There is a newer version of the New York Consolidated Laws
2012 New York Consolidated Laws
LEH - Local Emergency Housing Rent Control Act 21/62
Chapter 21 of the laws of 1962
Section 1. The regulation and control of residential rents and
evictions within cities having a population of one million or more on
and after May first, nineteen hundred sixty-two shall be governed by the
provisions of this section, notwithstanding the provisions of the
emergency housing rent control law:
1. Short title. This section shall be known and may be cited as the
"local emergency housing rent control act".
2. Legislative finding. The legislature hereby finds that a serious
public emergency continues to exist in the housing of a considerable
number of persons in the state of New York which emergency was created
by war, the effects of war and the aftermath of hostilities; that such
emergency necessitated the intervention of federal, state and local
government in order to prevent speculative, unwarranted and abnormal
increases in rents; that there continues to exist an acute shortage of
dwellings; that unless residential rents and evictions continue to be
regulated and controlled, disruptive practices and abnormal conditions
will produce serious threats to the public health, safety and general
welfare; that to prevent such perils to health, safety and welfare,
preventive action by the legislature continues to be imperative; that
such action is necessary in order to prevent exactions of unjust,
unreasonable and oppressive rents and rental agreements and to forestall
profiteering, speculation and other disruptive practices tending to
produce threats to the public health; that in order to prevent
uncertainty, hardship and dislocation, the provisions of this section
are necessary and designed to protect the public health, safety and
general welfare, that the transition from regulation to a normal market
of free bargaining between landlord and tenant, while still the
objective of state policy, must be administered with due regard for such
emergency; and that the policy herein expressed should now be
administered locally within cities having a population of one million or
more by an agency of the city itself.
3. Local determination as to continuation of emergency. The
continuation, after May thirty-first, nineteen hundred sixty-seven, of
the public emergency requiring the regulation and control of residential
rents and evictions within cities having a population of one million or
more shall be a matter for local determination within each such city.
Any such determination shall be made by the local legislative body of
such city on or before April first, nineteen hundred sixty-seven and at
least once in every third year thereafter following a survey which the
city shall cause to be made of the supply of housing accommodations
within such city, the condition of such accommodations and the need for
continuing the regulation and control of residential rents and evictions
within such city. Such survey shall be submitted to such legislative
body not less than thirty nor more than sixty days prior to the date of
any such determination.
4. Establishment of city housing rent agency. On or before April
first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, the mayor of each city having a
population of one million or more shall establish or designate an
official, bureau, board, commission or agency of such city (referred to
in this section as the "city housing rent agency") to administer the
regulation and control of residential rents and evictions within such
city unless such city, acting through its local legislative body, shall
have enacted, prior to April first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, a local
law or ordinance pursuant to subdivision five of this section,
prescribing a different method of establishing or designating a city
housing rent agency and in such case such agency shall be established or
designated in accordance with said local law or ordinance.
5. Authority for local rent control legislation. Each city having a
population of one million or more, acting through its local legislative
body, may adopt and amend local laws or ordinances in respect of the
establishment or designation of a city housing rent agency. When it
deems such action to be desirable or necessitated by local conditions in
order to carry out the purposes of this section, such city, except as
hereinafter provided, acting through its local legislative body and not
otherwise, may adopt and amend local laws or ordinances in respect of
the regulation and control of residential rents, including but not
limited to provision for the establishment and adjustment of maximum
rents, the classification of housing accommodations, the regulation of
evictions, and the enforcement of such local laws or ordinances. The
validity of any such local laws or ordinances, and the rules or
regulations promulgated in accordance therewith, shall not be affected
by and need not be consistent with the state emergency housing rent
control law or with rules and regulations of the state division of
housing and community renewal.
