Senate Bill S4752

                                BILL NUMBER:S4752

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the general municipal law, in relation to authorizing a
municipality to impose tax liens for unpaid building code violations and
emergency repairs at foreclosed real property

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure that those financial
institutions or their successor property management organizations
that manage foreclosed upon residential or commercial properties
adequately maintain such properties until they are sold to a new
purchaser. Under current law, it is difficult and time consuming for
a municipality to collect municipal house code violation fines and
municipal costs incurred to correct such violations.
This bill should assist a municipality to collect such fines and
encourage managers of foreclosed upon properties to adequately
maintain such properties because they will have notice that such
fines will ultimately be collected.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Adds a new section 85-b to the General Municipal Law to
provide for a more formalized process by which a municipality can
file a lien against properties in which certain unpaid municipal
building code or zoning code violations are due. Such lien may only
              

be filed against real properties that are subject to a foreclosure
action pursuant to article 13 of the Real Property Actions and
proceedings Law. In addition to filing a lien for collection of
unpaid municipal code violations,' such liens may include municipal
expenses to correct any such violation. Before the lien provisions
contained in this new section can be exercised, the municipality must
adopt a local law or ordinance to establish a lien filing procedure.
The municipality must file such lien in the county clerk's office, at
which time, such lien shall constitute a real property tax lien.

JUSTIFICATION:

The purpose of this bill is to enhance the ability of a municipality
to collect certain housing code violation fines on properties that
have been foreclosed upon or are subject to a foreclosure action. If
enacted, the provisions of this bill should give adequate notice to
banks that manage foreclosed properties, both residential and
commercial, that such municipal fines will be collected. Hence, such
financial institutions should be encouraged to adequately maintain
foreclosed properties to avoid the assessment and collection of such
fines.

IS SUSPECT YOU MAY WISH TO ADD SOME STATEMENT ABOUT THE NUMBER OF
FORECLOSED UPON PROPERTIES AND STATS THAT THEY ARE NOT BEING
ADEQUATELY MAINTAINED WHICH IN TURN CAUSES URBAN AND SUBURBAN BLIGHT
AND FURTHER DECLINE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.


FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
This bill will give municipalities additional
powers to collect delinquent municipal housing code violation fines.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate.