Brooklyn Cease & Desist zone approved by DOS

Recently, the New York State Department of State adopted a regulation to establish a cease and desist zone in Kings County. The regulation that created the zone will go into effect on November 1, 2020 and will expire on November 1, 2025.

According to the DOS: “it will be unlawful for any licensed real estate broker or salesperson, or any other person regularly engaged in the business of buying and selling property to solicit a homeowner within the zone that has filed a notice with the Department requesting not to receive such solicitations and appears on a list published by the Department. A list of homeowners that have filed such statements will be available on the Department’s website for free, or a hard copy is available for purchase for $10.00. The Department expects the first list to be available beginning December 1, 2020.

Following a cure period of 90 days from the effective date of this regulation, sending solicitations to a homeowner that has registered and is listed with the Department can result in monetary fines, suspension or revocation of licensure. Enforcement proceedings may commence after January 30, 2021.

The Zone created for Kings County includes the following area:

Beginning at the Queens border of Brooklyn to the east and the intersection of Jamaica Avenue to the north; thence westerly along Jamaica Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue; thence southerly along Pennsylvania Avenue to Sutter Avenue; thence westerly on Sutter Avenue to Van Sinderen Avenue to the west; thence southerly along Van Sinderen Avenue to Linden Boulevard to the south; thence easterly along Linden Boulevard to the Queens border; thence northerly along the border to the point of the beginning on Jamaica Avenue.

You can find a visual map of the Kings County Cease and Desist zone here.

The DOS provides a cease and desist section, that includes maps of cease and desist zones, lists, FAQs, and other information related to cease and desist zones. You can find that here.

NYSAR highly recommends that any broker or brokerage that advertises in cease and desist zones (or zip codes that overlap into a cease and desist zone) implement a strong compliance policy including providing the current cease and desist lists monthly to associated licensees.

Sending solicitations to a homeowner that has registered with the DOS can result in monetary fines and/or the suspension or revocation of your license. The DOS has indicated it will begin enforcing the new cease and desist zones on January 30, 2021.

You can view the 2020 Virtual Fall Business Meetings Legal Update video on the Kings County Cease & Desist Zone by clicking here.

For more information, please call NYSAR’s Legal Hotline. The Legal Hotline is a free service for NYSAR members and is available Monday-Friday from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. at 518-436-9727.