Section 7-601
§ 7-601 Register; bond. a. The register, before entering upon the
duties of office, shall give a bond to the city and to the people of the
state of New York in the sum of eighty thousand dollars, with not less
than two sufficient sureties to be approved by the comptroller,
conditioned that the register will faithfully discharge the duties of
such office and all trusts imposed upon him or her by law by virtue of
the register's office, including all duties in connection with the tax
on mortgages as prescribed by article eleven of the tax law. Such bond
shall be filed in the office of the comptroller.
b. In case of any official misconduct, default, neglect or omission of
duty on the part of the register, an action upon such bond may be
brought and prosecuted to judgment by the person or corporation injured
or damaged by such official misconduct, default, neglect or omission of
duty.
Section 7-602
§ 7-602 Bond of deputies, assistants, clerks and other subordinate
employees. The register shall require from any deputy, assistant, clerk,
employee or other subordinate a bond in such sum and with such sureties
as may be approved by him or her and the comptroller, which bond shall
run to the register, the city and to whom it may concern, and shall be
conditioned for the faithful performance of his or her duty. Each such
bond shall be filed with the comptroller.
Section 7-604
§ 7-604 Register; accounting for fees. a. The register shall be paid
a salary to be fixed by the mayor. All fees shall be the property of the
city. All sums so received shall be paid to the commissioner of finance
monthly without deduction. The additional fee of twenty dollars for
recording any instrument required by New York state statute to be
recorded pursuant to subdivision one of section 7-614 of this code shall
be used as follows: five dollars paid monthly by the commissioner of
finance to the New York state commissioner of education, after deducting
twenty-five cents, for deposit into the New York state local government
records management improvement fund and fifteen dollars, after deducting
seventy-five cents, for deposit to the cultural education account.
b. It shall be the duty of the register to keep an exact account of
all fees which the register or any of the register's subordinates or
assistants shall be entitled to demand and receive from any person for
any service rendered by the register or them in the register's or their
official capacity, pursuant to law. Such account shall show the nature
of every such service performed and the fees chargeable therefor, and
shall at all times during business hours be open to the inspection,
without any fee or charge therefor, of all persons desiring to examine
the same, and such account shall be deemed a part of the records of the
office in which they shall be kept, and shall be preserved therein as
are other records, except that the register may destroy such account
upon obtaining the written consent of the comptroller authorizing such
destruction.
Section 7-605
§ 7-605 Statement of account to comptroller. A statement of such
account, to be made in such form as shall be prescribed by the
comptroller, shall be transmitted by the register for each calendar
month, within ten days from the expiration thereof, to the comptroller,
which shall be verified by the oath of the register, and which shall
show all fees which the register or the register's subordinates or
assistants shall be entitled to demand and receive from any person for
any service rendered in their official capacity, by virtue of any law
since making the last preceding return.
Section 7-606
§ 7-606 Penalty for neglect to account. The register or any
subordinate who shall receive to their own use or neglect to account for
any fees, declared to belong to and be for the benefit of the city, or
who shall neglect to render to such comptroller an account of the fees
accruing to the register's office, or to pay over the same as required
herein, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punishable with a
fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor exceeding five thousand
dollars, or imprisonment for a period of not less than three months nor
exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the court before whom
such officer may be convicted, and in addition shall forfeit any sum
that may be due to him or her on account of his or her salary and shall
be liable to the city in a civil action for all moneys so received and
not accounted for and paid over into the treasury of the city pursuant
to the requirements of this chapter.
Section 7-607
§ 7-607 Real estate instruments to be recorded. Every instrument
affecting real estate or chattels real, situated in the counties within
the city, shall be indexed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
Section 7-608
§ 7-608 Microfilmed instruments; how indexed. If recording is done by
microphotography or other photographic processes, the words liber and
page when used in this chapter shall be construed to mean the serial
number of microfilmed instruments.
Section 7-614
§ 7-614 Fees. The register, and the county clerk of the county of
Richmond when acting as recording officer, are entitled, for services
specified in this section, to the following fees, to be paid in advance:
1. For recording, indexing and endorsing a certificate on any
instrument, ten dollars in the case of the Richmond county clerk and
twelve dollars in the case of the register; and, in addition thereto,
two dollars in the case of the Richmond county clerk and five dollars in
the case of the register for each page or portion of a page, two dollars
for each additional block indexed against exceeding one, and three
dollars for each additional lot indexed against exceeding one; and, in
addition thereto, twenty dollars for recording any instrument required
by state statute to be recorded.
