UPDATE State Tax Warrants
The following clarification of Frontier’s post dated June 18th was provided by the New York State Land Title Association, based on guidance from the New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance.
This clarification addresses how state tax warrants filed prior to July 1, 2025 on the Department of State's website may impact real property interests.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or if you would like to discuss how this may affect your current or future transactions.
From the New York State Commissioner of Taxation & Finance
Commissioner Amanda Hiller of the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance has clarified key implications regarding State Tax Warrants (STWs) in light of the upcoming changes effective July 1, 2025:
Pre-July 1 Warrants:
• Warrants filed before July 1, 2025 remain governed by the previous law.
• These warrants create liens only on real property in the county where they were docketed.
• There is no retroactive expansion of lien effect—they do not attach to property statewide.
• Vacaturs and satisfactions for these warrants will be filed with the Department of State (DOS) and copied to county clerks for reference.
Post-July 1 Warrants:
• Warrants filed on or after July 1, 2025 with the DOS will create liens on all real property statewide, not just in the county of docketing.
• Access to Records:
• The DOS will maintain a searchable public database of all warrants and related documents.
• Warrant data will also be made available via the Open Data platform for bulk access.
• Filing cadence will continue to be weekly, pending final IT readiness.
What this means for closings:
For any tax warrant filed prior to July 1, 2025, only the county where the warrant was docketed is affected. For example, if a warrant was filed in Westchester in 2022, a Brooklyn property is not encumbered by that warrant under current law—even after July 1, 2025.
We will share updates on the Frontier website and LinkedIn page as more information becomes available. In the meantime, we recommend exercising caution and consulting your advisors on transactions or secured lending involving New York property.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.