On September 13, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law Senate Bill S1730. The law amends New York State Tax Law Section 1409 and NYC Admin Code Section 11-2105 to require disclosure of all members of a limited liability company when a limited liability company purchases or sells residential property consisting of 1 to 4 family dwelling units.
The Real Deal reported that this law surprised even the legislators who created it. The legislative intent of the bill was stated as having been “successfully implemented in New York City as of 2015. This bill seeks to codify the practice in New York City and apply it on a statewide level.” However, that has simply not been the case. Instead, guidance from the New York State Department of Taxation now provides a heightened level of disclosure which is also subject to freedom of information disclosures. What’s more, the act now applies to individual condominium unit ownership within New York City, where it didn’t previously.
Senator James Skoufis was quoted saying that the law would “rip the mask off of these anonymous LLCs that continue to purchase massive amounts of real estate in the Hudson Valley.” However, it appears the law is going to do much more than that. With intricate corporate real estate structures within New York State, the law will provide burdensome regulation.