§ 1125 — Personal notice of commencement of foreclosure proceeding

New York § 1125

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law RPT: Real Property Tax
• Title 3: Foreclosure of Tax Lien By Proceeding In Rem
• Art. 11: Procedures For Enforcement of Collection of Delinquent Taxes

Text

§ 1125. Personal notice of commencement of foreclosure proceeding. 1.\n(a) Parties entitled to notice. The enforcing officer shall on or before\nthe date of the first publication of the notice above set forth cause a\nnotice to be mailed to (i) each owner and any other person whose right,\ntitle, or interest was a matter of public record as of the date the list\nof delinquent taxes was filed, which right, title or interest will be\naffected by the termination of the redemption period, and whose name and\naddress are reasonably ascertainable from the public record, including\nthe records in the offices of the surrogate of the county, or from\nmaterial submitted to the enforcing officer pursuant to paragraph (d) of\nthis subdivision, (ii) any other person who has filed a declaration of\ninterest pursuant to section eleven hundred twenty-six of this title\nwhich has not expired, and (iii) the enforcing officer of any other tax\ndistrict having a right to enforce the payment of a tax imposed upon any\nof the parcels described upon such petition.\n (b) Notification method. (i) Such notice shall be sent to each such\nparty both by certified mail and ordinary first class mail, subject to\nthe provisions of subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph. The notice shall\nbe deemed received unless both the certified mailing and the ordinary\nfirst class mailing are returned by the United States postal service\nwithin forty-five days after being mailed. In that event, the enforcing\nofficer or his or her agent shall attempt to obtain an alternative\nmailing address from the United States postal service. When notice is\nrequired to be sent to the commissioner of taxation and finance, an\nalternative notice may be used by the enforcing officer, in accordance\nwith instructions prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and\nfinance.\n (ii) If an alternative mailing address is found, the enforcing officer\nshall cause the notice to be mailed to such owner at such address both\nby certified mail and by ordinary first class mail. Notwithstanding any\nprovision of law to the contrary, such owner may redeem the parcel in\nquestion or serve a duly verified answer to the petition of foreclosure\nuntil either the thirtieth day after such mailing, or the date specified\nby the notice of foreclosure as the last day for redemption, whichever\nis later.\n (iii) If no alternative mailing address can be found, then in the case\nof an owner, the enforcing officer shall cause a copy of such notice to\nbe posted as provided herein on the property to which the delinquent tax\nlien relates; in the case of a non-owner, the enforcing officer shall\ncause a copy of such notice to be posted in his or her office and in the\noffice of the clerk of the court in which the petition of foreclosure\nhas been filed. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,\nthe party to whom such notice is directed may redeem the parcel in\nquestion or serve a duly verified answer to the petition of foreclosure\nuntil either the thirtieth day after such posting or delivery, or the\ndate specified by the notice of foreclosure as the last day for\nredemption, whichever is later.\n (iv) Where an owner is listed as "unknown" on the tax roll and the\nname of such owner cannot be found in the public record, the notice\nshall be mailed to the property address by ordinary first class mail\naddressed to "occupant" and a copy thereof shall be posted on the\nproperty to which the tax lien relates.\n (c) Posting of notice. When a notice is required to be posted on the\nproperty to which the delinquent tax lien relates pursuant to this\nsection, the posting shall be deemed sufficient if it is either (i)\naffixed to a door of a residential or commercial structure on the\npremises, or (ii) attached to a vertical object, such as a tree, post or\nstake, and plainly visible from the road. Provided, that if, when\nvisiting the premises for this purpose, the enforcing officer or his or\nher agent should find thereon an occupant of suitable age and\ndiscretion, he or she may deliver such notice to such occupant in\naddition to or in lieu of posting it. The process of so posting or\ndelivering such notice shall warrant the imposition of an extra charge\nof one hundred dollars against the parcel, in addition to any other\ncharges authorized by section eleven hundred twenty-four of this title\nand without regard to any limitations set forth therein.