In New York, the deed is rarely the problem. The two forms that travel with it are. A conveyance with a flawless legal description and a properly executed acknowledgment will still come back from the counter because a phone number was left blank on the RP-5217, or because the county wanted the section, block and lot printed on page one and it was not there.
Add sixty-two counties, each with its own recording overlay on top of the statewide requirements, and New York becomes a state where out-of-state counsel lose days to formatting rather than substance. Here is what to check before sending a New York deed to record.
Outside New York City, every conveyance requires both of the following at recording:
Inside the five boroughs the forms change: TP-584-NYC and RP-5217-NYC, plus the New York City Real Property Transfer Tax return. A package assembled on the non-NYC forms and sent to a Manhattan or Brooklyn recording will be rejected on the forms alone.
Neither form is a formality. The RP-5217 in particular has starred required fields — buyer contact telephone is the one most commonly left blank — and a missing entry stops the recording as effectively as a defective deed.
The base New York State real estate transfer tax is $2 for each $500 of consideration or fractional part thereof, payable by the grantor. If the grantor fails to pay or is exempt, liability shifts to the grantee. An additional 1% "mansion tax" applies to residential conveyances of $1 million or more and is paid by the grantee.
Estate planning transfers are usually exempt, but you have to claim the exemption by lettered paragraph in Schedule B, Part 3 of the TP-584:
| Situation | TP-584 Part 3 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Conveyance without consideration, not in connection with a sale, including bona fide gifts | (d) | The common claim for a gift deed |
| Mere change of identity or form of ownership, no change in beneficial ownership | (f) | The better fit for most trust funding — requires Form TP-584.1, Schedule F |
| Conveyance to confirm, correct, modify or supplement a prior conveyance, without additional consideration | (c) | Corrective deeds |
| Conveyance to secure a debt or other obligation | (b) | |
| Conveyance consisting of a deed of partition | (g) | |
| Conveyance to the United States, New York State, or a political subdivision | (a) | |
| Conveyance pursuant to the federal Bankruptcy Act | (h) |
Two things that get packages returned:
Do not overlook Schedule C (credit line mortgage certificate) or Schedule D. Schedule D certifies exemption from estimated personal income tax under Tax Law § 663 and must be signed by each New York resident transferor. Nonresident transferors who do not qualify for an exemption file Form IT-2663 and pay estimated tax as a condition of recording.
New York's substantive deed requirements are short, and all three of these belong in the instrument:
On deed type: the New York workhorse is the bargain and sale deed with covenant against grantor's acts. Be careful that the instrument's title matches its covenants. A deed captioned simply "Deed" that contains the grantor's-acts covenant is a bargain and sale deed — and if your RP-5217 checks condition 15E, "Deed type not Warranty or Bargain and Sale," the form now contradicts the instrument. Small inconsistency, real rejection risk.
New York prescribes its acknowledgment forms by statute, and the correct one depends on where the signature happens:
The certificate must include the venue, the date, the name of the person who appeared, the notary's signature, and the notary's commission expiration. Use the plural forms when two grantors sign — "the individuals whose names are subscribed," not "the person whose name is subscribed."
New York does not require witnesses on an ordinary deed. It does require two of them on a transfer on death deed, which is section 6 below and a genuine trap.
Recording fees are set county by county, so budget from the actual county rather than a statewide figure. Nassau County, as a representative example:
Transfer tax checks generally must be certified. Recording fees are usually payable by personal check to the county clerk.
New York adopted transfer on death deeds at RPL § 424. This is recent law, and the execution requirements are not what New York practitioners are used to.
A New York TOD deed must:
Two witnesses and a notary. New York requires no witnesses on an ordinary deed, so this is the single most common defect in early § 424 practice — a TOD deed executed the way the office executes every other deed is void.
Three more points worth knowing:
Statewide compliance is not sufficient. Each county clerk adds requirements, and they are enforced literally. Nassau County is instructive:
Other counties differ in the details but not in the posture. Confirm the county's own checklist before assembling any New York package, and confirm the SBL against the current tax bill rather than an older deed.
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