[Added by L.L. No. 4-1945]
In addition to the right of the City to foreclose its lien for
taxes as provided for in its Charter and the general laws, the right
of the City to receive taxes, assessments and water rents and the
lien thereof, may be sold by the City, and after such sale, shall
be transferred in the manner provided by this article. In this article,
unless the context otherwise requires, the word "tax" shall be interpreted
as including water rents, expenses incurred in repairing, grading
and removing snow and ice from sidewalks, assessments and all other
items inserted in the annual tax rolls and made a part of the annual
tax upon lands and tenements thereon. The right and lien so sold shall
be called "tax lien" and the instrument by which it is assigned shall
be called "transfer of tax lien."
In each year not later than the last Tuesday of June, whenever
any tax of lands or tenements or any portion thereof or any assessments
on lands or tenements for local improvements, or any portion thereof,
shall remain unpaid for the term of two years from the time the same
shall have been fully confirmed, so as to be due and payable, the
Comptroller shall advertise such tax liens on the said lands and tenements
or any portion thereof, for sale, including in such advertisement
the tax liens for all items up to a day named in the advertisement,
and by such advertisement the owner or owners of such lands and tenements
respectively shall be required to pay the amount of such tax or assessment
with the penalties thereon so remaining unpaid, together with the
interest thereon at the rate of 8% per annum to the time of payment,
with the charges of such notice and advertisement, to the said Comptroller
and notice shall be given by such advertisement that if default shall
be made in such payment, the tax lien on such lands and tenements
will be sold at public auction at a day and place therein to be specified,
but not later than the last Tuesday of June of each year, for the
lowest rate of interest, not exceeding 10% per annum, at which any
person or persons shall offer to take the same in consideration of
advancing the said tax, assessment and penalties as the case may be,
the interest thereon as aforesaid to the time of sale, the charges
of the above-mentioned notices and advertisement and all other costs
and charges accrued thereon; and if, notwithstanding such notice,
the owner or owners shall refuse or neglect to pay such tax, assessment
and penalties, with the interest aforesaid, and the charges attending
such notice and advertisement, then it shall and may be lawful for
the said Comptroller to cause such tax lien on such lands and tenements
to be sold at public auction, for the purpose and in the manner expressed
on the said advertisement, and such sale shall be made on the day
and at the place for that purpose mentioned in the said advertisement,
and if necessary, shall be continued from time to time in the discretion
of the Comptroller. Where in addition to the tax and/or assessment
unpaid for a term of two years, there are assessments and/or installments
of assessments and/or taxes unpaid for the term of one year from the
time the same have been confirmed on the same lands and tenements,
the Comptroller may also advertise and sell the said tax liens at
the same time and; in the case of unpaid installments on the assessments,
the entire amount of the unpaid assessments may be sold at the same
time; but should payment be made of the tax liens in arrears for two
years as herein provided, the tax lien in arrears for one year shall
be withdrawn from the said sale.
The tax lien on houses or lots, or improved or unimproved lands
in the City of Mount Vernon shall not be hereafter sold at public
auction for the nonpayment of any tax or assessment which may be due
thereon, unless notice of such sale shall have been published once
in each week for the four weeks consecutive next preceding the date
fixed for said sale in the official newspaper of the City, which advertisement
shall contain, appended to said notice, a statement of the property,
the tax lien on which is to be sold by giving the block and lot number
or numbers thereof, according to the designation thereof on the Official
Assessment Map of the City of Mount Vernon. On the said statement
and description, instead of being published in the official newspaper
of the City, shall, at the option of the Comptroller, be printed in
a pamphlet, in which case copies of the pamphlet shall be deposited
in the office of the Comptroller and shall be delivered to any person
applying therefor. And the notice provided for in this section to
be given of the sale of tax liens on houses and lots and improved
and unimproved lands shall also state that the statement of the taxes
and assessments and the property taxed or assessed is published in
the official newspaper of the City, or in a pamphlet, as the case
may be, and that copies of the pamphlet are deposited in the office
of the said Comptroller and will be delivered to any person applying
for the same. No other notice or demand of the tax or assessment shall
be required to authorize the sale of tax or assessment liens on any
lands or tenements as hereinbefore provided. The Comptroller may cancel
any certificate or lease for unpaid taxes or assessments held by the
City of Mount Vernon or to which the City has acquired the right,
and upon such cancellation the lien of tax or assessment shall be
the same as if no sale for such unpaid tax or assessment had been
made. Where the tax liens are for taxes and/or assessments for more
than one year, the total amount plus accrued interest shall be stated
in the notice published or printed and it shall not be necessary to
include in the statement separately the tax and/or assessment for
each year. Where an installment for any assessment is unpaid for two
years, the entire amount of the unpaid assessment may be sold.