* Notwithstanding any local law or ordinance, housing accommodations
which became vacant on or after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-one
or which hereafter become vacant shall be subject to the provisions of
the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, provided,
however, that this provision shall not apply or become effective with
respect to housing accommodations which, by local law or ordinance, are
made directly subject to regulation and control by a city housing rent
agency and such agency determines or finds that the housing
accommodations became vacant because the landlord or any person acting
on his behalf, with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, engaged in any
course of conduct (including but not limited to, interruption or
discontinuance of essential services) which interfered with or disturbed
or was intended to interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace
or quiet of the tenant in his use or occupancy of the housing
accommodations. The removal of any housing accommodation from regulation
and control of rents pursuant to the vacancy exemption provided for in
this paragraph shall not constitute or operate as a ground for the
subjection to more stringent regulation and control of any housing
accommodation in such property or in any other property owned by the
same landlord, notwithstanding any prior agreement to the contrary by
the landlord. The vacancy exemption provided for in this paragraph shall
not arise with respect to any rented plot or parcel of land otherwise
subject to the provisions of this act, by reason of a transfer of title
and possession occurring on or after July first, nineteen hundred
seventy-one of a dwelling located on such plot or parcel and owned by
the tenant where such transfer of title and possession is made to a
member of the tenant's immediate family provided that the member of the
tenant's immediate family occupies the dwelling with the tenant prior to
the transfer of title and possession for a continuous period of two
years.
* NB Effective until June 16, 2015
* Notwithstanding any local law or ordinance, housing accommodations
which become vacant shall be exempt from regulations and control,
provided, however, that this exemption shall not apply or become
effective with respect to housing accommodations which, by local law or
ordinance, are made directly subject to regulation and control by a city
housing rent agency and such agency determines or finds that the housing
accommodations become vacant because the landlord or any person acting
on his behalf, with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, engaged in any
course of conduct (including but not limited to, interruption or
discontinuance of essential services) which interfered with or disturbed
or was intended to interfere with or distrub the comfort, repose, peace
or quiet of the tenant in his use or occupancy of the housing
accommodations. The removal of any housing accommodation from regulation
and control of rents pursuant to the vacancy exemption provided for in
this paragraph shall not constitute or operate as a ground for the
subjection to more stringent regulation and control of any housing
accommodation in such property or in any other property owned by the
same landlord, notwithstanding any prior agreement to the contrary by
the landlord.
* NB Effective June 16, 2015
The term "immediate family" shall include a husband, wife, son,
daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, father, mother, father-in-law or
mother-in-law.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, no local law or ordinance shall
hereafter provide for the regulation and control of residential rents
and eviction in respect of any housing accommodations which are (1)
presently exempt from such regulation and control or (2) hereafter
decontrolled either by operation of law or by a city housing rent
agency, by order or otherwise. No housing accommodations presently
subject to regulation and control pursuant to local laws or ordinances
adopted or amended under authority of this subdivision shall hereafter
be by local law or ordinance or by rule or regulation which has not been
theretofore approved by the state commissioner of housing and community
renewal subjected to more stringent or restrictive provisions of
regulation and control than those presently in effect.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on and after the effective
date of this paragraph, a city having a population of one million or
more shall not, either through its local legislative body or otherwise,
adopt or amend local laws or ordinances with respect to the regulation
and control of residential rents and eviction, including but not limited
to provision for the establishment and adjustment of rents, the
classification of housing accommodations, the regulation of evictions,
and the enforcement of such local laws or ordinances, or otherwise adopt
laws or ordinances pursuant to the provisions of this act, the emergency
tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, the New York city rent
and rehabilitation law or the New York city rent stabilization law,
except to the extent that such city for the purpose of reviewing the
continued need for the existing regulation and control of residential
rents or to remove a classification of housing accommodation from such
regulation and control adopts or amends local laws or ordinances
pursuant to subdivision three of section one of this act, section three
of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, section
26-415 of the New York city rent and rehabilitation law, and sections
26-502 and 26-520 of the New York city rent stabilization law of
nineteen hundred sixty-nine.
Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, any local
law adopted pursuant to this act shall provide that notwithstanding any
provision of such local law in the case where all tenants occupying the
housing accommodation on the effective date of this paragraph have
vacated the housing accommodation and a family member of such vacating
tenant or tenants is entitled to and continues to occupy the housing
accommodation subject to the protections of such act, if such
accommodation continues to be subject to such act after such family
member vacates, on the occurrence of such vacancy the maximum
collectable rent shall be increased by a sum equal to the allowance then
in effect for vacancy leases for housing accommodations covered by the
rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine, including the
amount allowed by paragraph (5-a) of subdivision c of section 26-511 of
such law. This increase shall be in addition to any other increases
provided for in this act and shall be applicable in like manner to each
second subsequent succession.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, no local law or ordinance shall subject
to such regulation and control any housing accommodation which is not
occupied by the tenant in possession as his or her primary residence;
provided, however, that such housing accommodation not occupied by the
tenant in possession as his or her primary residence shall continue to
be subject to regulation and control as provided for herein unless the
city housing rent agency issues an order decontrolling such
accommodation, which the agency shall do upon application by the
landlord whenever it is established by any facts and circumstances
which, in the judgment of the agency, may have a bearing upon the
question of residence, that the tenant maintains his or her primary
residence at some place other than at such housing accommodation. For
the purposes of determining primary residency, a tenant who is a victim
of domestic violence, as defined in section four hundred fifty-nine-a of
the social services law, who has left the unit because of such violence,
and who asserts an intent to return to the housing accommodation shall
be deemed to be occupying the unit as his or her primary residence.
