Effective next week Suffolk County will be implementing a new procedure regarding title searching.

Appointments for examiners in Suffolk County will be made by the individual examiner which will replace the previous process of the county assigning the appointment. An email announcement regarding this change was sent to all registered examiners and a follow up email complete with details and the registration link will be sent this week by the County Clerk.

An examiner must have an access pass to make an appointment.   

Richmond County has informed me they are holding all recorded documents since early 2020.

The date they will begin mailing back the R&R is to be determined. This delay is due to work shifts that have been adjusted/altered and the Richmond County Clerk wants to make certain that the quality assurance process is tight.  Requests for documents cannot be made at this time as they will not remove any documents out of sequence.

A status update is expected from the County Clerk by 9/14/20.

Updated August 4, 2020 at 3:00 pm

The Land Records Committee surveys county recorders for update on hours, services and staffing changes in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Committee will update the report as information changes.  You can access the file HERE. (file name "NYS COUNTY DATA84")

We have also compiled a 140 page report listing the types of documents accepted via e-recording by each county. You can access the file HERE.  (file name "NYS E-RECORDING320")

Are you e-recording a deed with an IT2663?

Click this link for  a list of New York State county e-recording requirements related to a deed submitted with an IT2663. Your documents will be rejected if they do not confirm to the guidelines of the county in which you are recording.

You can find information on municipal office hours and service HERE ("Municipal Liaison Update" for reference).

Please visit the Newsblog for more information.

The Land Records Committee of the Association had its quarterly meeting with Annette Hill, Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Finance/City Register, and her deputies on Wednesday, April 17, 2018. Please note the following:

City Register Topics

·       Condominium Maps – As of March 5, 2018, all Condominium Maps (i.e. Floor Plans) recorded after January 1, 2003, can be reviewed on ACRIS. Some members have been misdirected by NYC staff when they request Maps recorded prior to January 1, 2003. If you need Floor Plans that are not on ACRIS you just need to request same from the City Register’s Office (no need to go to the Tax Map Unit). Ms. Hill advised us that the request will be fulfilled in 7 to 10 days.  In addition, the Register is trying to secure funding to upload pre 2003 Maps as a “Historical Project”.

·       ACRIS Calculation – Bulk Sale of Condo Units – a member complained that ACRIS is not able to calculate Mansion Tax for individual units (e.g 12 residential units – one deed – The City does not a breakdown to determine mansion tax cost, if any, for each individual unit). The Register will investigate this and try to find a solution. I suggest you calculate the amount of mansion tax then when asked on TP-584 for the percentage of residential real property, you put a number in that will calculate the Mansion Tax you want to remit.

·       ACRIS Account Lockout due to payment issues – it appears that a member, without any warning, had been locked out of ACRIS because there was a problem with an ACH payment. The Register will recheck. Once blocked, the ACRIS user should receive an email and get a call.

·       Richmond County Transfer Tax Payment – still can’t prepay your Richmond County transfer taxes through ACRIS unless you want to pay the additional filing fee that ACRIS charges.

·       Richmond County – use of ACRIS forms – Although the Land Records Division of Richmond County is not administered by the City Register, it is still required to collect the NYC RPTT return and taxes for the NYC Department of Finance. Many practitioners voluntarily use the ACRIS system to generate the transfer tax forms for Richmond County deeds because of it is easy to use and we are now familiar with the system. However, according to Annette Hill, a Local Law was changed in 2017, that now requires that ACRIS e-forms be generated for Richmond County transfers. A copy of the rule change is attached hereto. As of this writing, I am not sure if the Richmond County Clerk is rejecting deeds that are accompanied by non ACRIS generated documents.

·       Turnaround Time – The average turnaround time for March 2018 was 0.72 days (Yayy).

·       Queens Office Search Function Relocation – No firm date of opening has been set yet. Some second-floor work has already started. 

·       Rejections- It was announced that after a document group has been rejected twice, it automatically goes to the Supervisor Queue.

·       New items

a.           It was announced that signing up form ACRIS will be made easier because the process will be all electronic. There will be no need to mail a form to the City Register. It is hoped that this change will be in place by the end of June 2018.

b.           Free WiFi will be available in all the Register’s Offices. This too should be available by the end of June 2018.      

c.           Coming Soon in the Fall of 2018 – Electronic certification of documents! There will no longer be a need to pick up a certified copy of a document at the Register’s Office. The price for certification will stay the same.

