A 5585: Establishes central depository databases at the state and county levels for governmental real property transaction records and data.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5585 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 18, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HUNTER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to amend the public lands law and the real property law, in relation to establishing central depository databases for governmental real property transaction records The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 2 of the public lands law is 2 amended by adding five new paragraphs c, d, e, f, and g to read as 3 follows: 4 c. "Distributed ledger technology" shall mean: 5 (i) a technology deployed in a distributed fashion and shared across a 6 network that, when used in conjunction with cryptographic solutions, 7 enable auditable data sharing across a network of untrusted partic- 8 ipants; and 9 (ii) a system that allows multiple parties to share and update a 10 common data source without requiring the party to rely on any single 11 party to maintain and validate the data. 12 d. "Tokenization" shall mean the process of creating digital ownership 13 of real world assets. 14 e. "Digitalization" shall mean the process of converting information 15 into a digital format. 16 f. "Blockchain" shall mean any technology where data is: 17 (i) shared across a network to create a public ledger of verified 18 transactions or information among participants; 19 (ii) linked using cryptography to maintain the integrity of the public 20 ledger and to execute other functions; 21 (iii) distributed among network participants in an automated fashion 22 to concurrently update network participants on the state of the public 23 ledger and any other functions; and 24 (iv) composed of source code that is publicly available. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09839-01-5 
 A. 5585 2 1 g. "Federated blockchain" shall mean a distributed ledger technology 2 system: 3 (i) in which a pre-selected group of entities, rather than a single 4 entity or the general public, is responsible for validating transactions 5 and maintaining consensus on the state of the ledger; 6 (ii) in which control and governance are processed more efficiently 7 compared to public blockchains due to the permissioned nature and 8 streamlined consensus mechanisms; and 9 (iii) which enables secure collaboration and data sharing among multi- 10 ple organizations, finding applications in various industries, included 11 but not limited to supply chain management, healthcare and financial 12 services. 13 § 2. The public lands law is amended by adding a new section 2-c to 14 read as follows: 15 § 2-c. Central depository database for governmental property. 1. The 16 commissioner of general services may establish and maintain a central 17 depository database for governmental real property to compile, store, 18 maintain, and secure government real estate records. Such database shall 19 provide redundant, immutable, and permissioned data controlled through 20 distributed ledger technology, increase efficiency for state agencies, 21 and create transparency while maintaining proper security. 22 2. The commissioner of general services, in conjunction with relevant 23 state agencies, may create and implement a strategy to adopt distributed 24 ledger technology that uses tokenization and digitalization within the 25 agency whereby data is stored securely and permanently on a federated 26 blockchain for the purpose of properly securing government real estate 27 records and preventing improper access to and hacking of such records. 28 3. The data stored in such distributed ledger technology shall be 29 accessible to state agencies, municipalities, and taxpayers. 30 § 3. Subdivision 12 of section 290 of the real property law, as 31 amended by chapter 549 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as 32 follows: 33 12. "Distributed ledger technology" shall mean: 34 (a) a technology deployed in a distributed fashion and shared across a 35 network that, when used in conjunction with cryptographic solutions, 36 enable auditable data sharing across a network of untrusted partic- 37 ipants; and 38 (b) a system that allows multiple parties to share and update a common 39 data source without requiring the party to rely on any single party to 40 maintain and validate the data. 41 13. "Tokenization" shall mean the process of creating digital owner- 42 ship of real world assets. 43 14. "Digitalization" shall mean the process of converting information 44 into a digital format. 45 15. "Blockchain" shall mean any technology where data is: 46 (a) shared across a network to create a public ledger of verified 47 transactions or information among participants; 48 (b) linked using cryptography to maintain the integrity of the public 49 ledger and to execute other functions; 50 (c) distributed among network participants in an automated fashion to 51 concurrently update network participants on the state of the public 52 ledger and any other functions; and 53 (d) composed of source code that is publicly available. 54 16. "Federated blockchain" shall mean a distributed ledger technology 55 system: 
 A. 5585 3 1 (a) in which a pre-selected group of entities, rather than a single 2 entity or the general public, is responsible for validating transactions 3 and maintaining consensus on the state of the ledger; 4 (b) in which control and governance are processed more efficiently 5 compared to public blockchains due to the permissioned nature and 6 streamlined consensus mechanisms; and 7 (c) which enables secure collaboration and data sharing among multiple 8 organizations, finding applications in various industries, included but 9 not limited to supply chain management, healthcare and financial 10 services. 11 17. This article, with the exception of section two hundred ninety- 12 one-k of this article, does not apply to leases for life or lives, or 13 for years, heretofore made, of lands in either of the counties of Alba- 14 ny, Ulster, Sullivan, Herkimer, Dutchess, Columbia, Delaware or Schenec- 15 tady. 16 § 4. The real property law is amended by adding a new section 291-k to 17 read as follows: 18 § 291-k. Central depository database for real property transactions. 19 1. The office of the clerk of the county or city registrar may, where 20 applicable, establish and maintain a central depository database for 21 governmental real property to compile, store, maintain, and secure real 22 estate records. Such database shall provide redundant, immutable, and 23 permissioned data controlled through distributed ledger technology, 24 increase efficiency for state agencies, and create transparency while 25 maintaining proper security. 26 2. The office of the clerk of the county or city registrar may, where 27 applicable, create and implement a strategy to adopt distributed ledger 28 technology that uses tokenization and digitalization within the agency 29 whereby data is stored securely and permanently on a federated block- 30 chain for the purpose of properly securing government real estate 31 records and preventing improper access to and hacking of such records. 32 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.