§ 54-02 Application for Mergers or Apportionments.
(a) Applications for mergers or apportionments are available on the Department's website or can be requested by dialing 311. Except as otherwise directed by the Department, all applications and all supporting documentation required by the Department must be submitted in person to the Department's tax map office.
(b) All applicants must meet the following requirements:
(1) Outstanding taxes, charges or tax liens for prior tax years related to the parcel or parcels of real property included in the application must be satisfied unless the applicant has entered into an installment agreement to satisfy such taxes, charges or tax liens and they are current on such installment agreement.
(2) Real estate taxes for the current year for the parcel or parcels of real property included in the application must be up-to-date unless the applicant has entered into an installment agreement to pay such real estate taxes and they are current on such installment agreement.
(3) If an installment agreement already exists on parcels of real property that will be apportioned or merged, the owner must enter into a new installment agreement for the resulting apportioned or merged parcels of real property before the apportionment or merger will be approved by the Department. Any liens or charges on the parcels of real property to be apportioned or merged will be divided among the approved parcels of real property and the Department may take, if necessary, the same enforcement action against the apportioned or merged parcels of real property as it could take against the parcels of real property if they had not been apportioned or merged.
(4) Applicants must not have any outstanding Environmental Control Board judgment debt issued by the New York Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings ("OATH"), pursuant to Section 1049-a of the Charter on the parcel(s) included in the application unless the applicant has entered into an installment agreement to satisfy such judgment debt and they are current on such installment agreement. An applicant will not be required to satisfy any such outstanding judgment debt for which there is any pending Article 78 actions or motions before OATH. The applicant will not be required to satisfy any outstanding Environmental Control Board judgment debt on the parcel(s) included in a merger or apportionment application that were incurred by a previous owner(s) or for any other parcel(s) of property they own.
(5) The deed on record must show that the applicant owns the parcel or parcels of real property included in the application. The lessee of a lease with a term of ninety-nine or more years will also be eligible to submit an application for a merger or apportionment. If an application is submitted by a lessee, the fee owner will also be required to sign the application.
(b-1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the provisions of subdivision (b) of this section shall not apply to the city of New York where the city of New York submits an application for the apportionment of a parcel, provided that (i) the city of New York acquired a portion of such parcel through a condemnation proceeding conducted in accordance with the Eminent Domain Procedure Law; and (ii) such application only seeks to apportion from such parcel the portion acquired by the City of New York through such condemnation proceeding.*
(c) There are different document submission requirements for new buildings, alterations on existing buildings, vacant land, condominiums and lot mergers. The submission requirements are set forth below:
(1) Apportionments - New buildings:
(i) Completed application.
(ii) Final survey prepared by a licensed land New York State licensed surveyor, which must include square footage.
(iii) An approved subdivision plan work application ("PW1") filing for a new building.
(2) Apportionments - Alterations on existing buildings or vacant land:
(i) Completed application.
(ii) An approved subdivision PW1 filing for alteration of an existing building. An approved PW1 filing is not required for vacant land unless the vacant parcel is subdivided from a parcel that contains a building.
(iii) Survey for alteration on existing building or vacant land.
(3) Apportionments - Condominiums:
(i) The applicant must comply with the requirements set forth in Article 9B of the Real Property Law.
(ii) The applicant must complete the Department's Application for Condominium Apportionment and Approval (RP-602C) online and request new lots. Upon approval to proceed, the applicant must submit the completed RP-602C Application to the Department.
(4) Lot Mergers:
(i) Completed application.
(ii) The deed on record must show common ownership of all the parcels of real property included in such application. If the deed lacks a metes and bounds description but refers only to a filed tax map, the applicant must provide a current metes and bounds description, prepared by a New York State licensed surveyor. Applications requesting the merging of tax exempt parcels of real property with non-exempt parcels of real property will not be approved.
(d) The Department, in its sole discretion, may require the applicant to provide additional information. The applicant will be notified by the Department in writing concerning any requests for such additional information. The applicant will be required to provide the additional information and re-submit such application to the Department for review and approval. Failure to re-submit a revised application within 60 days will result in a denial of the application.
(e) If an applicant has been advised that their application will not be reviewed because of their outstanding Environmental Control Board judgment debt issued by OATH, pursuant to Section 1049-a of the Charter, and the applicant believes that attribution of such debt is incorrect, the applicant may appeal this determination in accordance with the appeal procedures set forth below in 19 RCNY § 54-04.
(f) All application fees must be paid before the Department will review an application, except as specified below: The commissioner will waive fees for processing applications for tax lot mergers and/or apportionments set forth in subdivision (e) of 19 RCNY § 9-01 in connection with applications for work that is officially approved and funded under the city's Build it Back Program. Any such fees already paid by an officially approved Build it Back Program applicant on or after July 1, 2014 will be refunded to the applicant who paid such fees upon the submission and approval of the Department's tax lot merger and/or apportionment refund application.
(g) Once a lot merger is approved by the Department, either a fee condominium or a leasehold condominium may be created if all other requirements are met.
(Added City Record 11/17/2017, eff. 12/17/2017; amended City Record 3/9/2026, eff. 4/8/2026)
* Editor's note: Pursuant to Section 2 of the rule published at City Record 3/9/2026, eff. 4/8/2026, subsivision (b-1) applies to the City of New York in regard to applications submitted to the Department of Finance pursuant to 19 RCNY Chapter 54 after April 8, 2026.
