§ 274-a. Certificate of principal amount unpaid on mortgages of real\nproperty. 1. The holder of a mortgage upon real property shall execute\nand deliver to the owner of the real property upon which such mortgage\nis a lien a written instrument setting forth the amount of the principal\nof said mortgage remaining unpaid, the date to which interest has been\npaid, and the amounts, if any, claimed to be unpaid upon said mortgage\nfor principal and interest, itemizing the same, provided, however, that\nprior written demand by registered or certified mail has been made upon\nthe holder of such mortgage by such owner of the real property and that\nsuch owner of the real property shall have executed and delivered to\nanother a written contract to convey, or shall have received a written\ncommitment to make a mortgage loan upon, the real property or an\ninterest therein. The written instrument hereinbefore required of the\nholder of the mortgage shall be a certificate duly executed and\nacknowledged in the same manner as required by law to entitle a\nconveyance of real property to be recorded, except that a bank, savings\nbank, private banker, trust company, savings and loan association or any\nother banking organization, as defined in the banking law, a national\nbank or trust company or any other federally-chartered or\nfederally-regulated savings and loan association or other banking\ninstitution and an insurance company duly organized or licensed to do\nbusiness in this state under the insurance law of this state and the\nstate of New York, or an agency thereof and a political subdivision of\nthe state of New York or an agency thereof may, in lieu of the said\ncertificate, furnish a letter signed by a duly authorized officer, or\nemployee or agent, containing the information required to be set forth\nin such certificate. An owner of real property who shall have complied\nwith the foregoing requirements and who shall not have received the\nwritten instrument from the holder of the mortgage thereon within twenty\ndays after such compliance shall be entitled to petition a court of\ncompetent jurisdiction for an order requiring such holder of the\nmortgage to comply with this section.\n 2. (a) The mortgagee of an owner-occupied, one-to-six family\nresidential structure or residential condominium unit, shall deliver\nwithin thirty days, any mortgage related documents to an authorized\nindividual making a bona fide written demand for such documents. The\nmortgagee shall not charge for providing the mortgage-related documents,\nprovided, however, the mortgagee may charge not more than twenty\ndollars, or such amount as may be fixed by the superintendent of\nfinancial services, for each subsequent payoff statement provided under\nthis subdivision. If the mortgagee fails to deliver the mortgage-related\ndocuments, the mortgagee shall be liable for the actual damages to the\nmortgagor by reason of such failure. In computing actual damages the\ncourt may consider the actual rate of interest on the mortgage debt and\ncurrent prevailing rate or rates of interest on comparable debts.\nHowever, actual damages do not include pain and suffering, mental or\nemotional distress or the like. The replacement costs of a lost\nabstract of title required to be delivered hereunder, may be deducted\nfrom the amount required to satisfy the mortgage.\n (b) When used in this section:\n (i) "Authorized individual" means the mortgagor, the mortgagor's\nattorney, or the attorney representing a banking organization which has\nagreed to make a loan secured by the same real property securing the\nmortgage for which the mortgage related documents have been requested.\n (ii) "Mortgagee" means (1) the current holder of the mortgage of\nrecord or the current holder of the mortgage, (2) any person to whom\npayments are required to be made and (3) their personal representatives,\nsuccessors and assigns.\n (iii) "Bona fide written demand" means a written demand made
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