In addition to the annual sale of tax liens as herein provided,
the first sale under this article to be held in the year 1946, in
the discretion of the Comptroller, more than one sale of tax liens
or assessments may be held in any one year, in which case the Comptroller
shall adopt the same course of procedure as set forth herein, and
offer such liens for sale on the last Tuesday of any month.
It shall be lawful for the Comptroller to suspend or postpone
any sale or sales of tax or assessment liens on lands and tenements
or any portion thereof which shall have been advertised for sale,
to any time not exceeding six months. All sales which shall be so
postponed or suspended may be made without further advertisement,
other than a general notice of such postponement, to be published
in the official newspaper of the City.
The Comptroller or his Deputy shall conduct the sales hereinbefore
provided to be made and no auctioneer other than the Comptroller or
his Deputy shall be employed to make such sale and no auctioneer's
fees shall be charged thereon. The Comptroller shall require from
each purchaser of a tax or assessment lien at the time of such a sale
a deposit on account of 10% of the amount of the tax lien purchased
by him, and not later than 15 days from the date of the sale, the
balance shall be paid to the Comptroller at his office. If no bid
shall be received for a tax lien offered for sale, the Comptroller
for and on behalf of the City of Mount Vernon may bid in the said
tax or assessment lien, and upon such bid no deposit or payment in
cash shall be required from the City. When the City has bid in any
tax or assessment lien, a transfer of tax or assessment lien to the
City may be executed by the said Comptroller in the form and manner
prescribed for other transfers of tax liens, and the City shall have
the same rights in, to and under such transfer of tax or assessment
liens as if the same had been bought by any other person. Transfer
or tax or assessment liens shall be made and delivered to the purchaser
without charge upon payment of the amounts therein shown to be due.
In case any purchaser shall not complete his purchase in accordance
with the terms prescribed as herein provided, then the amount deposited
by him at the time of the sale shall be forfeited to the City, and
the entire tax or assessment lien upon the lands affected by such
purchase shall be sold again. Such resale shall be held at such time
as the Comptroller may direct and shall be advertised in the official
newspaper of the City, in such manner and for such time, not less
than two weeks, as the Comptroller may direct. All deposits forfeited
as aforesaid shall be paid into the general fund of the City of Mount
Vernon.
A transfer of tax lien shall operate to transfer and assign the tax lien upon the lands or tenements described therein for the taxes and assessments and penalties and interest thereon, and the charges of the notices and advertisement given pursuant to § 162-b of this Act, and all other costs and charges, so advertised for sale, free of all taxes, assessments and water rents which accrued before the day of the date mentioned in the advertisement of the sale as stated therein, and to create a lien upon the property affected thereby for the interest to which the purchaser may be entitled under his bid, but subject to the lien for and right of the City to collect and receive all taxes and assessments which accrued or which became a lien on and after the day of the date of the first advertisement of such sale as stated therein. A transfer of tax lien shall contain a transfer and assignment by the City of the tax or assessment lien sold to the purchaser, the date of the sale, the aggregate amount of the lien so transferred, and the items of taxes, assessments, penalties and interest composing the tax or assessment lien, the annual rate of interest which the purchaser has bid and will be entitled to receive, the date when the amount of the tax or assessment lien will be due, and a description of the real property affected by the tax or assessment lien, and shall refer for certainty to the designation of said lot on the Official City Map, by its lot number and the number of the block and section in which it is contained, and such other identifying description as the Comptroller may deem proper to add. Each transfer of tax or assessment lien shall be subscribed by or in behalf of the Comptroller making the sale or a successor in office of such Comptroller and shall be acknowledged by the officer subscribing the same in the manner in which a deed is required to be acknowledged to be recorded in the county in which the real property affected is situated. The Comptroller may assign any transfer of tax or assessment liens made and delivered to the City upon payment of the amount thereof with interest at the rate bid to the time of such assignment.
