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City Register

NYC Admin. Code tit. 7, ch. 6
in effect

NYC Admin. Code § 7-601 Register; bond.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-602 Bond of deputies, assistants, clerks and other subordinate employees.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-604 Register; accounting for fees.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-605 Statement of account to comptroller.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-606 Penalty for neglect to account.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-607 Real estate instruments to be recorded.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-608 Microfilmed instruments; how indexed.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-614 Fees.

§ 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. Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1987/035, L.L. 1991/053, and L.L. 1995/056.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-615 Corrections to be without erasures.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-616 Miscellaneous instruments.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-617 Searches.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-618 Chattel mortgages, etc., and renewals thereof to be indorsed.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-619 Destroying obsolete documents and records.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-620 Preserving and copying records.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-621 Construction and application of this chapter.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-622 Indices to be public records.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-623 Business hours.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-624 Construction clause.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-625 Block indexing after July first, nineteen hundred sixty-four.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-626 Block indexing after July first, nineteen hundred eighty-one in Richmond county.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-627 Alphabetical indices.

§ 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.

NYC Admin. Code § 7-628 Notification of recording of real estate instruments.

§ 7-628 Notification of recording of real estate instruments. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: Deed-related document. The term "deed-related document" includes, but is not limited to, a deed, air rights, condemnation proceeding agreement, condominium declaration, confirmatory deed, contract of sale, correction deed, court order, 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 and any other document that may be designated as deed-related by the commissioner of finance. Department. The term "department" means the department of finance. Interested party. The term "interested party" means the property owner, the property owner's agent or attorney or designee, the property lienor, the property lienor's agent or attorney, the executor or administrator of the estate of the owner or lienor of the property, the agent or attorney of the executor or administrator of the estate of the owner or lienor of the property, to the extent such persons are known to the department, and any other individual that may be designated by the commissioner of finance. Mortgage-related document. The term "mortgage-related document" includes, but is not limited to, a mortgage, collateral mortgage, mortgage and consolidation, mortgage spreader agreement, satisfaction of mortgage, subordination of mortgage, sundry mortgage, UCC-1 (financing statement), and any other document that may be designated as mortgage-related by the commissioner of finance. Recording event. The term “recording event” means, with respect to a real property for which a person is an interested party, the recording of a deed-related document or mortgage-related document against such real property with the city register or the office of the Richmond county clerk, provided that the department receives notice of such recording from the office of the Richmond county clerk. b. The department shall establish and maintain a system that provides each interested party a notification by postal mail, and, if such party elects to receive such notification by e-mail or text message, by e-mail or text message, or both, that a recording event has occurred. Such notification shall be sent to each interested party no later than 30 days after such recording event, and shall include information on actions such interested party could take if such interested party suspects that a fraudulent document has been recorded, including but not limited to, information about whom to contact for assistance, filing a complaint, or reporting an alleged criminal violation. The department shall provide a mechanism for any interested party to elect not to receive any such notification. The department shall not charge a fee for use of such notification system. c. For all class 1 and class 2 properties within the city, as defined in subdivision 1 of section 1802 of the real property tax law, the department shall, to the extent practicable and consistent with applicable law, register the property owner named on the most recent deed-related document or mortgage-related document that has been recorded and indexed by the city register or the office of the Richmond county clerk prior to July 1, 2018, in the notification system required by subdivision b of this section. d. To the extent practicable, when a deed-related document or mortgage-related document is recorded with the city register or the Richmond county clerk, the department shall automatically register the named property owner on such document in the notification system required by subdivision b of this section. e. The department shall report on an annual basis on the notification system established pursuant to subdivision b of this section, and shall include data for Richmond county to the extent that the department has received data from the office of the Richmond county clerk. Such report shall be submitted to the council and published on the department's website annually no later than November 1. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, the following information for the prior year, disaggregated by borough: 1. The number of individuals registered to receive notifications through the system required by subdivision b of this section, disaggregated by the type of interested party; 2. The number of individuals registered to receive notifications for multiple properties; 3. The number of properties for which an individual is registered to receive notifications; 4. The number of individuals who opted out of receiving notifications; 5. The number of individuals who contacted the department regarding an incorrect or suspected fraudulent document recording, disaggregated by the source of information that led to such contact; and 6. The number of referrals made by the city register or office of the Richmond county clerk to the city sheriff related to suspected fraudulent document recording, the outcomes of such referrals, and whether an investigation was commenced by the sheriff. f. The department shall conduct outreach to property owners about the provisions of this section. g. The city shall not be liable for any damages as a result of failure to provide the requested notifications, nor shall any cause of action arise from such failure. h. The department shall provide a notification to each member of the city council by email of any recording event against any real property in the district represented by such council member that has been continuously owned by the same party for 30 years or more. Such notification shall be sent to the applicable council member no later than 30 days after such recording event. (L.L. 2017/249, 12/17/2017, eff. 7/1/2018; Am. L.L. 2021/136, 11/21/2021, eff. 11/21/2021 and 1/20/2022; Am. L.L. 2025/069, 5/24/2025, eff. 6/23/2025; Am. L.L. 2025/068, 5/24/2025, eff. 9/21/2025)
Source: City of New York, Charter, Administrative Code and Rules (American Legal Publishing XML export, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/newyorkcity/latest/NYCadmin/0-0-0-227680Fetched: 10/24/2026

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