Selling a house in New York: the paperwork

Contract of Sale

Ownership: [SELLER's ATTORNEY] drafts / negotiates; [BUYER's ATTORNEY] reviews / counter-drafts. Legal basis: GOL § 5-703 (statute of frauds — real estate contracts must be signed writings). Standard forms: New York State Bar Association Residential Contract of Sale (widely used); Real Estate Board of NY (REBNY) forms in NYC; each attorney typically modifies house-style forms. Non-attorney seller path: New York culturally requires attorneys for residential closings — attempting an attorney-less deal is possible but strongly discouraged and rare. FSBO sellers still retain a closing attorney.

Property Condition Disclosure Statement (PCDS) — RPL Art. 14 § 462

Ownership: [SELLER] — must personally complete. Appears: Delivered to buyer before buyer signs the contract of sale. Legal basis: N.Y. Real Property Law Art. 14 (§§ 460–467). Recent change (critical): The 2023 amendment (Ch. 508, L. 2023) eliminated the $500 credit-in-lieu option effective March 20, 2024. Before this change, a seller could opt to give a $500 credit to the buyer at closing instead of completing the PCDS; that option is gone. The same amendment added 8 flood-specific questions to the PCDS (flood history, flood zone, flood insurance status, FEMA claims, and more). Contents: Statutory form covering general information, environmental conditions, structural conditions, mechanical systems, and (now) 8 flood-related questions. Form has 56 questions total. Standard of liability: Actual knowledge; not a warranty. Willful failure to disclose known defect creates liability for damages (RPL § 465(2)). How to find: New York Department of State: dos.ny.gov. Search "Property Condition Disclosure Statement." Statutory form language is public.

Federal lead-based paint

If pre-1978 → federal Title X. See methodology § 8. [SELLER], attached to contract.

State Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) — Tax Law § 1402

Ownership: [SELLER's ATTORNEY or TITLE] prepares Form TP-584. Rate: $2 per $500 of consideration (0.4%) — paid by grantor/seller by statute (though customarily negotiable). Mansion Tax (Tax Law § 1402-a): Additional 1% on consideration of $1M+ for residential real property; typically paid by the buyer by statute (unlike RETT). Form: TP-584 (Combined Real Estate Transfer Tax Return, Credit Line Mortgage Certificate, and Certification of Exemption from the Payment of Estimated Personal Income Tax). Filed with the recording of the deed. Additional form for gains: TP-584-SCH-C (for certain transactions).

Non-resident estimated income tax — Form IT-2663

Trigger: Seller is a nonresident of New York State (for state income-tax purposes). Ownership: [SELLER's ATTORNEY] prepares. Rule: Nonresident sellers must pay estimated personal income tax at the current top NY tax rate (currently 10.9% marginal at very high incomes; 8.82% baseline top) on the estimated gain — payment made at closing via Form IT-2663. This is analogous to CA FTB 593 or HI HARPTA but state-tax-based rather than a fixed-percentage withholding. Substance-over-form: Statutory form; must be filed with the recording.

Real Property Transfer Report — Form RP-5217

Ownership: [SELLER's ATTORNEY or TITLE] prepares. Purpose: Records the sales data for property-tax reassessment purposes; filed with the county clerk / NYC ACRIS at deed recording. Similar in function to Indiana Form 46021. Form: RP-5217 (statewide) or RP-5217-NYC (New York City). Filing fee: $125 residential (1–3 family + condo/coop); $250 other.

Deed (bargain-and-sale with covenant against grantor's acts)

Ownership: [SELLER's ATTORNEY] drafts. Legal basis: RPL § 253 (statutory short-form deeds). Required elements: Grantor(s), grantee(s), consideration, legal description, granting language ("hereby grants and releases" — bargain and sale + covenant against grantor's acts language), signatures acknowledged before a notary. Recording: County Clerk (57 counties) or NYC City Register (via ACRIS in Manhattan/Bronx/Brooklyn/Queens); Richmond County Clerk in Staten Island.

ALTA-style closing statement

Ownership: Coordinated by [ATTORNEYS + TITLE]. Seller signs.

Wire-fraud advisory

Ownership: [SELLER's ATTORNEY + TITLE].

