The New York City Department of Finance is implementing a new program to allow property
owners, lienors, or their designees (or executors/administrators of the estates of owners) to
register to receive electronic notification when a deed or deed-related document, or a mortgage, or
mortgage-related documents, affecting an ownership interest in real property has been recorded
against a property in the City of New York. This program will alert registered property owners when
documents are recorded without their knowledge and will allow them to take steps to limit the harm
caused by the recording of a fraudulent document.
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Real estate fraud, including deed and mortgage fraud, often involves the recording of documents
at the City Register’s Office (or the Office of the Richmond County Clerk), without the knowledge of
the actual property owner. Some fraudulent schemes include recording a deed or mortgage with
forged signatures. Others may involve recording a deed or mortgage that has been materially
altered after the owner signs it but before it is recorded. Criminals who record a phony deed may
then either obtain a mortgage or sell the property.
Real estate fraud can also overlap with identity theft when a criminal pretending to be the owner of
a property uses stolen personal information to obtain a mortgage. In most cases of real estate
fraud, the actual property owners may be unaware of any fraudulent activity until they sell their
home, transfer title to a relative, refinance their mortgage, or become subject to a foreclosure
action.
Under New York State law, the City Register’s Office and the Office of the Richmond County Clerk
are generally required to record all deeds and mortgages that are proper on their face. This means
that if fraudulent documents are completed correctly and properly acknowledged and notarized,
they are recorded and may go undetected until the defrauded party is served with foreclosure
documents or the defrauded party initiates a legitimate transaction against the property.
Page 2, Notice of Recorded Document Program
How Will the Program Work?
Property owners, lienors, or their designees, or executors/administrators of the estates of owners,
who have an interest in real property in the City of New York can register using the borough, block
and lot number or the address of a property to receive an email, text message or letter each time a
deed, mortgage or related document is recorded against the registered property.
Owners of individual cooperative apartments and timeshare units may NOT want to register for
notification because it may result in a large number of unrelated notifications. These property types
do not have a unique borough block and lot number so notification can only be provided on a
building-by-building basis rather than a unit by unit basis.
Notification will be sent for the following document types:
Deed and Deed-related Documents
Air Rights
Condemnation Proceedings
Condo Declaration
Confirmatory Deed
Contract of Sale
Correction Deed
Court Order
Deed
In-Rem Deed
Judgment
Life Estate Deed
Memorandum of Contract
Power of Attorney
Real Estate Investment Trust Deed
Revocation of Power of Attorney
Sundry Agreement
Unit Assignment
Mortgage and Mortgage-related documents
Collateral Mortgage
Correction Mortgage
Mortgage
Mortgage and Consolidation
Mortgage Spreader Agreement
Satisfaction of Mortgage
Subordination of Mortgage
Sundry Mortgage
Initial UCC1 (Financial Statement)
Page 3, Notice of Recorded Document Program
Property owners, lienors or their designees, or executors/administrators of the estates of owners,
will have the option of requesting to receive notification electronically by completing the application
on-line at www.nyc.gov/finance. Registration to receive notification by regular mail may be
accomplished by completing the Notice by Mail of Recorded Document application which is
available on-line at www.nyc.gov/finance, and mailing it to the address noted on the application, or
by calling 311 and requesting that the application be mailed.
Finance’s notification will include a recommendation for registrants to check the Automated City
Register Information System (ACRIS) and view the actual document if there is an issue with the
recorded document, the registrant should contact 311.
Customers who have registered to receive notification of a property located in Staten Island will be
referred to the Office of the Richmond County Clerk to view and, if necessary, obtain a copy of the
recorded document.
Registered parties who contact 311 will receive referral and contact information for the NYC
Department of Investigation, the offices of the district attorneys, the State Banking Department, the
NYS Attorney General’s Office, and legal services for persons of limited income, as well as local
bar associations.
The Department of Finance assumes no liability for failure to provide the requested notice of
recorded documents with respect to property for which you are registering to receive notification.
The City of New York, including the Department of Finance and the Richmond County Clerk,
assumes no liability for fulfilling their legal duty to record documents, even if those documents are
in some instances later determined to be erroneous, fraudulent, or invalid.
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