§ 1102 — Definitions

§ 1102. Definitions. When used in this article:\n 1. "Charges" or "legal charges" means:\n (a) the cost of the mailing or service of notices required or\nauthorized by this article;\n (b) the cost of publication of notices required or authorized by this\ntitle;\n (c) the amount of any interest and penalties imposed by law;\n (d) the cost of recording or filing legal documents required or\nauthorized by this article;\n (e) the cost of appraising a parcel for the purpose of determining the\nexistence and amount of any surplus pursuant to section eleven hundred\nninety-six of this article;\n (f) the reasonable and necessary cost of any search of the public\nrecord required or authorized to satisfy the notice requirements of this\narticle, and other reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by a tax\ndistrict in connection with a proceeding to foreclose a tax lien,\nincluding but not limited to administrative, auction and reasonable\nattorney fees and/or costs associated with the foreclosure process;\nprovided, that: (i) a charge of up to either two hundred fifty dollars\nper parcel, or two percent of the sum of the taxes, interest and\npenalties due on the parcel, whichever is greater, shall be deemed\nreasonable and necessary to cover the combined costs of such searches\nand the other reasonable and necessary costs and expenses delineated in\nthis paragraph, and such an amount may be charged without\nsubstantiation, even if salaried employees of the tax district performed\nsome or all of such services; and (ii) a tax district may charge a\ngreater amount with respect to one or more parcels upon demonstration to\nthe satisfaction of the court having jurisdiction that such greater\namount was reasonable and necessary; and\n (g) the amount owed to the tax district by virtue of a judgment lien,\na mortgage lien, or any other lien held by the tax district that is not\na delinquent tax lien.\n (h) Charges shall be deemed a part of the delinquent tax for purposes\nof redemption and determination of surplus.\n 2. "Delinquent tax" means an unpaid tax, special ad valorem levy,\nspecial assessment or other charge imposed upon real property by or on\nbehalf of a municipal corporation or special district, plus all\napplicable charges, relating to any parcel which is included in the\nreturn of unpaid delinquent taxes prepared pursuant to section nine\nhundred thirty-six of this chapter or such other general, special, or\nlocal law as may be applicable. In no event, however, shall "delinquent\ntax" include any unpaid tax or other charge against lands owned by the\nstate.\n 3. "Enforcing officer" means any elected or appointed officer of any\ntax district empowered or charged by law to enforce the collection of\ntax liens on real property; provided, however, that (a) where no law\nprovides otherwise, the enforcing officer shall be (i) in a county which\nis a tax district, the county treasurer or commissioner of finance, (ii)\nin a city which is a tax district, the official so empowered or charged\nby the city charter, (iii) in a village which is a tax district, the\nvillage treasurer, and (iv) in a town which is a tax district, the town\nsupervisor; and (b) when the duties and powers of an "enforcing officer"\nare vested in two or more elected or appointed officials, the governing\nbody of the tax district shall designate which of such officials shall\nact as enforcing officer for the purposes set forth in this article. The\nenforcing officer and other officials of the tax district who have\nresponsibilities affecting the enforcement process shall work\ncooperatively to facilitate the enforcement process.\n 4. "Lien date" means the date on which the tax or other legal charges\nrepresented thereby became a lien, as provided by section nine hundred\ntwo of this chapter or such other general, special or local law as may\nbe applicable, provided, that when the taxes of a school district are\nenforced by a tax district without being relevied by the tax district,\nand the lien date of the school district taxes differs from the lien\ndate of the taxes of the tax district which are levied upon the same\nassessment roll, the later of the two such dates shall be deemed to be\nthe lien date for purposes of this article.\n 5. "Person" means an individual, a corporation (including a foreign\ncorporation and a municipal corporation), a joint stock association, a\npartnership, the state, and any other organization, state, government or\ncounty which may lawfully own property in the state.\n 6. "Tax district" means: (a) a county, other than (i) a county for\nwhich the cities and towns enforce delinquent taxes pursuant to the\ncounty administrative code, or (ii) a county wholly contained within a\ncity;\n (b) a city, other than a city for which the county enforces delinquent\ntaxes pursuant to the city charter;\n (c) a village, other than a village for which the county enforces\ndelinquent taxes pursuant to section fourteen hundred forty-two of this\nchapter; or\n (d) a town in a county in which towns enforce delinquent taxes\npursuant to the county administrative code.\n