Co-op transactions (New York City–concentrated)

Trigger: Property is a cooperative apartment (co-op) — seller owns shares in the cooperative corporation + a proprietary lease, not real property in the traditional sense. Ownership: [SELLER's ATTORNEY + COOP MGMT CO] coordinate. Documents involved:

• Stock certificate + proprietary lease (originals delivered at closing).
• Co-op board application package (buyer completes; seller supplies references and financials as buyer's package requires).
• Board approval / waiver of Right of First Refusal.
• Transfer fee ("flip tax") — set by co-op bylaws.
• UCC-3 termination for the seller's existing pledged shares (if financed).
• UCC-1 filing for the buyer's new pledged shares (if financed).
• No deed; no RETT/RP-5217 in the traditional sense — but the RETT DOES apply to co-op share transfers via Form TP-584 and NYC RPT applies via NYC-RPT.
• NYC Mansion Tax and RPTT apply to co-op share transfers — this is a common trap.

Non-attorney path: Co-op transactions require attorneys — the transfer mechanism (shares + lease, board application, transfer agent) is not seller-manageable without counsel.

Condominium and HOA / PUD

Trigger: Property is a condo unit or in a homeowners' association. Ownership: [SELLER, using materials from HOA / MGMT CO] Documents: Declaration, bylaws, house rules, offering plan (for newer buildings), current budget, financial statements, minutes of last 12 months, insurance certificate, letter of arrears status, right-of-first-refusal waiver. Board approval: Some condos require board application; less onerous than co-op.

Well / septic

No statewide POS inspection; disclose on PCDS. Some upstate counties require well-water potability testing at transfer — verify locally.

Flood

Trigger: In Special Flood Hazard Area or history of flooding. Rule: Post-2024 PCDS includes 8 flood-related questions — answer accurately. Federal NFIP context; buyer's lender may require flood insurance.

Superfund / brownfield

Trigger: Property is on or adjacent to a State Superfund or Brownfield site. Rule: DEC maintains registry (dec.ny.gov). Disclose on PCDS. Environmental Site Assessment sometimes required by lender.

Agricultural district — AGM § 310

Trigger: Property within or adjacent to an agricultural district. Ownership: [SELLER] — statutory notice required informing buyer that property is subject to farming operations.

Marital status / tenancy by the entirety

Trigger: Seller is married; marital home often held as tenants by the entirety. Rule: If property is held as tenants by the entirety (default for married couples' primary residence in NY under EPTL § 6-2.2), both spouses must sign to convey. No blanket dower/curtesy on sole-title spousal property (abolished by EPTL § 5-1.2).

Trust / entity

Trust certification (EPTL § 7-1.14); LLC/corp resolution + Certificate of Good Standing from NY Department of State.

Estate / Surrogate's Court

Executor's/administrator's deed; Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration from Surrogate's Court; waivers if required by Surrogate's Court.

Power of attorney

New York has a statutory Short Form POA (GOL § 5-1513); significantly revised 2021. Must be notarized and witnessed. Real-property POA should reference authority to sell.

Tenant-occupied + HSTPA (2019)

Trigger: Residential tenant on premises. Rule: Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA) significantly expanded tenant rights statewide. Rent-stabilization coverage expanded. Notice-to-tenant requirements apply. Estoppel and lease assignment standard. Rent-stabilized units: Additional disclosures re: rent registration (DHCR), preferential rents, MCI/IAI history.

CLUE

LexisNexis Consumer Center. Relevant to PCDS flood-claim questions and general disclosure.

Open permits / illegal alterations

Trigger: Open building permit or work done without a permit. Rule: Particularly acute in NYC — DOB open violations, ECB (Environmental Control Board) violations, and illegal SRO/basement/second-kitchen conversions can block closing. How to check: NYC: DOB BIS (a810-bisweb.nyc.gov); ACRIS for property-related filings. Elsewhere: local building department.

Death disclosure — no statute but Stambovsky gloss

Rule: No statute requires disclosure of death on property. Stambovsky v. Ackley (1st Dep't 1991) established that a seller who creates a stigma (the seller had publicly advertised the house as haunted) cannot rely on caveat emptor to hide it. Applied narrowly — practical implication is that if the seller has publicly represented the property has a stigma or the condition is peculiarly within seller's knowledge and unlikely to be discovered, disclosure may be required.

See master methodology § 8. Applied to New York:

• Lead paint (pre-1978) — attached to contract.
• FIRPTA — foreign sellers; federal withholding; state IT-2663 layered on top for nonresidents.
• 1099-S — filed by closer.
• FinCEN RRE Rule (effective March 1, 2026) — Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, plus Long Island were historical GTO metros; expect close FinCEN attention.
• Wire fraud — attorneys and title.

