What is an Article 7 tax certiorari proceeding in New York?

When the Board of Assessment Review (or NYC Tax Commission, or Nassau ARC) denies your grievance, the formal judicial remedy is a tax certiorari proceeding under RPTL Article 7, brought in State Supreme Court.

Article 7 vs. SCAR. Both are judicial review, but:

• SCAR (RPTL §730) is the informal, $30, hearing-officer route reserved for owner-occupied 1-3 family homes.
• Article 7 is the formal lawsuit used for all other property — larger residential, co-op/condo aggregates, commercial — and is available to owner-occupants too if they prefer it. It involves court filing fees, formal pleadings, and often an appraiser.

You must grieve first. Under RPTL §706 (grounds for review; contents of petition) and the general rule that the assessment must first have been challenged administratively, you generally cannot bring an Article 7 petition without having filed a timely BAR grievance (Form RP-524) for the roll in question.

Grounds. The petition must allege the assessment is excessive, unequal, unlawful, or that the property is misclassified — the same grounds as the administrative grievance under RPTL §524.

Deadline. An Article 7 petition is generally filed within 30 days after the final assessment roll is filed (or notice is published) — the same window as SCAR — but the formal-proceeding rules differ, so a homeowner pursuing Article 7 should confirm timing for their jurisdiction.

Finality protection. Under RPTL §727, once a court determines an assessment, the assessor generally cannot raise it for the next three years — a meaningful benefit of winning.

For most owner-occupied homeowners, SCAR is the practical choice and Article 7 is reserved for ineligible or high-value property.