2. For filing and indexing a certificate of the appointment of a
commissioner of deeds, ten dollars.
3. For issuing, signing and sealing a certificate, six dollars.
4. For searching and certifying the title to or an incumbrance or lien
upon real property, fifty cents per year for each name against which the
search is made, and fifty cents per year for each separate piece or
parcel of property not consisting of contiguous lots. There shall be an
additional charge of ten cents for each return made of any conveyance or
lien found. The minimum charge for a search and certificate, and return,
if any, shall be ten dollars.
5. For preparing and certifying a copy of a paper filed or recorded in
the office, four dollars for each page or portion thereof.
6. For certifying a prepared copy of a paper filed or recorded in the
office, four dollars for each page or portion thereof.
7. For filing and indexing each map, twenty dollars, and two dollars
for each square foot or major part thereof of a map surface.
8. For copying any map which he or she may copy or certify, such
reasonable fees for the service as may be fixed by the register, or
county clerk when acting as register, subject to review by the supreme
court, by which the same may be taxed.
9. For issuing a last owner of record report, fifteen dollars.
10. For filing a statement under oath reciting facts evidencing
entitlement to a credit against, or exemption in whole or in part from,
the tax on mortgages imposed by or pursuant to the authority of article
eleven of the tax law, eight dollars.
11. For purposes of this section, the size of each page accepted for
recording and indexing shall not exceed nine inches by fourteen inches,
and every printed portion thereof shall be plainly printed in type of
which the face is not smaller than eight point. The register and the
county clerk acting as recording officer may in special circumstances
accept a page exceeding the size or with smaller print than that
prescribed herein, on such terms and at such fee, subject to review by
the supreme court, as he or she may deem appropriate, but the fee for
such recording and indexing shall be not less than double the fees
otherwise chargeable by law therefor.
12. The register, or county clerk when acting as register, may fix the
fee for any service rendered by him or her, and for which no fee is
herein specified, subject to review by the supreme court.
Section 7-615
§ 7-615 Corrections to be without erasures. No entry in any book or
index in the register's office or the office of the clerk of the county
of Richmond shall be erased so as to be illegible, but in case of any
correction the same shall be made without destroying the original entry
by drawing a line through such original entry, and in all such cases the
date of such correction attested by the signature of such register or
county clerk or his or her assistant shall be entered upon the same page
on which such correction is made, on the margin opposite such
correction. Such correction shall only be made upon the production to
the register or county clerk of the original instrument, or, when it is
impossible to produce the original instrument, the register or the
county clerk, however, may make any correction of the records in his or
her office where it is obvious or apparent that an error has been made
in recording or indexing any instrument.
Section 7-616
§ 7-616 Miscellaneous instruments. The provisions of this chapter
shall not apply to the indexing of general assignments, wills and powers
of attorney. Such instruments shall be filed or recorded as now required
by law, and when recorded such general assignments, wills and powers of
attorney shall be indexed in separate alphabetical indices.
Section 7-617
§ 7-617 Searches. a. The register, upon request, and upon payment of,
or offer to pay, the fees allowed by law, shall diligently search the
files, papers, records and dockets in the register's office, and either
make one or more transcripts therefrom, and certify to the correctness
thereof, and to the search, or certify that a document or paper, of
which the custody legally belongs to the register cannot be found. It
shall be the duty of the register to cause any and every written order
or requisition directing a search to be made to be executed and complied
with without delay. The city shall be liable for all damages and
injuries resulting from errors, inaccuracies or mistakes in the
register's return so certified by the register.
b. The register shall in all cases charge and collect for such search,
in addition to the fees prescribed in this chapter, an additional
guaranty charge of two dollars which charge shall be accounted for by
the register as other fees collected by the register.
Section 7-618
§ 7-618 Chattel mortgages, etc., and renewals thereof to be indorsed.
When a chattel mortgage or a conditional bill of sale or other
instrument affecting chattels is presented for filing in the office of
the register, it must be indorsed on the outside thereof with the names
of the parties thereto, the amount of indebtedness and the location of
the property affected by such instrument. Every renewal of any such
instrument must, in addition to the aforesaid indorsements, be stamped
or marked "renewal," and contain in the body thereof a reference to the
serial number and the date of filing of the chattel mortgage or other
instrument which it is desired to be continued for a further period, and
the serial number and the date of filing of the latest previous renewal
thereof, if any.