New York's disclosure regime is form-based (PCDS) rather than embedded PSA language. Key items:

Practical rule for NY: the state culturally and structurally requires attorneys. Substance-over-form matters less because the attorney will ensure PSA and disclosures are compliant.

A. New York City (5 boroughs) — substantial add-ons

• NYC Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT) — Admin. Code § 11-2102: 1% on transfers ≤ $500,000; 1.425% on transfers > $500,000 for 1–3 family and residential condo/co-op. Higher rates for commercial and larger residential. Reported via NYC-RPT filed through ACRIS.
• NYC Mansion Tax add-on: On top of the 1% state mansion tax, NYC imposes a graduated mansion tax on transfers of $1M+ residential real property (rates escalate with price up to ~3.9% at $25M+). Buyer pays by statute.
• NYC ACRIS filings — all deed/mortgage recordings and RPTT filings go through the Automated City Register Information System.
• NYC Housing Maintenance Code / HPD violations — must be addressed before closing (HPD lookup: hpdonline.hpdnyc.org).
• NYC Department of Buildings open work permits / ECB violations — must be resolved.
• NYC lead-paint local law (Local Law 1 of 2004) — additional lead-paint disclosures for multi-family with children under 6.
• NYC bed-bug disclosure for multi-family rentals.

B. Other localities

• Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund — 2% transfer tax in East End Long Island towns (Southampton, East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southold).
• Yonkers, Mount Vernon — municipal transfer taxes.
• Various local transfer taxes elsewhere — verify per municipality.

• Record deed + TP-584 + RP-5217 with county clerk / ACRIS.
• RETT + mansion tax (if applicable) + NYC RPTT (if applicable) remitted at recording.
• IT-2663 estimated tax remitted if nonresident.
• 1099-S filed by closer / attorney.
• Mortgage satisfaction recorded by lender within 30 days of payoff (Lien Law § 44).
• IRC § 121 federal capital-gains exclusion; NY conforms.
• Change-of-address / redirect utilities / homestead exemption transfer — new owner files for STAR or other property-tax exemptions.

See master methodology § 8.

Statutes (New York — official at nysenate.gov / assembly.state.ny.us)

• N.Y. Real Property Law Art. 14 (§§ 460–467) — PCDS.
• N.Y. Real Property Law § 253 — statutory short-form deeds.
• N.Y. Real Property Law § 291 — recording (race-notice).
• N.Y. Tax Law § 1402 — state RETT.
• N.Y. Tax Law § 1402-a — mansion tax.
• N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-703 — statute of frauds.
• N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-1513 — statutory short-form POA.
• N.Y. EPTL § 6-2.2 — tenancy by the entirety presumption.
• N.Y. EPTL § 5-1.2 — abolition of dower/curtesy.
• N.Y. Exec. Law § 135-c — RON.
• N.Y. Agriculture & Markets Law § 310 — agricultural district notice.
• NYC Admin. Code § 11-2102 — NYC RPTT.

Cases

• Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254, 572 N.Y.S.2d 672 (1st Dep't 1991)** — "haunted house" / stigma-disclosure principle.

Official sources

• New York Department of State (PCDS form + real estate licensing): dos.ny.gov
• New York Department of Taxation and Finance (TP-584, IT-2663): tax.ny.gov
• NYC Department of Finance (ACRIS / NYC-RPT): nyc.gov/acris
• NYC Department of Buildings (permits): nyc.gov/buildings / a810-bisweb.nyc.gov
• NYC HPD (housing violations): hpdonline.hpdnyc.org
• New York State Bar Association (attorney directory + standard contract of sale): nysba.org
• Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY): rebny.com (member-only forms)
• County Clerks (state): nycourts.gov/courts/counties.shtml

LEGAL DISCLAIMER (bottom): This is a compilation, not legal advice. New York law changes: the PCDS was significantly amended in 2023 (Ch. 508, L. 2023) with the $500 credit-in-lieu option eliminated effective March 20, 2024 and 8 flood-specific questions added; RON became permanent in 2023; NYC transfer taxes and mansion taxes have shifted repeatedly. Verify the current statute, current form edition, and current NYC local law before relying on any item. Do not attempt a New York residential closing without a licensed New York real estate attorney — the state's structure requires attorney involvement for both parties.