N.Y. General Municipal Law § 53: Alternative service of notice of claim upon the secretary of state

§ 53. Alternative service of notice of claim upon the secretary of

state. 1. In lieu of serving a notice of claim upon a public corporation

as provided for in section fifty-e of this article, a notice of claim

setting forth the same information as required by such section may be

served upon the secretary of state in the same manner as if served with

the public corporation. All the requirements relating to the form,

content, time limitations, exceptions, extensions and any other

procedural requirements imposed in such section with respect to a notice

of claim served upon a public corporation shall correspondingly apply to

a notice of claim served upon the secretary of state as permitted by

this section. For purposes of this article, the secretary of state shall

be deemed to be the agent for all public corporations upon whom a notice

of claim may be served prior to commencement of any action or proceeding

subject to the requirements of this article.

2. All public corporations entitled to have served upon them a notice

of claim as a condition precedent to commencement of an action or

proceeding shall, no later than thirty days after the date upon which

this section shall take effect, file a certificate with the secretary of

state designating the secretary as the agent for service of a notice of

claim and shall in such statement provide the secretary with the name,

post office address and electronic mail address, if available, of an

officer, person, or designee, nominee or other agent-in-fact for the

transmittal of notices of claim served upon the secretary as the public

corporation's agent. Any designated post office address or electronic

mail address to which the secretary of state shall transmit a copy of

the notice of claim served upon him or her as agent shall continue to be

the address to which such notices shall be transmitted until the public

corporation sends a notice to the secretary informing him or her of a

new post office address or electronic mail address to which such notices

shall be transmitted. The initial filing with the secretary of state

shall also contain the applicable time limit for filing a notice of

claim upon that public corporation, or if later changed by statute, a

new filing shall be made detailing the new time limit. Any public

corporation that does not have a current and timely statutory

designation filed with the secretary of state shall not be entitled to

the portion of the fee to which it would otherwise be entitled pursuant

to subdivision four of this section. Failure of the public corporation

to so file with the secretary of state will not invalidate any service

of a notice of claim upon the public corporation which has been received

by the secretary of state.

3. The secretary of state is hereby empowered to accept properly

transmitted notices of claims on behalf of a public corporation, with

the same effect as if served directly upon a public corporation. The

secretary of state shall accept such service upon the following terms

and conditions:

(a) the secretary of state shall set and notify the public, on his or

her website, of times, places and manner of service upon him or her of

notices of claims necessary to comply with the provisions of this

section;

(b) upon receipt of a notice of claim, the secretary of state shall

issue a receipt or other document acknowledging his or her receipt of

such notice, and such receipt shall contain the date and time of receipt

of the notice, an identifying number or name particular to the notice

received, and the logo or seal of the department of state embossed upon

it. Such receipt shall be prima facie evidence of service upon the

secretary of state for all purposes;

(c) nothing in this section shall be deemed to alter, waive or

otherwise abrogate any defense available to a public corporation as to

the nature, sufficiency, or appropriateness of the notice of claim

itself, or to any challenges to the timeliness of the service of a

notice of claim. Timely service upon the secretary of state shall be

deemed timely service upon the public corporation for purposes of

instituting an action or proceeding or other requirement imposed by law.

4. The secretary of state may impose a fee upon any person who serves

a notice of claim with the department. Such fee shall not exceed two

hundred fifty dollars for each such notice filed. One-half of the fee

imposed shall be retained by the secretary of state as payment for its

services provided in accordance with this section. The remaining

one-half of such fee shall be forwarded to the public corporation named

in the notice of claim provided, however, if more than one such public

corporation is named, each named public corporation shall be entitled to

an equal percentage of the one-half amount.

5. The secretary of state shall within sixty days after the effective

date of this section post on the departmental website a list of any

public corporation, including any public authority, public benefit

corporation or any other entity entitled to receive a notice of claim as

a condition precedent to commencement of an action or proceeding, and

that has filed, pursuant to this section, a certificate with the

secretary of state designating the secretary as the agent for service of

a notice of claim. The list should identify the entity, the post office

address and electronic mail address, if available, of the public

corporation to which the notice of claim shall be forwarded by the

secretary of state, and any statutory provisions uniquely pertaining to

such public corporation and the commencement of an action or proceeding

against it.

6. The secretary of state is authorized to promulgate any rules or

regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.