6. Succession of city agency to state rent control functions within
city. All the functions and powers possessed by and all the obligations
and duties of the temporary state housing rent commission and the state
rent administrator under the provisions of the state emergency housing
rent control law and the rules and regulations of the commission
thereunder, insofar as they relate to the regulation and control of
residential rents and evictions within a city having a population of one
million or more, shall be transferred to the city housing rent agency of
such city on May first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, subject to the
provisions of any local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations adopted
pursuant to this subdivision or subdivision five of this section. On and
after such date, and until the adoption of a local law or ordinance in
respect of the regulation and control of residential rents within such
city pursuant to subdivision five of this section, such city housing
rent agency is hereby authorized and empowered, from time to time, to
adopt, promulgate, amend or rescind rules, regulations and orders under
the state emergency housing rent control law and the validity of such
rules, regulations and orders shall not be affected by and need not be
consistent with the rules, regulations and orders of the temporary state
housing rent commission under such law. All acts, orders,
determinations, decisions, rules and regulations of the temporary state
housing rent commission relating to the regulation and control of
residential rents and eviction within such city which are in force at
the time of such transfer shall continue in force and effect as acts,
orders, determinations, decisions, rules and regulations of such city
housing rent agency until duly modified, superseded or abrogated
pursuant to such local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations.
7. Investigations. The city housing rent agency is authorized to make
such studies and investigations, to conduct such hearings, and to obtain
such information as it deems necessary or proper in prescribing any
regulation or order under a local law adopted pursuant to subdivision
five of this section or in administering and enforcing such local law
and the regulations and orders thereunder or the state emergency housing
rent control law and the regulations and orders thereunder.
The city housing rent agency is further authorized, by regulation or
order, to require any person who rents or offers for rent or acts as
broker or agent for the rental of any housing accommodations to furnish
any such information under oath or affirmation, or otherwise, to make
and keep records and other documents, and to make reports, and the city
housing rent agency may require any such person to permit the inspection
and copying of records and other documents and the inspection of housing
accommodations. Any officer or agent designated by the city housing rent
agency for such purposes may administer oaths and affirmations and may,
whenever necessary, by subpoena, require any such person to appear and
testify or to appear and produce documents, or both, at any designated
place.
For the purpose of obtaining any information under this subdivision,
the city housing rent agency may by subpoena require any other person to
appear and testify or to appear and produce documents, or both, at any
designated place.
The production of a person's documents at any place other than his
place of business shall not be required under this subdivision in any
case in which, prior to the return date specified in the subpoena issued
with respect thereto, such person either has furnished the city housing
rent agency with a copy of such documents certified by such person under
oath to be a true and correct copy, or has entered into a stipulation
with the city housing rent agency as to the information contained in
such documents.
In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpoena served upon,
any person referred to in this subdivision, the supreme court in or for
any judicial district in which such person is found or resides or
transacts business, upon application by the city housing rent agency,
shall have jurisdiction to issue an order requiring such person to
appear and give testimony or to appear and produce documents, or both;
and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such
court as a contempt thereof. The provisions of this paragraph shall be
in addition to the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision nine of
this section.
Witnesses subpoenaed under this subdivision shall be paid the same
fees and mileage as are paid witnesses under article eighty of the civil
practice law and rules.
Upon any such investigation or hearing, the city housing rent agency,
or an officer duly designated by the city housing rent agency to conduct
such investigation or hearing, may confer immunity in accordance with
the provisions of section 50.20 of the criminal procedure law.
The city housing rent agency shall not publish or disclose any
information obtained under this section that the city housing rent
agency deems confidential or with reference to which a request for
confidential treatment is made by the person furnishing such
information, unless the city housing rent agency determines that the
withholding thereof is contrary to the public interest.
