§ 12. Sale, mortgage and lease of real property of religious
corporations. 1. A religious corporation shall not sell, mortgage or
lease for a term exceeding five years any of its real property without
applying for and obtaining leave of the court or the attorney general
therefor pursuant to section five hundred eleven of the not-for-profit
corporation law as that section is modified by paragraph (d-1) of
subdivision one of section two-b of this chapter or section five hundred
eleven-a of the not-for-profit corporation law, except that a religious
corporation may execute a purchase money mortgage or a purchase money
security agreement creating a security interest in personal property
purchased by it without obtaining leave of the court therefor.

2. The trustees of an incorporated Protestant Episcopal church shall
not vote upon any resolution or proposition for the sale, mortgage or
lease of its real property, unless the rector of such church, if it then
has a rector, shall be present, and shall not make application to the
court for leave to sell or mortgage any of its real property without the
consent of the bishop and standing committee of the diocese to which
such church belongs, or execute and deliver a lease of any of its real
property for a term exceeding five years without similar consent of the
bishop and standing committee of the diocese to which such church
belongs; but in case the see be vacant, or the bishop be absent or
unable to act, the consent of the standing committee with their
certificate of the vacancy of the see or of the absence or disability of
the bishop shall suffice.

3. The trustees of an incorporated Roman Catholic church shall not
make application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease or sell any
of its real property without the consent of the archbishop or bishop of
the diocese to which such church belongs or in case of their absence or
inability to act, without the consent of the vicar-general or
administrator of such diocese.

4. The trustees of an incorporated Ruthenian Catholic church of the
Greek rite shall not make application to the court for leave to
mortgage, lease or sell any of its real property without the consent in
writing of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic bishop of the diocese to which
such church belongs, or, in case of his absence or inability to act,
without the consent of the vicar-general of such bishop or of the
administrator of such diocese.

5. The trustees of an incorporated African Methodist Episcopal Zion
church shall not make application to the court for leave to mortgage,
lease or sell any of its real property without the consent of the bishop
of the diocese to which said church belongs, or in case of his absence
or inability to act, without the consent of the annual conference having
jurisdiction over such church.

5-a. The trustees of an incorporated Presbyterian church in connection
with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) shall not
make application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease or sell any
of its real property without the consent in writing of the particular
Presbytery with which said church is connected.

5-b. The trustees of an incorporated United Methodist church shall not
make application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease, or sell any
of its real property without the written consents of the district
superintendent and the preacher in charge and the authorization of the
charge conference by a majority of those present and voting at a meeting
of the charge conference, provided that not less than ten days' notice
of such meeting and proposed action shall have been given from the
pulpit of the charge, or, if no regular services are held, by mail to
the members of the charge conference.

5-c. The trustees of an incorporated Reformed Church in connection
with the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, shall not make
application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease or sell any of its
real property without the consent in writing of the trustees of the
Classis with which said church is connected.

6. The petition of the trustees of an incorporated Protestant
Episcopal church or Roman Catholic church shall, in addition to the
matters required by article five of the not-for-profit corporation law
to be set forth therein, set forth that this section has also been
complied with. The petition of the trustees of an incorporated African
Methodist Episcopal Zion church shall in addition to the matters
required by article five of the not-for-profit corporation law to be set
forth therein, set forth that this section has also been complied with.
The petition of the trustees of an incorporated Presbyterian church in
connection with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), shall, in addition to the matters required by article five of
the not-for-profit corporation law to be set forth therein, set forth
that this section has also been complied with. The petition of the
trustees of an incorporated United Methodist church shall, in addition
to the matters required by article five of the not-for-profit
corporation law to be set forth therein, set forth that this section has
also been complied with.

7. Lots, plots or burial permits in a cemetery owned by a religious
corporation may, however, be sold, also all or part of such cemetery may
be conveyed to a cemetery corporation, without applying for or obtaining
leave of the court. No cemetery lands of a religious corporation shall
be mortgaged while used for cemetery purposes.

8. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter in respect to a
religious corporation of a specified denomination, any solvent religious
corporation may, by order of the court, obtained as above provided in
proceedings to sell, mortgage or lease real property, convey the whole
or any part of its real property to another religious corporation, or to
a membership, educational, municipal or other non-profit corporation,
for a consideration of one dollar or other nominal consideration, and
for the purpose of applying the provisions of article five of the
general corporation law, a proposed conveyance for such consideration
shall be treated as a sale, but it shall not be necessary to show, in
the petition or otherwise, nor for the court to find that the pecuniary
or proprietary interest of the grantor corporation will be promoted
thereby; and the interests of such grantor shall be deemed to be
promoted if it appears that religious or charitable objects generally
are conserved by such conveyance, provided, however, that such an order
shall not be made if tending to impair the claim or remedy of any
creditor.

9. If a sale, mortgage or lease for a term exceeding five years of any
real property of any such religious corporation has been heretofore or
shall be hereafter made and a conveyance or mortgage executed and
delivered without the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction,
obtained as required by law, or not in accordance with its directions,
the court may, thereafter, upon the application of the corporation, or
of the grantee or mortgagee in any such conveyance or mortgage or of any
person claiming through or under any such grantee or mortgagee upon such
notice to such corporation, or its successor, and such other person or
persons as may be interested in such property, as the court may
prescribe, confirm said previously executed conveyance or mortgage, and
order and direct the execution and delivery of a confirmatory deed or
mortgage, or the recording of such confirmatory order in the office
where deeds and mortgages are recorded in the county in which the
property is located; and upon compliance with the said order such
original conveyance or mortgage shall be as valid and of the same force
and effect as if it had been executed and delivered after due
proceedings had in accordance with the statute and the direction of the
court. But no confirmatory order may be granted unless the consents
required in the first part of this section for a Protestant Episcopal,
Roman Catholic, Presbyterian church or an incorporated African Methodist
Episcopal Zion church or an incorporated United Methodist church have
first been given by the prescribed authority thereof, either upon the
original application or upon the application for the confirmatory order.

10. The provisions of this section shall not apply to real property
heretofore or hereafter acquired on a sale in an action or proceeding
for the foreclosure of a mortgage owned by a religious corporation or
held by a trustee for or in behalf of a religious corporation or to real
property heretofore or hereafter acquired by a religious corporation or
held by a trustee for or in behalf of a religious corporation by deed in
lieu of the foreclosure of a mortgage owned, either in whole or in part,
whether in certificate form or otherwise, by a religious corporation.