Selling a house in New York: the paperwork
Every document a New York sale commonly touches, who usually produces it, and the law behind it. In most sales the seller's own share is small, and this page shows you which part that usually is.
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Usually the seller's to produce
3In most sales nobody else prepares these. Whether each one applies to you depends on your home, your title, and your buyer.
- Property Condition Disclosure Statement (PCDS)Delivered before buyer signs contract
- Federal lead-based paint disclosure (pre-1978)Attached to contract before buyer obligationOn your list because was the home built before 1978
- Condo/co-op docs and financialsIn closing packetOn your list because is the home in an hoa, condo, or co-op
Usually somebody else's to prepare
16Commonly handled by a title company, an attorney, a lender, or the county. Listed so none of them is a surprise.
- Contract of SaleFoundational contract
- Title report / title commitmentBuyer's attorney orders; seller's attorney addresses objections
- Deed (bargain-and-sale with covenant against grantor's acts)Recorded post-closing
- Form TP-584 (state RETT return + Form TP-584-SCH-C where required)Filed with recording
- Form RP-5217 (Real Property Transfer Report)Filed with recording
- Form IT-2663 (Nonresident Real Property Estimated Income Tax Payment)Filed with recordingOn your list because do you file u.s. taxes as a citizen or resident
- ALTA-style closing statementClosing packet
- Buyer's Closing DisclosureBuyer's packet
- Payoff statementsClosing packet
- Wire-fraud advisoryEmail + closing packet
- FIRPTA non-foreign affidavitClosing packet
- 1099-SFiled with IRS
- Bill of sale for personaltyClosing packet
- Mortgage satisfactionRecorded post-closing
- NYC RPT (Form NYC-RPT)Filed via ACRIS at recording
- Co-op board packageSubmitted to boardOn your list because is the home in an hoa, condo, or co-op
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Set up my roomHow New York generally runs a sale
The broad shape of a sale there, as the research found it. Counties and cities add their own rules on top of all of this.
Other things New York asks about
These come up in New York and almost nowhere else. We don't ask them above because we can't answer them for you yet, but they're worth raising with your title company.
- Built before 1978?
- On or near a Superfund/brownfield site?
- Agricultural district?
- Are you married?
- Will you attend closing?
- Property in New York City (5 boroughs)?
- Sale price $1,000,000+?
- Any death on the property?
Before you rely on any of this
This is a compilation of published state requirements, not legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it or your sale. Laws and forms change, counties and cities add their own rules, and whether any of this applies to you depends on facts we don't know. Treat every item as a starting point for a question, not as an answer. Confirm anything you plan to rely on against the official source we link, and run your list past a title company or an attorney licensed in your state.
These counts describe a typical sale, not yours. Which documents you need turns on facts about your home, your title, your buyer, and your county, and one unusual answer can add several or remove them.
Who prepares each document is what usually happens, not a rule. Practice differs between states, between counties, and between one title company and the next, and your contract can move work from one side to the other.
Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale.
The full New York reference
The rest of the research, with every citation kept. This is the same material our own product is built on, and nothing is held back for paying customers. It describes the law as the research found it, not as it applies to your sale.
ALWAYS-required documents (every 1–4 family NY residential transaction)
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].
SOMETIMES-required documents (only when triggered)
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.
Federal overlays
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.
Prescribed-language items (substance over form)
New York's disclosure regime is form-based (PCDS) rather than embedded PSA language. Key items:
| Item | Statute | Form / language | Non-attorney path (unusual in NY) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCDS | RPL Art. 14 § 462 | Statutory form (56 questions post-2024) | Reproduce statutory form; retain attorney regardless |
| Agricultural district notice | AGM § 310 | Statutory notice language | Reproduce from statute |
| Federal lead paint | 24 CFR 35 | Federal form | EPA form |
| Rent stabilization (if applicable) | HSTPA / DHCR regs | Statutory disclosures + registration | DHCR forms |
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.
Local / municipal overlays
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.
Post-closing obligations
- 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.
Federal overlay cross-reference
See master methodology § 8.
Official links & primary citations
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.