§ 901 — Collection of unpaid housing code violation penalties in the city of Syracuse; levy

§ 901. Collection of unpaid housing code violation penalties in the\ncity of Syracuse; levy. 1. Authorization. In addition to and not in\nlimitation of any power otherwise granted by law, the city of Syracuse\nis hereby authorized to collect any unpaid housing, building and fire\ncode violation penalties, costs and fines through placement by the\ncity's commissioner of finance on the city's annual tax levy in\naccordance with the provisions of this section.\n 2. Eligibility. In order to be eligible for placement on the city of\nSyracuse's annual tax levy such unpaid code violation penalties, costs\nand fines shall have been adjudicated and imposed through a judgment in\na court of competent jurisdiction or the city of Syracuse's codes\nviolation bureau established pursuant to section three hundred eighty of\nthe general municipal law, on an owner of real property within the city\nand recorded by the county clerk, as certified by the city's corporation\ncounsel to the commissioner of finance and have remained unpaid for one\nyear after the final adjudication and exhaustion of all appeals relating\nto the imposition of the fines for a code violation preceding the\nplacement on the city's tax levy.\n 3. Minimum amount owed. To qualify for placement on the tax levy the\namount owed for unpaid code violations must be at least five percent of\nthe amount of the tax assessed value of the property.\n 4. Levy. Such code violation penalty, cost or fine as set forth in a\ncopy of the judgment certified by the corporation counsel to the\ncommissioner of finance shall be set down in the annual tax levy under\nthe heading uncollected fines and penalties and in according with this\nsection shall be levied, enforced and collected in the same manner, by\nthe same proceedings, at the same time, under the same penalties and\nhaving the same lien upon the property assessed as the general city tax\nand as a part thereof.\n 5. Notice. The city of Syracuse shall notify all owners or known\ninterested parties of record of the placement of the code violations on\nthe municipal tax levy as uncollected fines and penalties within thirty\ndays of placement, pursuant to section three hundred eight of the civil\npractice law and rules. The notice shall include the date or dates of\nsuch violations, the description of the violations, the amount owed, a\nstatement detailing the foreclosure process that will occur if the\nviolations remain unpaid, the process to claim any surplus funds and the\ncontact information for the city's office in charge of receiving\npayments.\n 6. Tax year. Any unpaid code violations shall be placed on the tax\nroll the city of Syracuse is currently in and shall not be placed on a\nlist, roll or levy of delinquent taxes.\n 7. Owner occupied. Notwithstanding any other applicable provisions of\nlaw, nothing in this section shall be applied to a residential dwelling\nthat is owner-occupied or is the primary residence of a homeowner.\n 8. Tenants. Prior to the placement of any property with unpaid code\nviolations on the tax levy, the city of Syracuse shall develop a program\nto assist tenants residing in a dwelling at risk for tax foreclosure due\nto unpaid code violations. Such program shall include housing counseling\nassistance or other support in relocating the tenants to suitable\nhousing prior to the tax foreclosure.\n 9. Payment plan. Nothing in this section shall preclude an owner or\nlandlord from entering into a payment plan with the city of Syracuse for\npast amounts due for code violations.\n 10. Curing code violations. (a) If all of the violations for which the\npenalties, fees and costs have been assessed are cured, removed or\ncorrected prior to the expiration of the period for redemption set forth\nby the city of Syracuse for the city's annual tax levy, the property\nshall be removed from the levy and auction and the balance of the amount\nowed shall be placed as a lien on the property pursuant to applicable\nlaws for debt collection and an action for foreclosure of the property\nshall not be maintained for the amount owed.\n (b) The determination of whether or not the code violations have been\ncured shall be made by the city of Syracuse's enforcing officer in\ncharge of ensuring compliance with applicable housing, building, and\nfire codes such as a code enforcement officer. An appeal of this\ndetermination may be made to the city's zoning board of appeals or other\nlocal administrative body as provided for in local law. The final\ndetermination made by the administrative body shall be reviewable\npursuant to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.\n (c) This section shall not be applicable to any cause of action\nbrought for money due based on the curing of code violations under any\nform for receivership or a mechanics lien.\n 11. Payment prior to auction. (a) If the balance owed for code\nviolations placed on the tax levy is paid prior to the expiration of the\nperiod for redemption set forth by the city of Syracuse for the city's\nannual tax levy and there is no balance due for unpaid real property\ntaxes, the property may not be auctioned, and the property shall be\nremoved from the tax levy.\n (b) The owner shall have the right to pay the full balance prior to\nthe expiration of the period for redemption set forth by the city of\nSyracuse for the city's annual tax levy in order to redeem the property.\n 12. Surplus. Any surplus funds remaining after the sale of a property\nat a tax foreclosure for unpaid code violations shall be returned to the\nformer owner of the property in a manner provided under local law. This\nprovision shall not apply to a sale of a property at a tax foreclosure\ndue to unpaid taxes. If a property has both unpaid taxes and unpaid code\nviolations on the same tax levy and is auctioned at a tax foreclosure\nthe amount of the surplus funds returned to the former owner shall be\nproportionate to the amount of unpaid code violations owed in the total\namount of debt owed to the city of Syracuse. For the purpose of this\nsection, "surplus funds" shall mean the balance of money received after\nauction of a property at a tax foreclosure sale minus the amount owed\nfor code violations and the costs and attorneys' fees incurred in the\ncollection of the fees by the city.\n 13. Balance due. If after an auction a balance is due for code\nviolations, the city of Syracuse may proceed with any action against the\nformer owner pursuant to applicable laws.\n 14. Exclusions. The provisions of this section shall not apply if the\ncity of Syracuse sells their tax liens in a tax lien sale.\n