New York State Association of County Clerks 2013 Legislative Program

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The New York State Association of County Clerks (NYSACC) has represented all 62 elected or appointed County Clerks within the State for over 75 years. After much discussion, and suggestions from county clerks across the state, we present the following as a draft legislative agenda for 2013. Keeping in mind the necessity of responding to ongoing developments both locally and statewide, our Annual Legislative Conference adopted this legislative program in January, 2013. 1. Requiring all Parties with Recorded Interests to Record a Mortgage Ownership Assignment Document Identifying the Owner of the Mortgage Interest Private record keeping entities are currently allowed to maintain a database which keeps a real-time record of such transactions, by-passing filing these important documents with New York County Clerks. Additionally the Court of Appeals has held that the recording statutes do not require parties to record ownership interests. Under this private record keeping practice, borrowers cannot ascertain the identity of the owner(s) of their promissory notes through simple access with their County Clerk. This prevents ready communication between the homeowner and the owner of their legal instruments. In this time of turmoil in housing and mortgage lending, this inability to contact the actual owner of their mortgage note leaves a distressed borrower unable to contact their note owner. This process contributed to the house market crisis and the recent recession. This situation requires an update to the recording statutes so that they allow for straightforward and easy accessibility of the current owner of interest. Maintaining mortgage owner information with the County Clerk will aid in the enforcement of mortgage fraud. 2. Pistol License Information to be Confidential Many County Clerks are responsible for filing pistol or revolver license records and keeping a registry of such licenses. As the law is currently written, an individual or organization can make a FOIL request for the entire database of the names and addresses of pistol or revolver license holders in New York State. Having this information available to the public could create serious safety issues not only for the permit holders and their family members but also for individuals who do not have guns in their home. Criminals would potentially have a road map of the homes that have guns and those that do not. This information can be easily utilized to target homes to steal the pistol or revolver from the persons address that is listed on the license. Just as troubling is the ability of a would-be criminal to target households without pistols license holders. This association believes that the availability of pistol license information should be confidential except in the case of requests from law enforcement agencies and or the office of a District Attorney and will support legislation that furthers this goal.

3) Legislative Changes to the Process Regarding the Signing and Recording of a Modification, Extension or Renewal of an Energy, Oil, Gas or Mineral Land Lease County Clerks across New York State have increasingly been presented with energy and mineral lease extensions which bear only the signature of the representative of the lessee company which has acquired a mineral interest as well as other defects or issues. The unilateral extensions are delivered by couriers who operate on behalf of the lessee company who report that landowners at issue have been notified of their lease extension. However, without the signatures of both parties to a lease there is no way for a county clerk to verify that a landowner is aware of the lease extension. The County Clerks are seeking that legislation is created to make the following changes: 1) require the signature of both parties to protect the interests of all involved; 2) all leases and assignment of leases to be recorded at the county clerks office and a penalty to be imposed if not recorded within 30 days; 3) All recording text requirements should be consistent with deeds; 4) all leases and assignment of leases should be kept to a maximum of 10 assignments per document. 4) Amend the Lien Law in Relation to Filing of False Liens Against Public Officials In recent years, members of the "Sovereign Citizens Movement" have begun to utilize the tactic of filing multiple false or fictitious liens against County public officials as a means to intimidate these individuals and undermine the rule of law. The FBI describes such individuals as anti-government extremists who believe that even though they are in the country they are separate or "sovereign" from the United States. There are multiple examples across New York State of "sovereigns" using false liens as a part of a scheme to destroy the lives of ordinary people who are simply doing their jobs. These bogus liens are meritless, but in multiple cases they were accepted by the Department of State and other entities and began to appear on credit reports and had a significant and negative impact on law abiding citizens. The County Clerks support a current Senator Maziarz Bill (S2026) that would provide equivalent state protections to public officers covered under New York State law, including local elected leaders and law enforcement officials.

NYSACC President Hon. Elizabeth Larkin, Cortland County Clerk (607) 753-5021 Legislative Committee Co-Chairs Hon. Timothy Idoni, Westchester County Clerk (914) 995-3081 Hon. Bradford Kendall, Duchess County Clerk (845) 486-2132