NY Amends Provisions Regarding Vacant and Abandoned Properties

New York recently amended provisions of its Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law regarding the maintenance of property subject to a mortgage foreclosure action. The law is effective immediately.

The amendment first clarifies the meaning of “vacant” and “abandoned,” including the steps a mortgagee-plaintiff must take to establish a mortgagor’s abandonment of residential property. Second, the revision establishes that a mortgagee-plaintiff may enter the property for the limited purposes of inspection, repair, and maintenance as required by law, provided that if the property is occupied by a tenant, the mortgagee-plaintiff must give seven days’ notice to the tenant (absent an emergency). Third, the amendment establishes a $500 penalty for mortgagee-plaintiffs who enter a residential property without a good faith basis for believing that the property is vacant or abandoned and who do not follow the steps a mortgagee-plaintiff must take to establish a mortgagor’s abandonment of residential property.