\n (d) Changes of address. It shall be the responsibility of any party\nentitled to notice pursuant to this section to notify the enforcing\nofficer when his, her or its address changes. Such notification need not\nbe in any particular form as long as it is in writing, affirmatively\nstates that such party's address has changed or uses language to that\neffect, and sets forth the new address. It shall not suffice to submit\nto the enforcing officer an item that merely displays the new address,\nsuch as a check upon which the new address has been imprinted, or a\nletter or envelope which uses the new address as the return address,\nunless such submission includes language clearly indicating that such\naddress is that party's new address. In the event that a foreclosure\nproceeding is challenged on grounds of lack of notice, and the party\nraising this issue failed to provide a current address to the enforcing\nofficer pursuant to this paragraph, the court having jurisdiction may\ntake such failure into account when evaluating whether reasonable notice\nwas given.\n (e) Public record. For purposes of this section, the public record\nshall be deemed to consist of the books maintained by the recording\nofficer of the county in which the property is located pursuant to\nsection three hundred fifteen of the real property law, the books kept\nby the clerk of the surrogate's court of the county in which the\nproperty is located pursuant to section twenty-five hundred two of the\nsurrogate's court procedure act, the tax rolls in the possession of the\nenforcing officer dated from the applicable lien date forward.\n 2. The notice to be so mailed shall consist of (a) a copy of the\npetition and, if not substantially the same as the petition, the public\nnotice of foreclosure, provided that such copies need not include the\ndescriptions or the names of the owners of any parcels in which the\naddressee does not have an interest, and (b) a statement substantially\nas follows:\n To the party to whom the enclosed notice is addressed:\n You are presumed to own or have a legal interest in one or more of the\nparcels of real property described on the enclosed petition of\nforeclosure.\n A proceeding to foreclose on such property based upon the failure to\npay real property taxes has been commenced. Foreclosure will result in\nthe loss of ownership of such property and all rights in that property.\n To avoid loss of ownership or of any other rights in the property, all\nunpaid taxes and other legal charges must be paid prior to.............\n(insert the last date to redeem) or you must interpose a duly verified\nanswer in the proceeding. You may make payment to................\n(insert name, title and address of the official to whom such payments\nare to be made) in the amount of all such unpaid taxes and legal charges\nprior to that date. You may wish to contact an attorney to protect your\nrights.\n After............. (insert the last date to redeem), a court will\ntransfer the title of the property to the.............. (Name of the tax\ndistrict) by means of a court judgment.\n Should you have any questions regarding this notice, please\ncall............ (insert the name of the enforcing officer)\nat................ (insert telephone number).\nDated,................. (Insert date).\n 2-a. In the case of residential property as defined by section eleven\nhundred eleven of this article, such notice shall also either include or\nbe accompanied by the homeowner warning notice described by section\neleven hundred forty-four of this article.\n 3. (a) An affidavit of mailing of such notice shall be executed.\n (b) The failure of an intended recipient to receive any such notice\nshall not invalidate any tax or prevent the enforcement of the same as\nprovided by law.\n (c) The service of the notice required by this section shall be deemed\nto be equivalent to the service of a notice of petition pursuant to\nsection four hundred three of the civil practice law and rules.\n 4. (a) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude the\nenforcing officer from issuing, at his or her discretion, a duplicate of\nany such notice, clearly labeled as such, through means other than\nordinary first class mail, including but not limited to personal\nservice, registered or certified mail, facsimile transmission, or\nelectronic mail.\n (b) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude the\nenforcing officer from issuing, at his or her discretion, one or more\ninformal notices to an owner or other party prior to issuing the notice\nrequired by this section.\n (c) The failure of the enforcing officer to mail any such\ndiscretionary notice, or the failure of an intended recipient to receive\nsuch a notice, shall not invalidate any tax or prevent the enforcement\nof the same as provided by law.\n 5. Any notice mailed by ordinary first class mail pursuant to\nsubdivision one of this section may also be mailed in duplicate by\ncertified mail at the option of the enforcing officer.\n