Bill Text: NY S00812 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires notaries public and commissioners of deeds to complete and retain certain documents relating to the transfer of residential real property.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO FINANCE [S00812 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S00812-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 812 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the requirements for notaries public and commissioners of deeds relating to certain instru- ments affecting real property The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 135-c 2 to read as follows: 3 § 135-c. Requirements of notaries public and commissioners of deeds 4 related to certain instruments affecting real property. 1. This section 5 shall apply to every notarial act in the state involving a document of 6 conveyance that transfers or purports to transfer title with respect to 7 residential real property located in the state. It shall also apply to 8 commissioners of deeds appointed pursuant to section one hundred forty 9 of this article. 10 2. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the follow- 11 ing meanings: 12 a. "document of conveyance" shall mean a written instrument that 13 transfers or purports to transfer title effecting a change in ownership 14 to residential real property, excluding: 15 (i) court ordered or court-authorized transfer of residential real 16 property including but not limited to a transfer between spouses or 17 former spouses as a result of a decree of divorce, dissolution of 18 marriage, annulment, or legal separation, or as a result of property 19 settlement, or agreement incidental to a decree of divorce, dissolution 20 of marriage, annulment, or legal separation; 21 (ii) a transfer order by a probate court during the administration of 22 a decedent's estate; 23 (iii) a judgment of a foreclosure and sale, or a levy pursuant to an 24 execution; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05942-01-9S. 812 2 1 (iv) a court ordered voiding of an instrument affecting real property; 2 (v) a transfer of property to a trust in which the beneficiary is or 3 includes the grantor; and 4 (vi) a deed from a grantor to himself or herself that is intended to 5 change the nature or type of tenancy by which he or she owns residential 6 real property. 7 b. "financial institution" shall mean a bank, trust company, savings 8 institution, or credit union, chartered and supervised under state or 9 federal law. 10 c. "notarial record" shall mean the written document created in 11 conformity with the requirements of this section. 12 d. "residential real property" shall mean a building or buildings 13 consisting of one to three dwelling units where the square footage of 14 the residential portion exceeds the square footage of any commercial 15 portion. 16 e. "signatory" shall mean the person or persons whose signature is 17 being acknowledged by a notary public or commissioner of deeds. 18 3. A notary appointed and commissioned as a notary in this state and a 19 commissioner of deeds shall create a notarial record of each notarial 20 act performed in connection with a document of conveyance. The notarial 21 record shall contain: 22 a. the date of the notarial act; 23 b. the type, title or description of the document of conveyance being 24 notarized, the block and lot number used to identify the residential 25 real property for assessment or taxation purposes, and the common street 26 address for the residential real property that is the subject of the 27 document of conveyance; 28 c. the signature, printed name and residence street address of each 29 person whose signature is the subject of the notarial act, and a certif- 30 ication by the person that the property is residential real property as 31 defined in this section; 32 d. a description of the satisfactory evidence reviewed by the notary 33 or the commissioner of deeds to determine the identity of the person 34 whose signature is the subject of the notarial act. Satisfactory 35 evidence shall include presentation of any one of the following docu- 36 ments identifying the signatory or signatories: 37 (i) a valid driver's license or non-driver identification card issued 38 by the commissioner of motor vehicles, the federal government, any 39 United States territory, Commonwealth or possession, the District of 40 Columbia, or a state government within the United States; 41 (ii) a valid passport issued by the United States government; 42 (iii) a valid passport issued by a foreign government; or 43 (iv) a valid municipal identification card issued pursuant to section 44 3-115 of the administrative code of the city of New York; and 45 e. the date of notarization, the fee charged for the notarial act, the 46 notary's home or business phone number, the notary's business or resi- 47 dence street address, the notary's commission expiration date or the 48 commissioner of deeds appointment expiration date, the correct legal 49 name of the notary's employer or principal, and the business street 50 address of the notary's employer or principal. 