Zena Spence: Associate Deputy City Register-Borough Offices  spencez@finance.nycv.gov  (212) 291-4983

Bronx: Deputy City Register, Edith Ladson-Tolbert  ladson-tolbert@finance.nyc.gov  (718) 620-2781

Queens: Deputy City Register, Vanessa Goodwin  goodwinv@finance.nyc.gov  (718) 558-2319

Brooklyn: Deputy City Register, Sharon Kelly  kellys@finance.nyc.gov  (718) 488-2700

Manhattan: Deputy City Register-Mary Scheman-Stella  scheman-stella@finance.nyc.gov  (212) 291-4981

Assistant Deputy City Register,  Edna Moy  moye@finance.nyc.gov  (212) 291-4958

Customer Service Supervisor,  Leroy Carty  cartyl@finance.nyc.gov  (212) 291-2636

The NYSLTA joined a coalition organized by the LI Board of Realtors, to publicly oppose the fees and the detrimental impact on the real estate market on Long Island.

Notes of a meeting with the Suffolk County Executive appear in the previous blog post.

In addition, Land Records Chair Tafuri wrote to Nassau County Clerk, Hon. Maureen O'Connell, seeking her support in opposition to the fee increases in Nassau County.  That letter is attached to this blog post.

Members with specific concerns about these developments in the Long Island counties should contact the NYSLTA Staff at 212-964-3701.

 

The $25.00 increase in the real property verification portion of the recording fee is going to be across the board as is the $200.00 fee now. It is our opinion the $300.00 fee is going to be tough for our clients to swallow.  With that, we asked for the most amount of lead time possible, explaining that the lenders and attorneys will raise concerns regarding this steep increase.

 

The budget is still in review, but will be voted on, I believe November 7^th. Once passed, then there are some internal mechanics that will bring them to November 15 to be the final date for release.  That will give the industry 45 days until implementation of the new budget items which would take effect January 1, 2017. These dates could be a moving target, but are as close as we could get.

 

We explained that the more lead time the better for both the industry as well as the county clerk’s office.  Beth also suggested that there be a date of absolute to be the governing factor (being the date of the document) which would affect the change in the fee structure.  We explained that in recording  a document there are times when rejections occur and if a document falls between the old and the new recording structure, you cannot go back to a client, purchaser or borrower and request the additional fees. I believe that they understood the point we were trying to make. I again honed in on the fact that it would make it easier not only for our industry, but for the county clerk’s office as well.

 

All in all, I believe that he meeting went well and hopefully our concerns were taken seriously. Only time will tell.

 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. 

Regards,

Nancy

 

Nancy C. Farrell

President

Venture Title Agency, Inc.

City Register Topics

·         Refunds and/or overpayments – Of course, if you overpaid or are entitled to a refund (i.e. paper rejected and could not be recorded), there has been a mechanism to receive a refund. Such a policy has been and will remain in place. At the request of the Association, the City has agreed to prepare a list of 30 – 40 companies that are entitled refunds as a result of overpayments and/or rejections from 2011 forward. The 30-40 companies will be supplied by the Association. The City Register must also confirm with its IT Department if such a list can be created.

·         RPIE Enforcement – File deadline for 2015 RPIE reports is June 1, 2016. All 2014 penalties/charges have been transferred to the DOF Real Property Tax records except for 200 properties that have petitioned for an extension.

·         Fast Track Recording of certain deeds – The Association asked the City Register if certain deeds can be “fast tracked” (ie – brought to the “front of the line” and recorded almost immediately). The deeds in question were deeds when the Grantor and Grantee were the same entity or person. Such superfluous deeds are usually generated at the request of the Department of Finance’s Tax Map Unit or the DOF’s Exemption Unit. The Register was reluctant to allow said deeds to be “Fast Tracked” and asked for some examples.

·         Rejections-Annette Hill is aware of the rejections and it appears that many incorrect rejections are made as a result of overzealous employees misinterpreting the law or the scope of the Register’s power to review.  In addition, there is a new internal system that had been implemented by the Register’s Office that might have created a problem. The situation will improve (albeit gradually) in the coming months.