Section 7-619
§ 7-619 Destroying obsolete documents and records. The register is
authorized to destroy any or all chattel mortgages, chattel mortgage
indices, certificates of stockholders' consent to the execution of
mortgages of chattels, bills of sale, conditional bills of sale
affecting real property or other filed instruments affecting chattels,
on file in the register's office after the expiration of five years from
the date of filing, and any daily index or tickler more than two years
old and which has been replaced by permanent block and alphabetical
indices as provided for in this chapter, and all surplus copies of land
maps of any of the counties of the city more than ten years old, which
have not been disposed of by sale or otherwise.
Section 7-620
§ 7-620 Preserving and copying records. Whenever by reason of age,
exposure or any casualty, any public records, maps or papers in the
custody of the register shall become mutilated, obliterated or rendered
unfit for public service, it shall be the duty of the register to cause
copies thereof to be made and certified for public use, and such copies
when so made shall for all purposes take the place of the original
records.
Section 7-621
§ 7-621 Construction and application of this chapter. This chapter
shall not be construed to repeal or modify the provisions of the real
property law in relation to the recording of instruments, and of
registering titles to real property; nor of the lien law respecting
chattel mortgages; nor of the personal property law in relation to
contracts for the conditional sale of goods and chattels; nor of the tax
law regarding the taxation of mortgages.
Section 7-622
§ 7-622 Indices to be public records. Upon the completion of the
indexing and reindexing directed by this chapter as to any instruments
or liens herein mentioned, the same shall be deposited in the same
office in which the respective instruments or liens are required to be
kept, or such other place as shall be provided for them, for public use,
and the same shall thereupon be public records.
Section 7-623
§ 7-623 Business hours. a. The office of the register shall remain
open for the transaction of business every day in the year, except
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, from nine o'clock in the forenoon to
four o'clock in the afternoon and except during the months of July and
August when it shall remain open for the transaction of business from
nine o'clock in the forenoon until two o'clock in the afternoon except
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The register may order any of the
register's subordinates or employees to serve during such additional
hours as the proper performance of the duties of the office requires.
b. Whenever the last day on which any paper is required to be filed or
delivered or any act is required to be done or performed in such office
expires on Saturday, the time therefor is hereby extended to and
including the next business day.
Section 7-624
§ 7-624 Construction clause. Any law, rule, regulation, contract, or
other document which refers or is applicable to the register, register
of deeds or registrar of any of the counties within the city shall refer
to the city register.
Section 7-625
§ 7-625 Block indexing after July first, nineteen hundred sixty-four.
a. Tax maps; block boundaries, block number designations. On and after
July first, nineteen hundred sixty-four, the tax maps for the boroughs
of Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens shall be substituted for the
land maps theretofore in use for the counties of New York, Bronx, Kings
and Queens and such tax maps shall be conclusive as to location of block
boundaries and block number designations.
b. Block index forms. On and after July first, nineteen hundred
sixty-four, new forms for the (1) conveyance block index, and (2)
mortgage block index for the counties of New York, Bronx, Kings and
Queens may be adopted by the register, which forms shall make provision
for the following information:
(1) Conveyance Block Index
1. Name of grantor
2. Name of grantee
3. Date of recording
4. Liber and page
5. Lot number and remarks; and
(2) Mortgage Block Index
1. Name of mortgagor
2. Name of mortgagee
3. Date of recording
4. Liber and page
5. Lot number and remarks
6. Date of recording and liber and page of certificate of
discharge
c. Indexing under new block numbers. On and after the adoption of the
new forms for the block index, the existing block index in use in the
register's office, shall be closed and a new block index shall be opened
for each block in the form as adopted by the city register. At the end
of each block index so closed, a reference shall be made to the new
block index. On and after the date on which any such new block index
shall be opened, the register shall index in such new block index, under
the proper block numbers and in the proper index, all instruments which
are presented to the register on and after such date for recording and
which are authorized or required by law to be recorded.
On and after the first day of January next succeeding the certifying
and filing, by the real property assessment bureau, with the city
register of a list of the numbers of new, altered or additional blocks
with maps or diagrams showing such alterations or additions, the indices
of all blocks theretofore existing shall be closed except for the
purpose of completing the indexing belonging to the preceding year. A
new block index shall thereupon be opened for every such altered or new
block in the prescribed form, which new index shall thenceforth be used
for all entries relating to land in such altered or new blocks. At the
end of each block index so closed, a reference shall be made to the new
block index.
