Bill Text: NY A09536 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits the recording of conveyances suspected of being fraudulent; requires the clerk or registrar to conduct an investigation into transactions suspected of being fraudulent and to report such investigations to the local law enforcement or sheriff's office.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-20 - referred to judiciary [A09536 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A09536-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9536 IN ASSEMBLY March 20, 2024 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to prohibiting the recording of conveyances suspected to be fraudulent The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 291 of the real property law, as amended by chapter 2 641 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 291. Recording of conveyances. 1. A conveyance of real property, 4 within the state, on being duly acknowledged by the person executing the 5 same, or proved as required by this chapter, and such acknowledgment or 6 proof duly certified when required by this chapter, may be recorded in 7 the office of the clerk of the county where such real property is situ- 8 ated, and such county clerk or city registrar where applicable shall, 9 upon the request of any party, on tender of the lawful fees therefor, 10 record the same in said office. 11 (a) A county clerk or city registrar shall not register any conveyance 12 for real property if the clerk or registrar has reason to believe that 13 the conveyance is false or fraudulent in any manner. If the county 14 clerk or city registrar has reason to believe or suspect that the 15 conveyance is fraudulent, the office of the clerk or registrar shall 16 conduct reasonable investigation into the transaction. 17 (b) If after reasonable investigation the transaction is suspected or 18 believed to be false or fraudulent, the office of the clerk or the city 19 registrar shall report the investigation to local law enforcement, or, 20 if in the city of New York, the office of the sheriff. 21 (c) The office of the clerk or city registrar shall notify the buyer 22 and seller of property of any investigation and provide the opportunity 23 for each party to participate in the investigation. 24 2. Every such conveyance not so recorded is void as against any person 25 who subsequently purchases or acquires by exchange or contracts to 26 purchase or acquire by exchange, the same real property or any portion 27 thereof, or acquires by assignment the rent to accrue therefrom as 28 provided in section two hundred ninety-four-a of this article, in good EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13947-01-4A. 9536 2 1 faith and for a valuable consideration, from the same vendor or assig- 2 nor, his or her distributees or devisees, and whose conveyance, contract 3 or assignment is first duly recorded, and is void as against the lien 4 upon the same real property or any portion thereof arising from payments 5 made upon the execution of or pursuant to the terms of a contract with 6 the same vendor, his or her distributees or devisees, if such contract 7 is made in good faith and is first duly recorded. 8 3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase in the principal 9 balance of a mortgage lien by virtue of the addition thereto of unpaid 10 interest in accordance with the terms of the mortgage shall retain the 11 priority of the original mortgage lien as so increased provided that any 12 such mortgage instrument sets forth its terms of repayment. 13 4. The clerk of the county or city registrar where such conveyance of 14 residential real property is recorded and maintained shall mail via 15 certified mail a written notice of such conveyance to the owner of 16 record. The notice shall have the heading printed in 20 point bold type 17 and read as follows: 18 "NOTICE OF SALE OR TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OF YOUR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. 19 To:______________________________ 20 Name of owner of record 21 Our records show that you are listed as the current owner of record for 22 residential property: 23 Block #__________ Lot #________ 24 Located At: ___________________________ 25 street address 26 in the county of __________________ New York 27 On ____________, documents were filed at this 28 date 29 office to change ownership and transfer title of your property. 30 To: ______________________________ 31 name of new owner 32 If you have any questions regarding the validity of the documents, and 33 wish to dispute the recording of the transfer, you should obtain legal 34 counsel. If you believe you are a victim of a crime related to this 35 recording, contact your local law enforcement agency or, if in the City 36 of New York, the office of the sheriff." 37 The party seeking to record such conveyance shall bear the cost of 38 such written notice. The clerk of the county or city registrar is enti- 39 tled to charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of mailing the envel- 40 ope to the owner of record. Failure to mail such notice or the failure 41 of any party to receive the same, shall not affect the validity of the 42 conveyance of the property. 43 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 44 have become a law.