If you get an erroneous rejection contact the rejections desk and/or Mary Scheman-Stella (Scheman-StellaM@finance.nyc.gov) – the document will be reviewed quickly. Please note – if you send an email disputing a rejection to the rejections desk or to Ms. Scheman-Stella, please attach a copy of the document in question.          

·         UCC Fees – The City Register has always allowed rejected UCC’s to be resubmitted without payment of additional filing fee. That policy will change in the very near future. Once a UCC is paid for and rejected (of course, we are assuming the rejection was justified) then a new filing fee must be paid with the resubmission. The City Register claims that said change is merely an implementation of existing law. A notice will be sent out by the City prior to implementation of this new system. 

·         Tax Map Unit/Customer Service – As of April 17, 2016, the Tax Map Customer Service desk will be moved to the Second Floor of 66 John Street (it was previously at the 13^th floor of the same building)

·         New Automation – Starting May 1, 2016, UCC Financing Statements can be “walked on” – the documents will be scanned and given back to the customer right at the Front Desk.

·         E-Recording Classes – The City Register wants more users to submit documents electronically. Therefore, it has an e-recording training program. The Association has agreed to inform members of the dates and times of said classes. The City also offered to train a large group of our members off the City premises if we can provide a venue.

·         Update of consolidation of Borough Offices to Queens – No dates yet. However, a vendor has been selected for the construction.

The Association has gotten assurances from the Office of the Nassau County Clerk that computerized records ranging back to 1992 are complete and reliable.

We have attached a statement to that effect, which Members may find useful in addressing such issues with Lenders and attorneys.

You can see the announcement - here.

“… the Suffolk County Legislature has passed a budget that includes increased revenues based on Suffolk County Real Property Tax Services verification fee being raised from the current $60 per lot fee to $200 per lot. 

Before the fee increase can go into effect, the Legislature and County Executive will have to pass a local law to actually increase the verification fee.  Since the budget passed overwhelming, I don’t foresee any impediments to the Legislature enacting and the County Executive signing the local law increasing the fee.

At this point we are not aware of the timing of when the legislature will push forward with a new bill, however, we wanted to make you and your membership aware of the impending fee increase.  As we learn more from the legislature and the timeframe, we will update you and provide more information on how we plan to implement the new fee..”

From the ACRIS Main Screen http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/CP/  please click the “Calculate Taxes/Fees” tab.

From there click on the “Fees” tab and you will be able to calculate with accuracy the cost of recording most, if not all your documents.

The City Register has added this calculator because of the recent requirements (by lenders, the CFPB and the DFS) that require the exact cost of recording documents to be reflected at the closing.

In addition thereto, for members that still wish to calculate recording fees without the help of a program,  a formal list of recording charges have been made more easily available on the Department of Finance’s website. Go to http://www1.nyc.gov/site/finance/taxes/acris.page and click on the “fees and requirements” tab.

(See attached file)

We hope you find the improvements helpful and we thank the City Register’s Office for helping us meet some of the regulatory challenges facing our industry.

Please note the following:

City Register Topics

Rejections-Annette Hill is aware of the rejections and it appears that many incorrect rejections are made as a result of overzealous employees misinterpreting the law or the scope of the Register’s power to review. In order to better educate the examiners and locate and teach the employees that incorrectly reject many documents, the Register has been pulling rejections for review prior to returning same to the submitter. Once again, she hopes the situation will improve (albeit gradually) in the coming months.

If you get an erroneous rejection contact the rejections desk and/or Mary Scheman-Stella (Scheman-StellaM@finance.nyc.gov) – the document will be reviewed quickly. Please note – if you send an email disputing a rejection to the rejections desk or to Ms. Scheman-Stella, please attach a copy of the document in question.

Smoke Detector Affidavits – the ACRIS system creates a Smoke Detector Affidavit whether or not one is required. There is some relief for members that are sick of notarizing such affidavits and attaching same to the deed and ACRIS docs for recording – Smoke Detector Affidavits ARE ONLY REQUIRED for properties improved by a one or two family house or for a residential condominium unit in a building containing three or less condominium units. For all other properties, the Smoke Detector Affidavit is not required and a deed will not be rejected if the submitted docs do not contain such affidavit. Of course, the deed will not be rejected if a commercial property deed is submitted with a Smoke Detector Affidavit.

