N.Y. General City Model 772/66 § 140: Collection, levy and liens

§ 140. Collection, levy and liens. (a) Collection procedures.--The

taxes imposed by this title shall be collected by the director of

finance, and he may establish the mode or time for the collection of any

amount due it under this title if not otherwise specified. The director

of finance shall, upon request, give a receipt for any sum collected

under this title. The director of finance may authorize banks or trust

companies which are depositories or financial agents of the city to

receive and give a receipt for any tax imposed under this title in such

manner, at such times, and under such conditions as the director of

finance may prescribe; and the director of finance shall prescribe the

manner, times and conditions under which the receipt of such tax by such

banks and trust companies is to be treated as payment of such tax to the

director of finance.

(b) Notice and demand for tax.--The director of finance shall as soon

as practicable give notice to each person liable for any amount of tax,

addition to tax, penalty or interest, which has been assessed but

remains unpaid, stating the amount and demanding payment thereof. Such

notice shall be left at the dwelling or usual place of business of such

person or shall be sent by mail to such person's last known address.

Except where the director of finance determines that collection would be

jeopardized by delay, if any tax is assessed prior to the last date

(including any date fixed by extension) prescribed for payment of such

tax, payment of such tax shall not be demanded until after such date.

(c) Issuance of warrant after notice and demand.--If any person liable

under this title for the payment of any tax, addition to tax, penalty or

interest neglects or refuses to pay the same within the ten days after

notice and demand therefor is given to such person under subdivision

(b), the director of finance may within six years after the date of such

assessment issue a warrant under his official seal directed to the

sheriff of any county of the state, or to any officer or employee of the

department of finance, commanding him to levy upon and sell such

person's real and personal property for the payment of the amount

assessed, with the cost of executing the warrant, and to return such

warrant to the director of finance and pay to him the money collected by

virtue thereof within sixty days after the receipt of the warrant. If

the director of finance finds that the collection of the tax or other

amount is in jeopardy, notice and demand for immediate payment of such

tax may be made by the director of finance and upon failure or refusal

to pay such tax or other amount the director of finance may issue a

warrant without regard to the ten-day period provided in this

subdivision.

(d) Copy of warrant to be filed and lien to be created.--Any sheriff

or officer or employee who receives a warrant under subdivision (c)

shall within five days thereafter file a copy with the clerk of the

appropriate county. The clerk shall thereupon enter in the judgment

docket, in the column for judgment debtors, the name of the taxpayer

mentioned in the warrant, and in appropriate columns the tax or other

amounts for which the warrant is issued and the date when such copy is

filed; and such amount shall thereupon be a binding lien upon the real,

personal and other property of the taxpayer.

(e) Judgment.--When a warrant has been filed with the county clerk the

director of finance shall, on behalf of the city, be deemed to have

obtained judgment against the taxpayer for the tax or other amounts.

(f) Execution.--The sheriff or officer or employee shall thereupon

proceed upon the judgment in all respects, with like effect, and in the

same manner prescribed by law in respect to executions issued against

property upon judgments of a court of record, and a sheriff shall be

entitled to the same fees for his services in executing the warrant, to

be collected in the same manner. An officer or employee of the

department of finance may proceed in any county or counties of this

state and shall have all the powers of execution conferred by law upon

sheriffs, but shall be entitled to no fee or compensation in excess of

actual expenses paid in connection with the execution of the warrant.

(g) Taxpayer not a resident of this state.--Where a notice and demand

under subdivision (b) shall have been given to a taxpayer who is not

then a resident of this state, and it appears to the director of finance

that it is not practicable to find in this state property of the

taxpayer sufficient to pay the entire balance of tax or other amount

owing by such taxpayer who is not then a resident of this state, the

director of finance may, in accordance with subdivision (c), issue a

warrant directed to an officer or employee of the department of finance,

a copy of which warrant shall be mailed by certified or registered mail

to the taxpayer at his last known address, subject to the rules for

mailing provided in subdivision (a) of section one hundred twenty-nine.

Such warrant shall command the officer or employee to proceed in New

York county, and he shall, within five days after receipt of the

warrant, file the warrant and obtain a judgment in accordance with this

section. Thereupon the director of finance may authorize the institution

of any action or proceeding to collect or enforce the judgment in any

place and by any procedure that a civil judgment of the supreme court of

the state of New York could be collected or enforced. The director of

finance may also, in his discretion, designate agents or retain counsel

for the purpose of collecting, outside the state of New York, any unpaid

taxes, additions to tax, penalties or interest which have been assessed

under this title against taxpayers who are not residents of this state,

may fix the compensation of such agents and counsel to be paid out of

money appropriated or otherwise lawfully available for payment thereof,

and may require of them bonds or other security for the faithful

performance of their duties, in such form and in such amount as the

director of finance shall deem proper and sufficient.

(h) Action by city for recovery of taxes.--Action may be brought by

the corporation counsel at the instance of the director of finance as

agent and trustee for the city to recover the amount of any unpaid

taxes, additions to tax, penalties or interest which have been assessed

under this title within six years prior to the date the action is

commenced.

(i) Release of lien.--The director of finance, if he finds that the

interests of the city will not thereby be jeopardized, and upon such

conditions as he may require, may release any property from the lien of

any warrant for unpaid taxes, additions to tax, penalties and interest

filed pursuant to this section, and such release may be recorded in the

office of any recording officer in which such warrant has been filed.