d. Daily block indices. On and after July first, nineteen hundred
sixty-four, new forms for the daily index of conveyances and the daily
index of mortgages may be adopted by the register. Such forms shall make
provision for the following information:
1. Names of parties
2. Block number
3. Serial number
4. Liber and page
e. Endorsement on instruments of tax block number and of tax lot
numbers. On and after the adoption of the new forms for the block index,
every instrument presented to the register and required to be indexed in
the block index of conveyances or mortgages shall have endorsed thereon
every block number and every lot number on the current tax map in which
the land affected by the instrument is situate.
f. Block index to be notice. The entries made in such indices, except
the lot number designation and the information contained in the column
or columns headed Lot Number and Remarks, shall be deemed and taken to
be a part of the record of the instrument to which such entries
respectively refer, and shall be notice to subsequent purchasers or
incumbrancers to the same extent and with like effect as the recording
of such instruments in the office of the register, now is or may be
notice.
g. Miscellaneous instruments. On and after July first, nineteen
hundred sixty-three, any instrument entitled to be indexed and recorded
as a miscellaneous instrument shall be indexed in a miscellaneous index
and recorded in a miscellaneous liber.
Section 7-626
§ 7-626 Block indexing after July first, nineteen hundred eighty-one
in Richmond county. a. Tax maps; block boundaries, block number
designations. On and after July first, nineteen hundred eighty-one, the
tax map for the borough of Staten Island shall be substituted for the
land map theretofore in use for the county of Richmond and such tax map
shall be conclusive as to location of block boundaries and block number
designations.
b. Block index forms. On and after July first, nineteen hundred
eighty-one, new forms for the (1) conveyance block index, and (2)
mortgage block index for the county of Richmond may be adopted by the
register, which forms shall make provision for the following
information:
(1) Conveyance Block Index
1. Name of grantor
2. Name of grantee
3. Date of recording
4. Liber and page
5. Lot number and remarks; and
(2) Mortgage Block Index
1. Name of mortgagor
2. Name of mortgagee
3. Date of recording
4. Liber and page
5. Lot number and remarks
6. Date of recording and liber and page of certificate of
discharge
c. Indexing under new block numbers. On and after the adoption of the
new forms for the block index, the existing block index in use in the
register's office with respect to Richmond county, shall be closed and a
new block index shall be opened for each block in the form as adopted by
the city register. At the end of each block index so closed, a reference
shall be made to the new block index. On and after the date on which any
such new block index shall be opened with respect to Richmond county,
the register shall index in such new block index, under the proper block
numbers and in the proper index, all instruments which are presented to
the register on and after such date for recording and which are
authorized or required by law to be recorded. On and after the first day
of January next succeeding the certifying and filing, by the real
property assessment bureau, with the city register of a list of the
numbers of new, altered or additional blocks with maps or diagrams
showing such alterations or additions, the indices of all blocks
theretofore existing shall be closed except for the purpose of
completing the indexing belonging to the preceding year. A new block
index shall thereupon be opened for every such altered or new block in
the prescribed form, which new index shall thenceforth be used for all
entries relating to land in such altered or new blocks. At the end of
each block index so closed, a reference shall be made to the new block
index.
d. Daily block indices. On and after July first, nineteen hundred
eighty-one, new forms for the daily index of conveyances and the daily
index of mortgages may be adopted by the register. Such forms shall make
provision for the following information:
1. Names of parties
2. Block number
3. Serial number
4. Liber and page
e. Endorsement on instruments of tax block number and of tax lot
numbers. On and after the adoption of the new forms for the block index,
every instrument presented to the register with respect to Richmond
county and required to be indexed in the block index of conveyances or
mortgages shall have endorsed thereon every block number and every lot
number on the current tax map in which the land affected by the
instrument is situate.
f. Block index to be notice. The entries made in such indices, except
the lot number designation and the information contained in the column
or columns headed Lot Number and Remarks, shall be deemed and taken to
be a part of the record of the instrument to which such entries
respectively refer, and shall be notice to subsequent purchasers or
incumbrancers to the same extent and with like effect as the recording
of such instruments in the office of the register, now is or may be
notice.
g. Miscellaneous instruments. On and after July first, nineteen
hundred eighty-one, any instrument entitled to be indexed and recorded
as a miscellaneous instrument shall be indexed in a miscellaneous index
and recorded in a miscellaneous liber.
Section 7-627
§ 7-627 Alphabetical indices. Notwithstanding the provisions of any
general, special or local law, the register may adopt a form of
consolidated alphabetical index book for any one or all of the counties
of New York, Bronx, Kings and Queens, in which shall be entered the
names of the parties to conveyances and mortgages.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
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