How to Fill Out and File Form RP-5217: Real Property Transfer Report

To fill out Form RP-5217, download the fillable PDF from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader, complete every numbered field using information from the deed and the property’s current assessment roll, have both the buyer and seller sign it, and submit it with the deed and correct filing fee to the county clerk where the property is located. The form is mandatory for nearly every deed recorded in New York, and the clerk will reject the filing at the counter if any field is blank or the form was completed the wrong way.¹

Download and Open the Form the Right Way

Get the current fillable PDF from the Department of Taxation and Finance’s website and open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 11 or higher. When you complete the form in Acrobat, it generates a scannable 2D barcode that the county clerk’s system reads. A handwritten form, or one filled out in a different PDF viewer that doesn’t produce the barcode, will be turned away at the window.² This is one of the most common reasons filings get rejected.

Complete the Numbered Fields

The form has roughly 20 numbered fields plus a county-use section. Every field must be filled in. Have the deed and the property’s most recent tax bill or assessment record in front of you before you start.

Buyer and Seller

Enter the full legal name of each buyer (grantee) and seller (grantor), last name or company name first. List every buyer and every seller, along with their current mailing addresses.³

Property Location and Tax Map ID

Identify the property with the tax map identifier from the current assessment roll and the six-digit SWIS code for the municipality. The number of parcels you enter in field 4 has to match the number of tax map identifiers in field 20. A mismatch between those two fields is another common trigger for rejection.³ The SWIS code and tax map ID appear on the property’s most recent tax bill, or the local assessor’s office can give them to you.

Property Use and Classification Code

Field 7 captures the property’s use at the time of sale or the buyer’s intended use. Options include one-family residential (7A), two- or three-family residential (7B), residential vacant land (7C), agricultural (7E), and commercial (7F), among others. For a mixed-use property, pick the primary use.³

Field 18 asks for the three-digit property classification code from the latest final assessment roll. New York uses a nine-series system: the 100s cover agricultural, the 200s residential, the 300s vacant land, the 400s commercial, and so on up through the 900s for forested and conservation lands.⁴ The exact code sits on the assessment roll, and the local assessor’s office can confirm it. Get this one right — the code sets your filing fee.

Sale Price and Date of Transfer

Enter the date the seller conveyed title and the full sale price rounded to the nearest whole dollar. If no money changed hands, as with a gift, enter $0.

“Full sale price” is broader than the cash at closing. It includes cash consideration (with any purchase-money, second, or third mortgages), the principal balance of any mortgage or lien the buyer assumes, any debt discharged as part of the deal, and the fair market value of any other property the seller received.³ If personal property such as appliances or furniture is part of the transaction, the form has a separate line for that amount so the state can separate real property value from everything else.

Assessment Roll Data

Fields 16 through 19 come straight from the property’s current assessment roll: the year of the roll, total assessed value, property classification code, and school district name. None of these can be left blank. Cross-check them against the closing disclosure or the assessor’s records so nothing conflicts.

Signatures

Both the buyer and the seller must sign. Photocopied and faxed signatures are not accepted. When there are multiple buyers or multiple sellers, only one from each side needs to sign, but every name still has to appear in the buyer and seller fields.⁵

Three exceptions:

A person holding a valid power of attorney may sign for a buyer or seller who cannot. Bring a copy of the POA to the clerk’s office; you do not have to attach it to the form.⁵
For involuntary transfers such as eminent domain or tax foreclosure, only the buyer or the buyer’s attorney signs.
For transactions that occurred before July 1, 1994, one signature from any party or their attorney is enough.

Filing Fees

The fee is set by Real Property Law Section 333, subdivision 3, and turns on property type:⁶

$125 for one-, two-, or three-family residential properties, residential condominiums (classification codes with a C or D ownership suffix, such as 411-C), and qualifying farm properties (100-series codes).
$250 for all other property types, including commercial, industrial, vacant land, and recreational.

If a single deed transfers multiple parcels, the fee follows the primary use at the time of sale. The county clerk keeps $9 of each fee and remits the rest to the state.¹

What Else Goes With the Deed

The RP-5217 is not the only document the clerk needs. You also file Form TP-584, the Combined Real Estate Transfer Tax Return, Credit Line Mortgage Certificate, and Certification of Exemption from Estimated Personal Income Tax.⁷ The TP-584 handles the state’s real estate transfer tax, calculated at $2 for every $500 of consideration or fraction of that amount.⁸

A revised TP-584 became mandatory for all deeds presented for recording on or after March 1, 2026. County recording offices reject earlier versions, so confirm you have the current edition. Title companies and closing attorneys usually prepare both forms as part of the closing package; if you are filing on your own, you need both forms and the correct fees for each.

Where to File

Submit the completed RP-5217, the TP-584, and the deed to the county clerk’s office in the county where the property is located. You can file it yourself; no attorney is required.⁹ Many county clerks now accept e-recording, mainly used by attorneys and title companies. Check with your county to see what is available.

When RP-5217 Does Not Apply

Several transactions do not use this form even though they look deed-adjacent. Co-op transfers involve corporate shares rather than a deed. Mortgage refinancing does not change ownership. Easements, rights-of-way, transfer on death deeds (which take effect only at death), cemetery plot purchases, mineral rights sales, license agreements, tax sale certificates, and option-to-buy agreements are all outside the form’s scope.⁹

Property in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx is filed through the city’s Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS) instead of the standard RP-5217. Staten Island uses Form RP-5217-NYC, a variant with instructions specific to city properties.¹⁰

Fixing a Mistake After Recording

If you spot an error on an RP-5217 that has already been recorded, do not go back to the county clerk. Contact the assessor of the municipality where the property sits. The assessor updates the records and reports the corrections to the Department of Taxation and Finance’s Office of Real Property Tax Services.⁹ Catching mistakes at the clerk’s window is easier, so read every field against the deed and closing disclosure before you hand it in.

1
New York State Senate. New York Code RPP 333 – When Conveyances of Real Property Not To Be Recorded
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions to Download Form RP-5217-PDF, Real Property Transfer Report
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NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. RP-5217-PDF Real Property Transfer Report Instructions
4
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Property Type Classification Codes
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Form RP-5217-PDF, Real Property Transfer Report
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Filing Fees for Form RP-5217-PDF, Real Property Transfer Report
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Department of Taxation and Finance. Real Estate Transfer and Mortgage Recording Tax Forms
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Real Estate Transfer Tax
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Form RP-5217-PDF, Real Property Transfer Report Frequently Asked Questions
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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Completing Form RP-5217-PDF, Real Property Transfer Report