Section 1125. Personal notice of commencement of foreclosure proceeding

1.
  (a) Parties entitled to notice. The enforcing officer shall on or before
  the  date of the first publication of the notice above set forth cause a
  notice to be mailed to (i) each owner and any other person whose  right,
  title, or interest was a matter of public record as of the date the list
  of  delinquent  taxes  was filed, which right, title or interest will be
  affected by the termination of the redemption period, and whose name and
  address are reasonably ascertainable from the public  record,  including
  the  records  in  the  offices  of  the surrogate of the county, or from
  material submitted to the enforcing officer pursuant to paragraph (d) of
  this subdivision, (ii) any other person who has filed a  declaration  of
  interest  pursuant  to  section  eleven hundred twenty-six of this title
  which has not expired, and (iii) the enforcing officer of any other  tax
  district having a right to enforce the payment of a tax imposed upon any
  of the parcels described upon such petition.
    (b)  Notification  method.  (i) Such notice shall be sent to each such
  party both by certified mail and ordinary first class mail,  subject  to
  the  provisions of subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph. The notice shall
  be deemed received unless both the certified mailing  and  the  ordinary
  first  class  mailing  are  returned by the United States postal service
  within forty-five days after being mailed. In that event, the  enforcing
  officer  or  his  or  her  agent  shall attempt to obtain an alternative
  mailing address from the United States postal service.  When  notice  is
  required  to  be  sent  to  the commissioner of taxation and finance, an
  alternative notice may be used by the enforcing officer,  in  accordance
  with  instructions  prescribed  by  the  commissioner  of  taxation  and
  finance.
    (ii) If an alternative mailing address is found, the enforcing officer
  shall cause the notice to be mailed to such owner at such  address  both
  by  certified mail and by ordinary first class mail. Notwithstanding any
  provision of law to the contrary, such owner may redeem  the  parcel  in
  question  or serve a duly verified answer to the petition of foreclosure
  until either the thirtieth day after such mailing, or the date specified
  by the notice of foreclosure as the last day for  redemption,  whichever
  is later.
    (iii) If no alternative mailing address can be found, then in the case
  of  an owner, the enforcing officer shall cause a copy of such notice to
  be posted as provided herein on the property to which the delinquent tax
  lien relates; in the case of a non-owner, the  enforcing  officer  shall
  cause a copy of such notice to be posted in his or her office and in the
  office  of  the  clerk of the court in which the petition of foreclosure
  has been filed. Notwithstanding any provision of law  to  the  contrary,
  the  party  to  whom  such  notice  is directed may redeem the parcel in
  question or serve a duly verified answer to the petition of  foreclosure
  until  either  the  thirtieth day after such posting or delivery, or the
  date specified by  the  notice  of  foreclosure  as  the  last  day  for
  redemption, whichever is later.
    (iv)  Where  an  owner  is listed as "unknown" on the tax roll and the
  name of such owner cannot be found in  the  public  record,  the  notice
  shall  be  mailed  to  the property address by ordinary first class mail
  addressed to "occupant" and a  copy  thereof  shall  be  posted  on  the
  property to which the tax lien relates.
    (c)  Posting  of notice. When a notice is required to be posted on the
  property to which the delinquent  tax  lien  relates  pursuant  to  this
  section,  the  posting  shall  be  deemed sufficient if it is either (i)
  affixed to a door of  a  residential  or  commercial  structure  on  the
  premises, or (ii) attached to a vertical object, such as a tree, post or
  stake,  and  plainly  visible  from  the  road.  Provided, that if, when