51 4. The notarial record required under subdivision three of this 52 section shall be created and maintained for each person or represen- 53 tative whose signature is the subject of a notarial act regarding a 54 document of conveyance. It shall be in substantially the following form: 55 NOTARIAL RECORD: 56 DEED TRANSFERS. 812 3 1 I, ________________________(GRANTOR) HEREBY AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF 2 OWNERSHIP OF MY PROPERTY TO THE GRANTEE DESIGNATED BELOW. I UNDERSTAND I 3 MAY BE TRANSFERRING OWNERSHIP OF MY HOME. 4 Date Notarized: 5 Fee: $ 6 The undersigned grantor hereby certifies that the real property identi- 7 fied in this notarial record is residential real property as defined in 8 section 135-c of the executive law. 9 Grantor's (Signer's) Printed Name: 10 Grantor's (Signer's) Signature: 11 Grantor's (Signer's) Residential Street Address, City, State and Zip 12 Code: 13 Grantee's Relationship to Grantor: 14 Grantee's (Signer's) Printed Name: 15 Grantee's (Signer's) Signature: 16 Grantee's (Signer's) Residential Street Address, City, State and Zip 17 Code: 18 Type or Name of Document of Conveyance: 19 PIN No. of Residential Real Property: 20 Common Street Address of Residential Real Property: 21 Description of Means of Identification: 22 Additional Comments: 23 Name of Notary or Commissioner of Deeds Printed: 24 Notary Phone Number: 25 Commission or Appointment Expiration Date: 26 Street Address of Notary, City, State and Zip Code: 27 Name of Notary's Employer or Principal: 28 Business Street Address of Notary's Employer or Principal, City, State 29 and Zip Code: 30 5. Filing of the notarial record. The notary or commissioner of deeds 31 shall file the notarial record in accordance with the procedures set 32 forth in this subdivision. 33 a. Except as provided in paragraph b of this subdivision, the notarial 34 record shall be delivered no later than fourteen days after it is 35 created to the clerk or office of the register of the county or city 36 within which the residential property that is the subject of the convey- 37 ance is located. 38 b. If the notarial record was created by a notary public in the scope 39 of his or her work for a title insurance company, title insurance agent, 40 financial institution, law firm or attorney at law, the notary public 41 shall deliver the notarial record no later than fourteen days after it 42 is created to such title insurance company, financial institution, law 43 firm or attorney at law. Such title insurance company, financial insti- 44 tution, law firm or attorney at law, or any successor or assignee of 45 such title insurance company, financial institution, law firm or attor- 46 ney at law within the seven-year retention period, shall retain the 47 notarial record and may disclose such record only as permitted under 48 subdivision seven of this section. 49 6. The notarial record shall be retained for seven years in accordance 50 with the procedures described in subdivision five of this section and 51 with the confidentiality and disclosure provisions established in subdi- 52 vision seven of this section. No copies of the original notarial record 53 may be made or retained by the notary. The notary's employer or princi- 54 pal pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision five of this section, or a 55 notary attorney acting within the scope of his or her employment may 56 retain copies of the notarial records as business records, subject toS. 812 4 1 applicable privacy and confidentiality standards outlined in subdivision 2 seven of this section. 3 7. The notarial record shall not be disclosed nor shall its contents 4 be made known except as provided in this subdivision. 5 a. A certified copy of a notarial record shall be provided to the 6 United States or any department thereof, the state or any department 7 thereof, and the city of New York or any department thereof, provided 8 that such notarial record is required for official business. 9 b. A certified copy of a notarial record shall be provided in accord- 10 ance with a judicial order. 11 c. Upon written request by the grantor or a legal representative of 12 the grantor who is named in the notarial record. 13 8. Any person or entity violating the provisions of this section 14 shall, in addition to all other penalties provided by law, be liable for 15 a civil penalty of up to two hundred fifty dollars for each such 16 violation. The secretary of state may assess such penalty following an 17 adjudicatory proceeding conducted in accordance with the state adminis- 18 trative procedure act. 19 9. The failure of a notary or a commissioner of deeds to comply with 20 the procedure set forth in this section shall not affect the validity of 21 the residential real property transaction in connection to which the 22 document of conveyance is executed, in the absence of fraud. 23 § 2. Section 136 of the executive law is amended by adding a new 24 subdivision 3 to read as follows: 25 3. For performing a notarial act related to a document of conveyance 26 for which a notarial record is required pursuant to section one hundred 27 thirty-five-c of this article, the notary or commissioner of deeds may 28 charge a fee of twenty-five dollars in addition to any fees required to 29 file the notarial record. 30 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
