acquires by assignment the rent to accrue there- 14 from as provided in section two hundred ninety-four-a of this article, 15 in good faith and for a valuable consideration, from the same vendor or 16 assignor, [his] such vendor or assignor's distributees or devisees, and 17 whose conveyance, contract or assignment is first duly recorded, and is 18 void as against the lien upon the same real property or any portion 19 thereof arising from payments made upon the execution of or pursuant to 20 the terms of a contract with the same vendor, [his] such vendor's 21 distributees or devisees, if such contract is made in good faith and is 22 first duly recorded. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase in the 23 principal balance of a mortgage lien by virtue of the addition thereto 24 of unpaid interest in accordance with the terms of the mortgage shall 25 retain the priority of the original mortgage lien as so increased EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04538-01-5 
 A. 4623 2 1 provided that any such mortgage instrument sets forth its terms of 2 repayment. The clerk of the county or city registrar where such convey- 3 ance of residential real property is recorded and maintained shall mail 4 a written notice of such conveyance to the owner of record. The notice 5 shall have the heading printed in 20 point bold type and read as 6 follows: 7 "NOTICE OF SALE OR TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OF YOUR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. 8 To:______________________________ 9 Name of owner of record 10 Our records show that you are listed as the current owner of record for 11 residential property: 12 Block #__________ Lot #________ 13 Located At: ___________________________ 14 street address 15 in the county of __________________ New York 16 On ____________, documents were filed at this 17 date 18 office to change ownership and transfer title of your property. 19 To: ______________________________ 20 name of new owner 21 If you have any questions regarding the validity of the documents, and 22 wish to dispute the recording of the transfer, you should obtain legal 23 counsel. If you believe you are a victim of a crime related to this 24 recording, contact your local law enforcement agency or, if in the City 25 of New York, the office of the sheriff." 26 The party seeking to record such conveyance shall bear the cost of such 27 written notice. The clerk of the county or city registrar is entitled to 28 charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of mailing the envelope to the 29 owner of record. Failure to mail such notice or the failure of any party 30 to receive the same, shall not affect the validity of the conveyance of 31 the property. Conveyances by the state of New York or any of its poli- 32 tical subdivisions in conjunction with a foreclosure of a tax lien 33 pursuant to a proceeding in rem under title three of article eleven of 34 the real property tax law shall not require written notice. 35 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.