§ 1142 — Homeowner bill of rights

§ 1142. Homeowner bill of rights. Any owner of a residential property,\nas defined in section eleven hundred eleven of this article, who\noccupies such property as their primary residence, shall have the\nfollowing rights:\n 1. Notwithstanding any other general, special, or local law, local tax\nact, code, rule, regulation, or charter provision to the contrary, to\nnot have exemptions removed or waived for nonpayment of property taxes,\nexcept to the extent otherwise provided in section one hundred\nseventy-one-w of the tax law and any other general law that explicitly\nauthorizes the removal of an exemption due to the nonpayment of taxes;\n 2. To be informed of the amount of tax due, the number of tax years\nfor which the parcel has been in arrears, the date on which the\nredemption period ends, the accepted forms of payment, the location\nwhere payments shall be made, and the contact information for the\nresponsible taxing authority, provided that a claim by an owner that\nthey were not so informed shall not constitute a valid defense to a\nforeclosure proceeding;\n 3. To receive homeowner warning notices pursuant to section eleven\nhundred forty-four of this title;\n 4. In the event that their primary residence is foreclosed upon, to\nreceive a share of any surplus resulting from the sale of the property\nin the manner provided by law;\n 5. To be charged interest at a rate no higher than the maximum\nallowable statutory interest rate for unpaid property taxes;\n 6. To enter into installment plans or repayment plans for purposes of\npaying delinquent taxes where locally authorized;\n 7. For owners who are senior citizens who are receiving a senior\ncitizens exemption, an enhanced STAR exemption or an enhanced STAR\ncredit, to receive a grace period of five business days to pay their\ntaxes without interest in a local government that has opted to grant\nsuch an extension to such persons;\n 8. In the event that their primary residence is foreclosed upon, to\nhave all debts related to delinquent taxes owed on such primary\nresidence extinguished upon the foreclosure, except when they have\nreacquired title pursuant to subdivision four of section eleven hundred\nthirty-six of this article; provided, however, that nothing contained\nherein shall be construed to preclude a tax district from bringing an\naction against a former owner to recover reasonable costs incurred in\nacting pursuant to law to remove, abate or mitigate unsafe conditions\nand/or nuisances that were present on the property at the time of\nforeclosure, including but not limited to the demolition of unsafe\nstructures and the elimination of fire and health hazards where\nwarranted.\n