  visiting the premises for this purpose, the enforcing officer or his  or
  her   agent  should  find  thereon  an  occupant  of  suitable  age  and
  discretion, he or she may  deliver  such  notice  to  such  occupant  in
  addition  to  or  in  lieu  of  posting it. The process of so posting or
  delivering such notice shall warrant the imposition of an  extra  charge
  of  one  hundred  dollars  against  the parcel, in addition to any other
  charges authorized by section eleven hundred twenty-four of  this  title
  and without regard to any limitations set forth therein.
    (d)  Changes  of  address. It shall be the responsibility of any party
  entitled to notice pursuant to this  section  to  notify  the  enforcing
  officer when his, her or its address changes. Such notification need not
  be  in  any  particular  form as long as it is in writing, affirmatively
  states that such party's address has changed or uses  language  to  that
  effect,  and  sets forth the new address. It shall not suffice to submit
  to the enforcing officer an item that merely displays the  new  address,
  such  as  a  check  upon  which the new address has been imprinted, or a
  letter or envelope which uses the new address  as  the  return  address,
  unless  such  submission  includes language clearly indicating that such
  address is that party's new address. In the  event  that  a  foreclosure
  proceeding  is  challenged  on  grounds of lack of notice, and the party
  raising this issue failed to provide a current address to the  enforcing
  officer  pursuant  to  this paragraph, the court having jurisdiction may
  take such failure into account when evaluating whether reasonable notice
  was given.
    (e) Public record. For purposes of this  section,  the  public  record
  shall  be  deemed  to  consist  of the books maintained by the recording
  officer of the county in which  the  property  is  located  pursuant  to
  section  three  hundred fifteen of the real property law, the books kept
  by the clerk of the  surrogate's  court  of  the  county  in  which  the
  property  is  located pursuant to section twenty-five hundred two of the
  surrogate's court procedure act, the tax rolls in the possession of  the
  enforcing officer dated from the applicable lien date forward.
    2.  The  notice  to  be  so  mailed shall consist of (a) a copy of the
  petition and, if not substantially the same as the petition, the  public
  notice  of  foreclosure,  provided that such copies need not include the
  descriptions or the names of the owners of  any  parcels  in  which  the
  addressee  does  not have an interest, and (b) a statement substantially
  as follows:
 
    To the party to whom the enclosed notice is addressed:
    You are presumed to own or have a legal interest in one or more of the
  parcels  of  real  property  described  on  the  enclosed  petition   of
  foreclosure.
    A  proceeding  to foreclose on such property based upon the failure to
  pay real property taxes has been commenced. Foreclosure will  result  in
  the loss of ownership of such property and all rights in that property.
    To avoid loss of ownership or of any other rights in the property, all
  unpaid  taxes and other legal charges must be paid prior to.............
  (insert the last date to redeem) or you must interpose a  duly  verified
  answer  in  the  proceeding.  You  may  make  payment to................
  (insert name, title and address of the official to  whom  such  payments
  are to be made) in the amount of all such unpaid taxes and legal charges
  prior  to that date. You may wish to contact an attorney to protect your
  rights.
    After............. (insert the last date  to  redeem),  a  court  will
  transfer the title of the property to the.............. (Name of the tax
  district) by means of a court judgment.

    Should   you   have   any  questions  regarding  this  notice,  please
  call............  (insert   the   name   of   the   enforcing   officer)
  at................ (insert telephone number).
  Dated,................. (Insert date).
 
    3. (a) An affidavit of mailing of such notice shall be executed.
    (b)  The  failure  of an intended recipient to receive any such notice
  shall not invalidate any tax or prevent the enforcement of the  same  as
  provided by law.
    (c) The service of the notice required by this section shall be deemed
  to  be  equivalent  to  the  service of a notice of petition pursuant to
  section four hundred three of the civil practice law and rules.
    4. (a) Nothing contained herein shall be  construed  to  preclude  the
  enforcing officer from issuing, at his or her discretion, a duplicate of
  any  such  notice,  clearly  labeled  as  such, through means other than
  ordinary first  class  mail,  including  but  not  limited  to  personal
  service,  registered  or  certified  mail,  facsimile  transmission,  or
  electronic mail.
    (b) Nothing contained  herein  shall  be  construed  to  preclude  the
  enforcing  officer  from  issuing, at his or her discretion, one or more
  informal notices to an owner or other party prior to issuing the  notice
  required by this section.
    (c)   The   failure   of  the  enforcing  officer  to  mail  any  such
  discretionary notice, or the failure of an intended recipient to receive
  such a notice, shall not invalidate any tax or prevent  the  enforcement
  of the same as provided by law.
    5.  Any  notice  mailed  by  ordinary  first  class  mail  pursuant to
  subdivision one of this section may  also  be  mailed  in  duplicate  by
  certified mail at the option of the enforcing officer.