N.Y. Religious Corporations Law § 12: Sale, mortgage and lease of real property of religious corporations

§ 12. Sale, mortgage and lease of real property of religious

corporations. 1. A religious corporation shall not sell, mortgage or

lease for a term exceeding five years any of its real property without

applying for and obtaining leave of the court or the attorney general

therefor pursuant to section five hundred eleven of the not-for-profit

corporation law as that section is modified by paragraph (d-1) of

subdivision one of section two-b of this chapter or section five hundred

eleven-a of the not-for-profit corporation law, except that a religious

corporation may execute a purchase money mortgage or a purchase money

security agreement creating a security interest in personal property

purchased by it without obtaining leave of the court therefor.

2. The trustees of an incorporated Protestant Episcopal church shall

not vote upon any resolution or proposition for the sale, mortgage or

lease of its real property, unless the rector of such church, if it then

has a rector, shall be present, and shall not make application to the

court for leave to sell or mortgage any of its real property without the

consent of the bishop and standing committee of the diocese to which

such church belongs, or execute and deliver a lease of any of its real

property for a term exceeding five years without similar consent of the

bishop and standing committee of the diocese to which such church

belongs; but in case the see be vacant, or the bishop be absent or

unable to act, the consent of the standing committee with their

certificate of the vacancy of the see or of the absence or disability of

the bishop shall suffice.

3. The trustees of an incorporated Roman Catholic church shall not

make application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease or sell any

of its real property without the consent of the archbishop or bishop of

the diocese to which such church belongs or in case of their absence or

inability to act, without the consent of the vicar-general or

administrator of such diocese.

4. The trustees of an incorporated Ruthenian Catholic church of the

Greek rite shall not make application to the court for leave to

mortgage, lease or sell any of its real property without the consent in

writing of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic bishop of the diocese to which

such church belongs, or, in case of his absence or inability to act,

without the consent of the vicar-general of such bishop or of the

administrator of such diocese.

5. The trustees of an incorporated African Methodist Episcopal Zion

church shall not make application to the court for leave to mortgage,

lease or sell any of its real property without the consent of the bishop

of the diocese to which said church belongs, or in case of his absence

or inability to act, without the consent of the annual conference having

jurisdiction over such church.

5-a. The trustees of an incorporated Presbyterian church in connection

with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) shall not

make application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease or sell any

of its real property without the consent in writing of the particular

Presbytery with which said church is connected.

5-b. The trustees of an incorporated United Methodist church shall not

make application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease, or sell any

of its real property without the written consents of the district

superintendent and the preacher in charge and the authorization of the

charge conference by a majority of those present and voting at a meeting

of the charge conference, provided that not less than ten days' notice

of such meeting and proposed action shall have been given from the

pulpit of the charge, or, if no regular services are held, by mail to

the members of the charge conference.

5-c. The trustees of an incorporated Reformed Church in connection

with the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America, shall not make

application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease or sell any of its

real property without the consent in writing of the trustees of the

Classis with which said church is connected.

5-d. The trustees of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America shall

not make application to the court for leave to mortgage, lease or sell

any of its real property without the consent of its archbishop.

6. The petition of the trustees of an incorporated Protestant

Episcopal church or Roman Catholic church shall, in addition to the

matters required by article five of the not-for-profit corporation law

to be set forth therein, set forth that this section has also been

complied with. The petition of the trustees of an incorporated African

Methodist Episcopal Zion church shall in addition to the matters

required by article five of the not-for-profit corporation law to be set

forth therein, set forth that this section has also been complied with.

The petition of the trustees of an incorporated Presbyterian church in

connection with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church

(U.S.A.), shall, in addition to the matters required by article five of

the not-for-profit corporation law to be set forth therein, set forth

that this section has also been complied with. The petition of the

trustees of an incorporated United Methodist church shall, in addition

to the matters required by article five of the not-for-profit

corporation law to be set forth therein, set forth that this section has

also been complied with. The petition of the trustees of an incorporated

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America church shall, in addition to the

matters required by article five of the not-for-profit corporation law

to be set forth therein, set forth that this section has also been

complied with.

7. Lots, plots or burial permits in a cemetery owned by a religious

corporation may, however, be sold, also all or part of such cemetery may

be conveyed to a cemetery corporation, without applying for or obtaining

leave of the court. No cemetery lands of a religious corporation shall

be mortgaged while used for cemetery purposes.

8. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter in respect to a

religious corporation of a specified denomination, any solvent religious

corporation may, by order of the court, obtained as above provided in

proceedings to sell, mortgage or lease real property, convey the whole

or any part of its real property to another religious corporation, or to

a membership, educational, municipal or other non-profit corporation,

for a consideration of one dollar or other nominal consideration, and

for the purpose of applying the provisions of article five of the

general corporation law, a proposed conveyance for such consideration

shall be treated as a sale, but it shall not be necessary to show, in

the petition or otherwise, nor for the court to find that the pecuniary

or proprietary interest of the grantor corporation will be promoted

thereby; and the interests of such grantor shall be deemed to be

promoted if it appears that religious or charitable objects generally

are conserved by such conveyance, provided, however, that such an order

shall not be made if tending to impair the claim or remedy of any

creditor.

9. If a sale, mortgage or lease for a term exceeding five years of any

real property of any such religious corporation has been heretofore or

shall be hereafter made and a conveyance or mortgage executed and

delivered without the authority of a court of competent jurisdiction,

obtained as required by law, or not in accordance with its directions,

the court may, thereafter, upon the application of the corporation, or

of the grantee or mortgagee in any such conveyance or mortgage or of any

person claiming through or under any such grantee or mortgagee upon such

notice to such corporation, or its successor, and such other person or

persons as may be interested in such property, as the court may

prescribe, confirm said previously executed conveyance or mortgage, and

order and direct the execution and delivery of a confirmatory deed or

mortgage, or the recording of such confirmatory order in the office

where deeds and mortgages are recorded in the county in which the

property is located; and upon compliance with the said order such

original conveyance or mortgage shall be as valid and of the same force

and effect as if it had been executed and delivered after due

proceedings had in accordance with the statute and the direction of the

court. But no confirmatory order may be granted unless the consents

required in the first part of this section for a Protestant Episcopal,

Roman Catholic, Presbyterian church or an incorporated African Methodist

Episcopal Zion church or an incorporated United Methodist church have

first been given by the prescribed authority thereof, either upon the

original application or upon the application for the confirmatory order.

10. The provisions of this section shall not apply to real property

heretofore or hereafter acquired on a sale in an action or proceeding

for the foreclosure of a mortgage owned by a religious corporation or

held by a trustee for or in behalf of a religious corporation or to real

property heretofore or hereafter acquired by a religious corporation or

held by a trustee for or in behalf of a religious corporation by deed in

lieu of the foreclosure of a mortgage owned, either in whole or in part,

whether in certificate form or otherwise, by a religious corporation.