Bill Text: NY A05463 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes municipalities in the county of Orange to add unpaid housing code violation penalties, costs and fines to such municipalities' annual tax levy in accordance with applicable law.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-14 - referred to real property taxation [A05463 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-A05463-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5463 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JACOBSON, EACHUS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Real Property Taxation AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to authorizing certain municipalities to add unpaid housing code violation penalties, costs and fines to such municipalities' annual tax levy in accordance with applicable law The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The real property tax law is amended by adding a new 2 section 903 to read as follows: 3 § 903. Collection of unpaid housing code violation penalties; levy. 1. 4 Authorization. In addition to and not in limitation of any power other- 5 wise granted by law, municipalities in the county of Orange, including 6 the county of Orange, are hereby authorized to collect any unpaid hous- 7 ing, building and fire code violation penalties, costs and fines through 8 placement by the municipality's commissioner of finance, treasurer, or 9 other public official charged with the duties of overseeing tax 10 collections on the municipality's annual tax levy in accordance with the 11 provisions of this section. 12 2. Eligibility. In order to be eligible for placement on the munici- 13 pality's annual tax levy such unpaid code violation penalties, costs and 14 fines shall have been adjudicated and imposed through a judgment in a 15 court of competent jurisdiction on an owner of real property within the 16 municipality and recorded by the county clerk, as certified by the 17 municipal counsel to the commissioner of finance, treasurer or other 18 public official charged with the duties of overseeing tax collections 19 and have remained unpaid for one year after the final adjudication and 20 exhaustion of all appeals relating to the imposition of the fines for a 21 code violation preceding the placement on the municipality's tax levy. 22 3. Levy. Such code violation penalty, cost or fine as set forth in a 23 copy of the judgment certified by the municipal counsel to the commis- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04644-01-5A. 5463 2 1 sioner of finance, treasurer or other public official charged with the 2 duties of overseeing tax collections shall be set down in the annual tax 3 levy under the heading uncollected fines and penalties and in according 4 with this section shall be levied, enforced and collected in the same 5 manner, by the same proceedings, at the same time, under the same penal- 6 ties and having the same lien upon the property assessed as the general 7 municipal tax and as a part thereof. 8 4. Notice. The municipality shall notify all owners or known inter- 9 ested parties of record of the placement of the code violations on the 10 municipal tax levy as uncollected fines and penalties within thirty days 11 of placement, pursuant to section three hundred eight of the civil prac- 12 tice law and rules. The notice shall include the date or dates of such 13 violations, the description of the violations, the amount owed, a state- 14 ment detailing the foreclosure process that will occur if the violations 15 remain unpaid, the process to claim any surplus funds and the contact 16 information for the municipal office in charge of receiving payments. 17 5. Tax year. Any unpaid code violations shall be placed on the tax 18 roll the municipality is currently in and shall not be placed on a list, 19 roll or levy of delinquent taxes. 20 6. Owner occupied. Notwithstanding any other applicable provisions of 21 law, nothing in this section shall be applied to a residential dwelling 22 that is owner-occupied or is the primary residence of a homeowner. 23 7. Tenants. Prior to the placement of any property with unpaid code 24 violations on the tax levy, the municipality shall develop a program to 25 assist tenants residing in a dwelling at risk for tax foreclosure due to 26 unpaid code violations. Such program shall include housing counseling 27 assistance or other support in relocating the tenants to suitable hous- 28 ing prior to the tax foreclosure. 29 8. Payment plan. Nothing in this section shall preclude an owner or 30 landlord from entering into a payment plan with a municipality for past 31 amounts due for code violations. 32 9. Curing code violations. (a) If all of the violations for which the 33 penalties, fees and costs have been assessed are cured, removed or 34 corrected prior to the expiration of the period for redemption pursuant 35 to section eleven hundred ten of this chapter, the property shall be 36 removed from the levy and auction and the balance of the amount owed 37 shall be placed as a lien on the property pursuant to applicable laws 38 for debt collection and an action for foreclosure of the property shall 39 not be maintained for the amount owed. 40 (b) The determination of whether or not the code violations have been 41 cured shall be made by the local municipal enforcing officer in charge 42 of ensuring compliance with applicable housing, building, and fire codes 43 such as a code enforcement officer. An appeal of this determination may 44 be made to the municipality's zoning board of appeals or other local 45 administrative body as provided for in local law. The final determi- 46 nation made by the administrative body shall be reviewable pursuant to 47 article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. 48 (c) This section shall not be applicable to any cause of action 49 brought for money due based on the curing of code violations under any 50 form for receivership or a mechanics lien. 51 10. Payment prior to auction. (a) If the balance owed for code 52 violations placed on the tax levy is paid prior to the expiration of the 53 period for redemption pursuant to section eleven hundred ten of this 54 chapter and there is no balance due for unpaid real property taxes, the 55 property may not be auctioned, and the property shall be removed from 56 the tax levy.A. 5463 3 1 (b) The owner shall have the right to pay the full balance prior to 2 the expiration of the period for redemption pursuant to section eleven 3 hundred ten of this chapter in order to redeem the property. 4 11. Surplus. Any surplus funds remaining after the sale of a property 5 at a tax foreclosure for unpaid code violations shall be returned to the 6 former owner of the property in a manner provided under local law. For 7 the purpose of this section, "surplus funds" shall mean the balance of 8 money received after auction of a property at a tax foreclosure sale 9 minus the amount owed for code violations and the costs and attorneys' 10 fees incurred in the collection of the fees by the municipalities. 11 12. Balance due. If after an auction a balance is due for code 12 violations, the municipality may proceed with any action against the 13 former owner pursuant to applicable laws. 14 13. Exclusions. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any 15 municipality that sells their tax liens in a tax lien sale. 16 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