Update of consolidation of Borough Offices to Queens – No dates yet. The City Register is waiting for approvals to move forward.

Condominium Floor Plans/Maps – The Register is looking into the feasibility (i.e. cost) of having Condominium Floor Plans/Maps that were recorded before 2009, available on ACRIS. An RFI will go out to potential contractors for the project within the next six to eight weeks.

Condominium Floor Plans/Maps recording – This is an issue only if you e-record. Lately, recording of Floor Plans have been rejected even though the “oversized” box is checked when preparing Cover Pages for Floor Plans. Most, if not all Floor Plans are 11 X 17 and are scanned (when e-recording only) horizontally before submitting to the City Register. The City Register then turns the document vertically before accepting for recording. During this process part of the Maps are cut off and the City Register then rejects the Maps. A solution has then been to reduce the Maps to 8.5 X 11 and scan vertically, and then submit same for recording. However, quality is lost and you have already paid for a larger document. We will work with the City to figure out a solution to this problem. Any member that has had Floor Plans/Maps rejected for this reason should notify Mary Schemen- Stella (Scheman-StellaM@finance.nyc.gov).

UCC-1 Rejections – 1. A UCC should not be rejected if Box No. 6 (indicating that the UCC to be filed in the real estate record) is checked. 2. Of course, UCCs need not be signed and if signed, definitely do not need to be acknowledged. However, if a UCC is rejected for lack of acknowledgement, immediately contact a supervisor.

Richmond County Transfer Tax Payments - We requested as to whether or not it was possible to allow the pre-payment of transfer taxes on Richmond County deeds via ACRIS, and have all other recording functions left with the Richmond County Clerk. The City Register believes that this is already possible. However, she will meet with the Clerk of Richmond County and see if this is so. Ms. Hill will advise the Association after contacting the Richmond County Clerk.

Online Fee Schedule and Calculator – a Fee Schedule (to help calculate the exact cost of recordings) will soon be made available in a conspicuous place so that same will be easy to find. (AT present it is almost impossible to find the fee schedule.) In addition thereto, the City Register is in the beta Testing phase of having available a recording fee calculator. The Register hopes to have same available to the public at the beginning of October.

Completion of ACRIS forms when Referee sells a Cooperative Apartment - The Association requested that the City Register clarify as to how to complete ACRIS forms for a UCC foreclosure of a Cooperative Apartment. This query was made because membership felt that there was industry wide confusion as to how to fill out the ACRIS forms in connection with a UCC foreclosure of a cooperative, and in particular, how the grantor should be listed.

We were told the following:
-- Party One should be the Referee – as to Social Security Number – “99999’s are fine”;

-- Creditor of the Transferor should also be named;

-- Type of transfer should be Box Q – transfer to successful bidder;

-- Terms of Sale will be accepted

Status of Certified Copies Turnaround Times – If the number of documents are LESS THAN 10 are as follows:
Bronx – same day;
Brooklyn – next day, however it may be longer (depending on page count);
Queens – next day, however it may take longer (depending on page count); and
Manhattan – If a bulk order – will be three business days. It will be less if it is not a bulk order.

Contact Names for Complex Recording Issues - Assistant Deputies can resolve most issues. However, if a document requires further approval or review than contact the following parties:
-- Colette McCain-Jacques McCain-JacquesC@finance.nyc.gov
-- Zena Spence SpenceZ@finance.nyc.gov
-- Mary Scheman-Stella Scheman-StellaM@finance.nyc.gov

Kings County (and Manhattan) – Microfilm not being re-indexed by staff or examiners – A constructive discussion between City Register management and the NYSLTA regarding this ongoing issue. Some of the larger examining companies offered to volunteer their employees to do a one-time clean up.

The City Register stressed that examiners must put the microfilm away when finished with its use. Both sides agreed to work together and will consider a reasonable long term solution to the problem.

