NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4554
SPONSOR: Morinello TITLE OF BILL:
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
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To allow the City of Niagara Falls to deem finally adjudicated. fines
imposed upon real property for building code violations as delinquent
taxes.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Authorizes the City of Niagara Falls to collect any unpaid
housing code violation penalties, costs and fines through placement by
the city controller on the city's annual tax levy in accordance with the
applicable provisions of the city's tax and assessment act. It provides
that for such unpaid housing code violation penalties, costs and fines
to be eligible for placement on the city's annual tax levy, it shall
have been adjudicated and imposed through a judgment in a court of
competent jurisdiction on an owner of real property within the city, as
certified by the city's corporation counsel to the city controller and
have remained unpaid for one year preceding the placement on the city's
tax levy. Additionally, such housing code violation penalty, cost or
fine, as set forth in a copy of the judgment certified by the corpo-
ration counsel and sent to the city controller, shall be set down in the
annual tax levy under the heading uncollected fines and penalties and
shall be levied, enforced and collected in the same manner, by the same
proceedings, at the same time, under the same penalties and having the
same lien upon the property assessed as the general' city tax and as a
part thereof.
Section 2 specifies that this legislation shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
The purpose of this legislation is to hold property owners, other than
owner-occupied property owners, that have been cited by the city of
Niagara Falls for housing code violations accountable. Unfortunately,
some absentee landlords allow properties to deteriorate with little-tono
recourse, as municipalities often face difficulties in enforcing and
collecting fines. These problem properties plague neighborhoods and
communities in Niagara Falls, negatively impacting quality of life and
property values for nearby residents. By authorizing the City of Niagara
Falls to place unpaid fines on a property's annual tax levy, and poten-
tially to be included as a tax lien on the property, property owners
will be more likely to maintain their property in an acceptable condi-
tion.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.2327 of 2023-24 - held in real property tax
A.4519 of 2021-22 A.6345 of 2019-20
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state. To be determined for the City of Niagara Falls.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4554
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MORINELLO, MILLER, McDONOUGH, MANKTELOW, DeSTEFA-
NO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Real Property Taxa-
tion
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.
LBD01212-01-5
A. 4554 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. 4554 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.
