1608. Acquisition of property.(a) The real property of a land bank and its income and operations are exempt from all taxation by the state of New York and by any of its political subdivisions. The real property of a land bank shall be exempt from: (i) all special ad valorem levies and special assessments as defined in section one hundred two of the real property tax law; (ii) sewer rent imposed under article fourteen-F of the general municipal law; and (iii) any and all user charges imposed by any municipal corporation, special district or other political subdivisions of the state, provided, however, that real property of a land bank for which such land bank receives rent, fees, or other charges for the use of such real property shall not be exempt from subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of this paragraph. Notwithstanding any other general, special or local law relating to fees of clerks, no clerk shall charge or collect a fee for filing, recording or indexing any paper, document, map or proceeding filed, recorded or indexed for a land bank, or an officer thereof acting in an official capacity, nor for furnishing a transcript, certification or copy of any paper, document, map or proceeding to be used for land bank purposes.
(b) The land bank may acquire real property or interests in real property by gift, devise, transfer, exchange, foreclosure, purchase, or otherwise on terms and conditions and in a manner the land bank considers proper.
(c) The land bank may acquire real property by purchase contracts, lease purchase agreements, installment sales contracts, land contracts, and may accept transfers from municipalities upon such terms and conditions as agreed to by the land bank and the municipality. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any municipality may transfer to the land bank real property and interests in real property of the municipality on such terms and conditions and according to such procedures as determined by the municipality.
(d) The land bank shall maintain all of its real property in accordance with the laws and ordinances of the jurisdiction in which the real property is located.
(e) The land bank shall not own or hold real property located outside the jurisdictional boundaries of the foreclosing governmental unit or units which created the land bank; provided, however, that a land bank may be granted authority pursuant to an intergovernmental cooperation agreement with another municipality to manage and maintain real property located within the jurisdiction of such other municipality.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any municipality may convey to a land bank real property and interests in real property on such terms and conditions, form and substance of consideration, and procedures, all as determined by the transferring municipality in its discretion. (g) The acquisition of real property by a land bank pursuant to the provisions of this article, from entities other than political subdivisions, shall be limited to real property that is tax delinquent, tax foreclosed, vacant or abandoned; provided, however, that a land bank shall have authority to enter into agreements to purchase other real property consistent with an approved redevelopment plan.
(h) The land bank shall maintain and make available for public review and inspection a complete inventory of all property received by the land bank. Such inventory shall include: the location of the parcel; the purchase price, if any, for each parcel received; the current value assigned to the property for purposes of real property taxation; the amount, if any, owed to the locality for real property taxation; the identity of the transferor; and any conditions or restrictions applicable to the property.
(i) All parcels received by the land bank shall be listed on the received inventory established pursuant to paragraph (h) of this section within one week of acquisition and shall remain in such inventory for one week prior to disposition.
(j) Failure to comply with the requirements in paragraphs (h) and (i) of this section with regard to any particular parcel shall cause such acquisition by the land bank to be null and void.
Last modified: February 3, 2019