§ 1310 — Vacant and abandoned property; statewide vacant and abandoned property electronic registry

§ 1310. Vacant and abandoned property; statewide vacant and abandoned\nproperty electronic registry. 1. The department of financial services\nshall maintain a statewide vacant and abandoned property registry in the\nform of an electronic database. The department of financial services\nmay, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the state finance\nlaw, retain a private contractor to administer such database for the\npurposes of satisfying this requirement. The information provided to the\ndepartment of financial services pursuant to this section shall be\ndeemed and treated confidential, provided however, the superintendent of\nfinancial services, in her or his sole discretion, may release the\ninformation if it is in the best interest of the public. Any such\nreleased information shall continue to be treated confidentially by the\nparties. The department of financial services shall, upon written\nrequest, provide public officials of any state district, county, city,\ntown or village with access to information specific to such public\nofficial's district, county, city, town or village maintained on such\ndatabase to further the purposes of this section, section thirteen\nhundred seven of this article or article nineteen-A of this chapter, or\nany other related law, code, rule, regulation or ordinance.\n 2. A lender, assignee or mortgage loan servicer shall submit or cause\nto be submitted to the department of financial services information\nrequired by the superintendent of financial services about any vacant\nand abandoned residential real property, as that term is defined in\nsubdivision two of section thirteen hundred nine of this article, or as\nthe superintendent of financial services may otherwise define that term,\nwithin twenty-one business days of when the lender, assignee or mortgage\nloan servicer learns, or should have learned, that such property is\nvacant and abandoned. Such information shall, at a minimum, include: (a)\nthe current name, address and contact information for the lender,\nassignee or mortgage loan servicer responsible for maintaining the\nvacant property; (b) whether a foreclosure action has been filed for the\nproperty in question, and, if so, the date on which the foreclosure\naction was commenced; and (c) the last known address and contact\ninformation for the mortgagor(s) of record.\n 3. Where any of the information contained in a lender's, assignee's or\nmortgage loan servicer's initial submission to the registry has\nmaterially changed since such submission, such lender, assignee or\nmortgage loan servicer shall make an amended submission to the registry\nnot later than thirty days after the lender, assignee or mortgage loan\nservicer learns, or reasonably should have learned, of the new or\nchanged information.\n 4. The department of financial services is authorized and empowered to\nadopt such rules and regulations as may in the judgment of the\nsuperintendent of financial services necessary for the effective\nadministration and operation of such registry, including but not limited\nto rules and regulations governing access to the registry and specifying\nthe manner and frequency of registration and the information that must\nbe provided. The superintendent of financial services may amend such\nregulations from time to time as necessary to effectuate the purpose of\nthis section and section thirteen hundred seven of this article.\n 5. The department of financial services shall establish and maintain a\ntoll-free hotline that neighbors of real property that is, or appears to\nbe, vacant and abandoned residential real property, as such term is\ndefined in subdivision two of section thirteen hundred nine of this\narticle, and other community residents can use to report to the\nsuperintendent of financial services any hazards, blight or other\nconcerns related to such property. The department of financial services\nshall include on its official public website information about such\ntoll-free hotline.\n No local law, ordinance, or resolution shall impose a duty to register\nvacant and abandoned property as defined in section thirteen hundred\nnine of the article in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of this\nsection that are related to registration as provided under section\nthirteen hundred ten of this article or establish related penalties or\nother monetary obligation, with respect to a state or federally\nchartered bank, savings bank, savings and loan association or credit\nunion that originates, owns, services or maintains a mortgage related to\nsuch property.\n No local law, ordinance, or resolution shall impose a duty to maintain\nvacant and abandoned property upon any state or federally chartered\nbank, savings bank, savings and loan association or credit union that\noriginates, owns, services or maintains a mortgage related to such\nproperty for which the provisions of this section, pursuant to the\nopening paragraph of section thirteen hundred eight of this article, do\nnot apply.\n