NY State Senate Bill 2017-S2966

Senate Bill S2966

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Provides for a notice of conveyance of real property to be sent to the owners of record of residential real property

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to judiciary
Jan 18, 2017	referred to judiciary

co-Sponsors

2017-S2966 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1785
Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Real Property Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §291, RP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: A3518
2011-2012: A4748
2013-2014: A4813
2015-2016: S7955, A6685
2019-2020: A440

2017-S2966 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for a notice of conveyance of real property to be sent to the owners of record of residential real property; provides persons filing for conveyance shall bear the cost of mailing.

2017-S2966 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S2966

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the real property law, in relation
to notice of sale or transfer of ownership of residential property

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

To require the county clerk or city register to provide notice to the
owner of record when recording a conveyance of residential real
property.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of this bill amends section 291 of the Real Property Law to
require the county clerk or city registrar, where applicable, to
provide written notice to the title owner of record of the conveyance
to a new owner. The person seeking to record such conveyance shall
submit with the filing of the document of conveyance, a pre-stamped
envelope with sufficient postage to mail a large envelope by first
class mail.

Section 2 of this bill provides that the act shall take effect on the
ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.

 JUSTIFICATION :

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations ("FBI"), real estate
and mortgage fraud is vastly on the rise. In 2007 the FBI received
46,717 Suspicious Activity Reports related to real estate and mortgage
fraud compared to 35,617 in 2006 and just 6,936 in 2003.  Only 7% of
these reports documented an exact dollar amount in terms of losses,
but even so, the total loss from this 7% was $813 million.  The FBI's
caseload has also escalated. By the end of fiscal year 2007, the FBI
experienced a 47% increase in real estate cases from 2006 and a
whopping 176% increase from 2003.

One of the more common means to defraud is through the fraudulent
transfer of land title to obtain home equity lines of credit.
Criminals also target residential vacant properties or houses put up
for sale. In fact, the FBI reports that at least twenty percent (20%)
of all title transfers are the result of some fraud. To facilitate
these schemes, perpetrators often pose as new owners of a home in
order to transfer the title. Once the title transfer is complete, the
perpetrator can use the new title to obtain a home equity line of
credit.

Among those affected by this egregious crime, the elderly are the most
vulnerable victims. Senior citizens, often owners of homes that are
fully paid for, without a mortgage, and therefore with no bank or
institution having a vested interest in their property, are especially
vulnerable to fraudulent transfers. Data from law enforcement and
industry sources were compared and mapped to determine which areas of
the country were most affected by mortgage fraud during 2007.
Information from the FBI, Mortgage Asset Research Institute ("MARI"),
Fannie Mae, RealtyTrac Inc., Interthinx, and Radian Guaranty Inc.
indicate that New York State was among the top 10 mortgage fraud
states for 2007.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2016: S.7955-A - Referred to Judiciary

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None to the State.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.

2017-S2966 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2966
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 18, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to notice of sale  or
   transfer of ownership of residential property
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 291 of the real property law, as amended by chapter
 447 of the laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
   § 291. Recording of conveyances.  A conveyance of real property, with-
 in the state, on being duly acknowledged by  the  person  executing  the
 same,  or proved as required by this chapter, and such acknowledgment or
 proof duly certified when required by this chapter, may be  recorded  in
 the  office of the clerk of the county where such real property is situ-
 ated, and such county clerk OR CITY REGISTRAR  WHERE  APPLICABLE  shall,
 upon  the  request  of any party, on tender of the lawful fees therefor,
 record the same in [his] said office.   Every  such  conveyance  not  so
 recorded  is  void  as  against any person who subsequently purchases or
 acquires by exchange or contracts to purchase or  acquire  by  exchange,
 the same real property or any portion thereof, or acquires by assignment
 the  rent to accrue therefrom as provided in section two hundred ninety-
 four-a of [the real property law] THIS ARTICLE, in good faith and for  a
 valuable  consideration, from the same vendor or assignor, his distribu-
 tees or devisees, and whose conveyance, contract or assignment is  first
 duly  recorded, and is void as against the lien upon the same real prop-
 erty or  any  portion  thereof  arising  from  payments  made  upon  the
 execution  of  or  pursuant  to  the  terms  of a contract with the same
 vendor, his distributees or devisees, if such contract is made  in  good
 faith  and  is  first duly recorded.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, any
 increase in the principal balance of a mortgage lien by  virtue  of  the
 addition  thereto of unpaid interest in accordance with the terms of the
 mortgage shall retain the priority of the original mortgage lien  as  so
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD04243-01-7

 S. 2966                             2
 
 increased  provided  that  any  such  mortgage instrument sets forth its
 terms of repayment.  THE CLERK OF THE COUNTY  OR  CITY  REGISTRAR  WHERE
 SUCH  CONVEYANCE OF RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY IS RECORDED AND MAINTAINED
 SHALL  MAIL  A WRITTEN NOTICE OF SUCH CONVEYANCE TO THE OWNER OF RECORD.
 THE NOTICE SHALL HAVE THE HEADING PRINTED IN 20 POINT BOLD TYPE AND READ
 AS FOLLOWS:
 "NOTICE OF SALE OR TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OF YOUR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY.
 TO:______________________________
       NAME OF OWNER OF RECORD
 
 OUR RECORDS SHOW THAT YOU ARE LISTED AS THE CURRENT OWNER OF RECORD  FOR
 RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY:
 
 BLOCK # __________  LOT # ________
 
 LOCATED AT: ___________________________
                   STREET ADDRESS
 
 IN THE COUNTY OF __________________ NEW YORK
 ON ____________, DOCUMENTS WERE FILED AT THIS
       DATE
 OFFICE TO CHANGE OWNERSHIP AND TRANSFER TITLE OF YOUR PROPERTY.
 
 TO: ______________________________
           NAME OF NEW OWNER

 IF  YOU  HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THE VALIDITY OF THE DOCUMENTS, AND
 WISH TO DISPUTE THE RECORDING OF THE TRANSFER, YOU SHOULD  OBTAIN  LEGAL
 COUNSEL.  IF  YOU  BELIEVE  YOU  ARE A VICTIM OF A CRIME RELATED TO THIS
 RECORDING, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OR, IF IN THE  CITY
 OF NEW YORK, THE OFFICE OF THE SHERIFF."
 THE  PARTY SEEKING TO RECORD SUCH CONVEYANCE SHALL BEAR THE COST OF SUCH
 WRITTEN NOTICE.   THE PARTY  SEEKING  TO  RECORD  THE  CONVEYANCE  SHALL
 SUBMIT, CONTEMPORANEOUSLY WITH THE FILING OF THE DOCUMENT OF CONVEYANCE,
 A PRE-STAMPED ENVELOPE BEARING SUFFICIENT POSTAGE TO MAIL A LARGE ENVEL-
 OPE  BY FIRST CLASS MAIL.  FAILURE TO MAIL SUCH NOTICE OR THE FAILURE OF
 ANY PARTY TO RECEIVE THE SAME, SHALL NOT  AFFECT  THE  VALIDITY  OF  THE
 CONVEYANCE OF THE PROPERTY.
   §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.

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Senate Bill S2966

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Sponsored By

Martin J. Golden