MEMBERS – THE INTEGRITY OF THE LAND RECORDS AT THE REGISTER'S OFFICES AND AT THE COUNTY CLERKS’ OFFICES ARE IMPORTANT FOR OUR BUSINESSES – WE MUST ALL MAKE AN EFFORT TO CARE FOR SUCH RECORDS.

[Note - The Land Records and Municipal Liaison Committees hold a joint meeting with certain departments of NYC government. Members may bring to NYSLTA Staff any concerns, problems or grievances regarding working with NY City government departments and agencies. Items will be added to the meeting agenda and the Association will facilitate urgent matters to the extent possible.- RGT]

............................

The Land Records Committee of the NYSLTA held it’s quarterly meeting with Annette Hill, Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Finance/City Register on Thursday, March 19, 2015.

The meeting was attended by Ms. Hill, her deputies and representatives from the Department of Finance and Department of Environmental Protection, and representatives from NYSLTA Members:

AIS;  Cooke Abstract;  First American Title Insurance; Municipal Data Services; Old Republic Title Insurance; Red Vision; Regal Title Agency ;  S.J. Carroll Jr., Inc.; Superior Data Services.

Please note the following:

City Register Topics

·         Rejections-City Register Hill is aware of the rejections and is doing everything in her power to lower the rate of erroneous rejections. She has recently terminated someone for poor performance and has hired additional staff members. She hopes the situation will improve (albeit gradually) in the coming months.

If you get an erroneous rejection contact the rejections desk and/or Mary Scheman-Stella – the document will be reviewed quickly.

·         Tax map – a member of DOF was present to explain that the program for the Digital Tax Map is now in the hands of the GIS Group. (DOF is not a fan of the printing platform either.) They will continue to press GIS for a re-write of the printing app.

·         As you may be aware, affidavits are required when any party to a tax form does not have a social security and/or tax ID number. There is no form affidavit available. The City Register has indicated that an attorney can sign the affidavit. The affidavit must be sworn to before a notary public.

·         Tax forms (and the documents) require the name and capacity of all parties signing the documents/forms printed underneath the signature (Yes – even Smoke detector affidavits, RPTS etc etc etc).
This was always the rule, but just recently enforced. We suggested that the forms, when printed, indicate name and capacity so that the parties executing documents (and closers and companies submitting docs for recording) remember to add name and capacity on all docs/forms signed. Ms. Hill has indicated that she would consider it in the next ACRIS re-write.

·         The Queens Borough City Register’s Office has reopened its payment window. This can speed the time it takes for a document submitted for recording be shown as paid.

·         The City Register (at our suggestion) will look into the feasibility (i.e. cost and program requirements) of having Condominium Maps recorded before 2009 available via ACRIS. We will follow up in future meetings.

·         A new list of supervisors and personnel at the City Register’s Office is now available (see below).

CITY REGISTER STAFF – AS OF MARCH 20, 2015;

City Register Executive:        First Deputy City Register-Colette Mccain-Jacques

Manhattan Location:                              Deputy City Register- Mary Scheman-Stella

                                                        Assistant Deputy- Edith Ladson-Tolbert

Associate Deputy City Register: Zena Spence (The Assistant Deputies for the borough locations report to Zena)

Brooklyn:                    Assistant Deputy- Sharon Kelly-French

Bronx:                                           Assistant Deputy- Edna Moy

Queens:                       Assistant Deputy-Vanessa Goodwin

Department of Finance Topics

·         A new computer system/program for the public is on schedule to be launched July of 2016. The DOF hopes to include positive features of the old system and make it easier to pay taxes and retrieve tax information.

·         Almost all 2013 RPIE penalty charges have been entered and billed on records of the City Collector. Still not 100% final because property owners that have appealed to the Tax Commission have not been entered in the City Collectors books.

·         The DOF has recently published a memo on its website as to its Exempt Property Tax restoration policy and procedures.

·         Taxes can be considered paid “officially” if shown paid for more than 30 days (previously it was a 90 day period).

Department of Environmental Protection Topics

·         The DEP has been listening to concerns of the industry and public and is trying to make the system for securing final readings as friendly and efficient as possible.

Some items of note are:

The charge for a reading is $25.00 per lot – not per account;

Requests for duplicate letters of title reads will no longer be denied;

A new order for a title read will no longer be denied regardless as to the date of the last title reading.