Opinion ID: 1439546
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Method of Payment

Text: Finally, the Miners allege that their right to due process was impaired because defendants refused to accept a personal check as payment for the overdue taxes, allegedly in violation of New York Real Property Tax Law § 1125. The District Court rejected this claim without elaboration. (Transcript of Miner Hearing, at 20.) On appeal, the Miners rely on an opinion by the New York State Comptroller stating that a town may not adopt a local law which permits its tax collecting officer to refuse to accept a personal check and requires that payment be made by certified check, money order or bank check. Office of the State Comptroller, Op. No. 87-34 (Apr. 30, 1987), 1987 N.Y. St. Comp. 53, 1987 N.Y. Comp. LEXIS 150. [8] Taken on its face, the Comptroller's opinion does not necessarily apply to a situation where, as in the Miners' case, a county permits payment by personal check for on-time payments but requires a certified check for late payments. [9] The statute cited by the Comptroller in support of his opinion does not provide any guidance on the permissible methods of payment for overdue property taxes. See N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law § 924 (The collecting officer shall receive taxes at the times and places set forth in the notice of receipt of the tax roll and warrant and at any other time or place during usual business hours during the period of collection.). In addition, we are unaware of any provisions of New York law that expressly prohibit counties from establishing reasonable regulations for the collection of delinquent property taxes, although at least one provision permits a county to set a method of payment where a county acts as a tax collection agency and collects taxes in installments. See N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law § 973 (authorizing payment in installments as provided in the local law enacted by the county). More important, the Miners have not explained how the prohibition of payment by personal check prevented them from paying their overdue taxes after they received the notice of foreclosure. The notice of foreclosure, which was sent in October 2005, stated the County's payment policy months in advance of the final date of redemption in January 2006 and the default judgment in March 2006. The Miners, who concede that they received this notice, had ample time to obtain a certified check or a money order but failed to pay their overdue taxes in any form. Under these circumstances, the Miners were not deprived of their right to due process.