STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2327 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 25, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. MORINELLO, MILLER, NORRIS, McDONOUGH, MANKTELOW, DeSTEFANO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Real Property Taxation AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to authorizing the city of Niagara Falls to add unpaid housing code violation penal- ties, costs and fines to such city's annual tax levy 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 905-a to read as follows: 3 § 905-a. Collection of unpaid housing code violation penalties; city 4 of Niagara Falls; levy. 1. Authorization. In addition to and not in 5 limitation of any power otherwise granted by law, the city of Niagara 6 Falls is hereby authorized to collect any unpaid housing, building and 7 fire code violation penalties, costs and fines through placement by the 8 city controller on the city's annual tax levy in accordance with the 9 provisions of this section. 10 2. Eligibility. In order to be eligible for placement on the city of 11 Niagara Falls' annual tax levy such unpaid code violation penalties, 12 costs and fines shall have been adjudicated and imposed through a judg- 13 ment in a court of competent jurisdiction on an owner of real property 14 within the city and recorded by the county clerk, as certified by the 15 city's corporation counsel to the city controller and have remained 16 unpaid for one year after the final adjudication and exhaustion of all 17 appeals relating to the imposition of the fines for a code violation 18 preceding the placement on the city's tax levy. 19 3. Minimum amount owed. To qualify for placement on the tax levy the 20 amount owed for unpaid code violations must be at least five percent of 21 the amount of the tax assessed value of the property. 22 4. Levy. Such code violation penalty, cost or fine as set forth in a 23 copy of the judgment certified by the corporation counsel to such city EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01840-01-3A. 2327 2 1 controller shall be set down in the annual tax levy under the heading 2 uncollected fines and penalties and in accordance with this section 3 shall be levied, enforced and collected in the same manner, by the same 4 proceedings, at the same time, under the same penalties and having the 5 same lien upon the property assessed as the tax levy of such munici- 6 pality and as a part thereof. 7 5. Notice. The city of Niagara Falls shall notify all owners or known 8 interested parties of record of the placement of the code violations on 9 the city tax levy as uncollected fines and penalties within thirty days 10 of placement, pursuant to section three hundred eight of the civil prac- 11 tice law and rules. The notice shall include the date or dates of such 12 violations, the description of the violations, the amount owed, a state- 13 ment detailing the foreclosure process that will occur if the violations 14 remain unpaid, the process to claim any surplus funds and the contact 15 information for the city's office in charge of receiving payments. 16 6. Tax year. Any unpaid code violations shall be placed on the tax 17 roll the city of Niagara Falls is currently in and shall not be placed 18 on a list, roll or levy of delinquent taxes. 19 7. Owner occupied. Notwithstanding any other applicable provisions of 20 law, nothing in this section shall be applied to a residential dwelling 21 that is owner-occupied or is the primary residence of a homeowner. 22 8. Tenants. Prior to the placement of any property with unpaid code 23 violations on the tax levy, the city of Niagara Falls shall develop a 24 program to assist tenants residing in a dwelling at risk for tax fore- 25 closure due to unpaid code violations. Such program shall include hous- 26 ing counseling assistance or other support in relocating the tenants to 27 suitable housing prior to the tax foreclosure. 28 9. Payment plan. Nothing in this section shall preclude an owner or 29 landlord from entering into a payment plan with the city of Niagara 30 Falls for past amounts due for code violations. 31 10. Curing code violations. (a) If all of the violations for which the 32 penalties, fees and costs have been assessed are cured, removed or 33 corrected prior to the expiration of the period for redemption pursuant 34 to section eleven hundred ten of this chapter, the property shall be 35 removed from the levy and auction and the balance of the amount owed 36 shall be placed as a lien on the property pursuant to applicable laws 37 for debt collection and an action for foreclosure of the property shall 38 not be maintained for the amount owed. 39 (b) The determination of whether or not the code violations have been 40 cured shall be made by the city of Niagara Falls' enforcing officer in 41 charge of ensuring compliance with applicable housing, building, and 42 fire codes such as a code enforcement officer. An appeal of this deter- 43 mination may be made to the city's zoning board of appeals or other 44 local administrative body as provided for in local law. The final deter- 45 mination made by the administrative body shall be reviewable pursuant to 46 article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. 47 (c) This section shall not be applicable to any cause of action 48 brought for money due based on the curing of code violations under any 49 form for receivership or a mechanic's lien. 50 11. Payment prior to auction. (a) If the balance owed for code 51 violations placed on the tax levy is paid prior to the expiration of the 52 period for redemption pursuant to section eleven hundred ten of this 53 chapter and there is no balance due for unpaid real property taxes, the 54 property may not be auctioned, and the property shall be removed from 55 the tax levy.A. 2327 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 12. 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 as provided under local law. 7 This provision shall not apply to a sale of a property at a tax foreclo- 8 sure due to unpaid taxes. If a property has both unpaid taxes and unpaid 9 code violations on the same tax levy and is auctioned at a tax foreclo- 10 sure the amount of the surplus funds returned to the former owner shall 11 be proportionate to the amount of unpaid code violations owed in the 12 total amount of debt owed to the city of Niagara Falls. For the purpose 13 of this section, "surplus funds" shall mean the balance of money 14 received after auction of a property at a tax foreclosure sale minus the 15 amount owed for code violations and the costs and attorneys' fees 16 incurred in the collection of the fees by the city. 17 13. Balance due. If after an auction a balance is due for code 18 violations, the city of Niagara Falls may proceed with any action 19 against the former owner pursuant to applicable laws. 20 14. Exclusions. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any 21 municipality that sells their tax liens in a tax sale. 22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.