The Comptroller shall keep in his office a public record of
sales of tax and assessment liens and a copy of each transfer of such
liens issued by him. Assignments of transfer of tax or assessment
liens duly acknowledged may be filed and recorded in the office of
the Comptroller. A transfer of tax or assessment lien and any assignment
thereof, duly acknowledged, shall be deemed conveyances under Article
8 of the Real Property Law, and may be recorded in the office of the
recording officer of any county in which the real property which it
affects is situated. Transfers of tax and assessment liens and all
assignments thereof shall be recorded by recording officers in the
same manner as mortgages and assignments thereof, but without payment
of tax under Article 14 of the Tax Law. The record in the office of
the Comptroller of sales of tax or assessment lien, of a transfer
of tax or assessment lien, and of a copy of a transfer of tax or assessment
lien, and of an assignment of a transfer of tax or assessment lien;
a record of a transfer of tax or assessment lien in the office of
a recording officer, and of an assignment of tax or assessment lien,
duly acknowledged, in the office of the recording officer, shall be
evidence in any court without further proof. A transcript of any record
enumerated in this section, duly certified, shall be evidence in any
court with like effect as the original instrument of record. Neither
the tax or assessment lien nor the rights transferred or created by
a transfer of tax lien shall be impaired by failure of a recording
officer to record a transfer of tax lien made by the City through
the Comptroller. Unless a contrary intent appears, a tax or assessment
lien shall be presumed to be satisfied and discharged whenever it
shall appear from recorded instruments that the tax lien has been
transferred or assigned to the owner of such lands or tenements, notwithstanding
other intervening estates or liens.
The aggregate amount of each tax or assessment lien transferred
pursuant to this article shall be due three years from the date of
the sale. Until such aggregate amount is fully paid and discharged,
the holder of the transfer of tax or assessment lien shall be entitled
to receive interest on the aggregate amount from the date of sale,
semiannually on the first day of January and July, at the rate which
the purchaser shall have bid. At the option of the holder of any transfer
of tax or assessment lien, the aggregate amount thereof shall become
due and payable after default in the payment of interest for 90 days
or after default for one year after the delivery of the transfer of
tax lien, in the payment of any taxes or assessments which became
a lien on and after the day of the date mentioned in the advertisement
of the sale stated therein, of the tax or assessment lien transferred
by such transfer of tax lien, except that in the event that the City
of Mount Vernon becomes the owner of a tax or assessment lien, the
aggregate amount thereof shall become due and payable after default
in the payment of interest for 90 days or after default for 30 days
in the payment of any tax or assessment, which became a lien on said
property after the date of the tax lien sold. Any person having a
legal or beneficial interest in property affected by a transfer of
tax or assessment lien may satisfy the same before maturity upon giving
10 days' notice in writing to the holder thereof of the day on which
payment will be made and upon payment of the principal with interest
at the rate bid to a time two months after the date so fixed for payment.
If notice of intention to make payment be given as herein provided,
and such payment be not made, then the whole amount of any tax or
assessment lien concerning which such notice shall have been given
shall become due and payable at the option of the holder thereof.
Or any such person may pay to the Comptroller such principal with
interest at the rate bid up to a day three months after such payment.
In case such payment be made to the Comptroller, he shall receive
the same for the benefit of the holder of the transfer of tax lien
thus discharged, and shall give notice thereof to the purchaser or
the personal representative or assignee of the purchaser, by mail,
addressed to such address as may have been furnished to the Comptroller.
Upon receiving surrender of such transfer of tax lien, the Comptroller
shall pay the amount thus deposited to the person, who according to
the records in his office, appears to be entitled thereto, or to the
personal representative of such person, except when any party to an
action to foreclose a tax lien or any purchaser or person having an
interest in the premises may file a written notice that an action
for that purpose is pending with the Comptroller, and thereafter said
Comptroller shall not be authorized to discharge said lien or receive
any sum or sums of money for that purpose unless the party desiring
to satisfy the same shall pay the amount of such tax lien, with interest
to the date of payment, and all other taxes, tax liens or charges
against the premises, and also all costs, charges and disbursements
in the foreclosure action to the date of payment; or shall file with
the said Comptroller the original transfer of tax lien and a satisfaction
thereof duly executed by the plaintiff in the action.
A tax or assessment lien sold pursuant to the provisions of
this article must be discharged upon the record thereof by the Comptroller
when payment is made to him of the principal and interest as provided
in the last preceding section, and also when such transfer of tax
lien is surrendered to him for cancellation and there is presented
to him a certificate executed by the purchaser or his personal representative
or assignee of the purchaser, acknowledged so as to be entitled to
be recorded in the county in which the real property affected by such
transfer of tax lien is situated, certifying that the tax and assessment
lien has been paid or has been otherwise satisfied and discharged.
The transfer of tax or tax assessment lien thus surrendered and such
certificate of discharge must be filed by the Comptroller and he must
note upon the margin of the record of such sale, upon such transfer
of tax or assessment liens and upon the copy of such transfer of tax
liens kept in his office, a minute of such discharge and the date
of filing thereof. If such transfer of tax lien shall have been lost
or destroyed or mutilated, if payment be made to the Comptroller,
if a certificate of discharge be filed as hereinafter provided, application
for an order dispensing with the surrender of such transfer of tax
lien may be made in the same manner as is provided in § 321
of the Real Property Law, the provisions of which, so far as the same
may be, are hereby made applicable to discharge of tax or assessment
liens. The Comptroller shall upon demand issue his certificate showing
the discharge of any tax lien which may have been duly discharged
as provided in this section, and such certificate may be filed in
any office where the transfer of tax liens is recorded, and any recording
officer with whom such a certificate is filed shall record the same
and upon the margin of the record of such transfer of tax or assessment
lien in his office shall note a statement that the same has been discharged
with a reference to the record of such certificate in his office.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1972]
If no bid be received for a tax lien on any parcel of property at a duly advertised sale and it shall appear to the Comptroller that the taxes, assessments, penalties and accrued interest amount to so large a proportion of the value of the property that the security is insufficient to attract bidders, then and in that event, the Comptroller may bid in the lien on behalf of the City for execution and delivery of transfer of tax lien and future foreclosure of said transfer of tax lien by the City. Or the Comptroller, President of the City Council and the Commissioner of Assessment and Taxation may investigate the facts and may subject to the approval of the City Council and Board of Estimate and Contract, fix a lesser amount for which in their judgment a tax lien bearing 10% interest can be sold. A certificate in writing, signed by them, shall be filed with the Comptroller setting forth the amount so determined by them, together with a brief statement of the reasons for such reduction, which certificate shall include, the total amount of the taxes, assessments, water rents, penalties and accrued interest, the assessed value of said property as the same appears on the last preceding assessment roll. Thereafter such reduced amount shall constitute the tax lien upon said real property for the items therein enumerated, unless the same be increased as thereinafter provided which reduced amount shall bear interest at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of such certificate until fully paid, or until the tax lien thus fixed, together with the lien for any other taxes, assessments, water rents, and penalties and interest becoming liens thereafter shall be sold. In the event that the Comptroller adopts this latter course of procedure, of fixation of lien of tax at a reduced amount, then said Comptroller shall forthwith advertise the tax or assessment lien for such reduced amount for sale to the highest bidder in the manner provided for the advertisement for the sale of ordinary tax liens. Such lien shall bear interest at 10% and shall be sold to the person bidding the highest amount of money in excess of the reduced amount so fixed by the Comptroller, President of the City Council and Commissioner of Assessment and Taxation, provided, that if the bidding reaches the original amount of the tax lien on the real property affected, together with all interest and penalties thereon, the sale shall proceed in the manner provided in § 162-d. If such tax lien be sold for a sum greater than the reduced amount fixed as aforesaid with the interest and penalties thereon, then such greater amount shall be considered the tax lien upon the real property affected thereby.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1972]
If at any time prior to the sale of real property in an action
by the City to foreclose its lien for taxes or a transfer of tax lien,
it shall be determined by the Comptroller, the President of the City
Council and the Commissioner of Assessment and Taxation that the property
is not reasonably worth and will not sell for a price sufficient to
pay all of the taxes, assessments, water rents and charge against
the property and the expenses of foreclosure and sale, they are hereby
authorized and empowered to fix a fair market price for the same,
and the Corporation Counsel or Comptroller shall not be obligated
to bid above the price so fixed and said Comptroller hereby is further
authorized and empowered to cancel all of the taxes, assessments,
water rents and charges against the same upon receiving payment of
the amount so fixed. The said determination of the Comptroller, President
of the City Council and Commissioner of Assessment and Taxation shall
be stated in writing, shall be approved by the City Council and Board
of Estimate and Contract and shall be filed in the office of the Comptroller,
prior to sale thereof.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1972]
When in the opinion of the Comptroller, President of the City
Council and Commissioner of Assessment and Taxation, it appears advantageous
to sell or discharge any tax lien or transfer of tax lien owned by
the City for an amount less than the face value thereof, they shall
so certify to the City Council in writing specifying the amount for
which they recommend the lien shall be sold or discharged. Upon approval
of said recommendation by the City Council and Board of Estimate and
Contract, the Comptroller may sell or discharge the said lien for
the amount so specified.
It shall be the duty of the Corporation Counsel to protect the
interest of the City in all matters, actions and proceedings relating
to tax liens and transfer of tax liens; to intervene on behalf of
the City or of the holder of a transfer of a tax lien in, or to make
the City a party to any action in which he believes it to be to the
interest of the City so to do, by reason of any matter arising under
or relating to any tax lien or transfer of tax lien, or advertisement
of sale of tax liens.
Whenever any transfer of tax lien given by the Comptroller as
in this article provided, shall be lost, the Comptroller may receive
evidence of such loss, and on satisfactory proof of the fact may execute
and deliver a duplicate to such person or persons who appear entitled
thereto, and may also in his discretion, require a bond of indemnity
to the City of Mount Vernon.