Any person subpoenaed under this section shall have the right to make
a record of his testimony and to be represented by counsel.
8. Judicial review. Any person who is aggrieved by the final
determination of the city housing rent agency in an administrative
proceeding protesting a regulation or order of such agency may, in
accordance with article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and
rules, within sixty days after such determination, file a petition with
the supreme court specifying his objections and praying that the
regulation or order protested be enjoined or set aside in whole or in
part. Such proceeding may at the option of the petitioner be instituted
in the county where the city housing rent agency has its principal
office or where the property is located. A copy of such petition shall
forthwith be served on the city housing rent agency, and the city
housing rent agency shall file with such court the original or a
transcript of such portions of the proceedings in connection with the
determination as are material under the petition. Such return shall
include a statement setting forth, so far as practicable, the economic
data and other facts of which the city housing rent agency has taken
official notice. Upon the filing of such petition the court shall have
jurisdiction to set aside the regulation or order protested, in whole or
in part, to dismiss the petition, or to remit the proceeding to the city
housing rent agency; provided, however, that the regulation or order may
be modified or rescinded by the city housing rent agency at any time
notwithstanding the pendency of such proceeding for review. No objection
to such regulation or order, and no evidence in support of any objection
thereto, shall be considered by the court, unless such objection shall
have been presented to the city housing rent agency by the petitioner in
the proceedings resulting in the determination or unless such evidence
shall be contained in the return. If application is made to the court by
either party for leave to introduce additional evidence which was either
offered and not admitted, or which could not reasonably have been
offered or included in such proceedings before the city housing rent
agency, and the court determines that such evidence should be admitted,
the court shall order the evidence to be presented to the city housing
rent agency. The city housing rent agency shall promptly receive the
same, and such other evidence as the city housing rent agency deems
necessary or proper, and thereupon the city housing rent agency shall
file with the court the original or a transcript thereof and any
modification made in such regulation or order as a result thereof;
except that on request by the city housing rent agency, any such
evidence shall be presented directly to the court. Upon final
determination of the proceeding before the court, the original record,
if filed by the city housing rent agency with the court, shall be
returned to the city housing rent agency.
No regulation or order of the city housing rent agency shall be
enjoined or set aside, in whole or in part, unless the petitioner shall
establish to the satisfaction of the court that the regulation or order
is not in accordance with law, or is arbitrary or capricious. The
effectiveness of an order of the court enjoining or setting aside, in
whole or in part, any such regulation or order shall be postponed until
the expiration of thirty days from the entry thereof. The jurisdiction
of the supreme court shall be exclusive and its order dismissing the
petition or enjoining or setting aside such regulation or order, in
whole or in part, shall be final, subject to review by the appellate
division of the supreme court and the court of appeals in the same
manner and form and with the same effect as provided in the civil
practice act for appeals from a final order in a special proceeding.
Notwithstanding any provision of section thirteen hundred four of the
civil practice act to the contrary, any order of the court remitting the
proceeding to the city housing rent agency may, at the election of the
city housing rent agency, be subject to review by the appellate division
of the supreme court and the court of appeals in the same manner and
form and with the same effect as provided in the civil practice act for
appeals from a final order in a special proceeding. All such proceedings
shall be heard and determined by the court and by any appellate court as
expeditiously as possible and with lawful precedence over other matters.
All such proceedings for review shall be heard on the petition,
transcript and other papers, and on appeal shall be heard on the record,
without requirement of printing.
Within thirty days after arraignment, or such additional time as the
court may allow for good cause shown, in any criminal proceeding, and
within five days after judgment in any civil or criminal proceeding,
brought pursuant to subdivision ten of this section involving alleged
violation of any provision of any regulation or order of the city
housing rent agency, the defendant may apply to the court in which the
proceeding is pending for leave to file in the supreme court a petition
setting forth objections to the validity of any provision which the
defendant is alleged to have violated or conspired to violate. The court
in which the proceeding is pending shall grant such leave with respect
to any objection which it finds is made in good faith and with respect
to which it finds there is reasonable and substantial excuse for the
defendant's failure to present such objection in an administrative
proceeding before the city housing rent agency. Upon the filing of a
petition pursuant to and within thirty days from the granting of such
leave, the supreme court shall have jurisdiction to enjoin or set aside
in whole or in part the provision of the regulation or order complained
of or to dismiss the petition. The court may authorize the introduction
of evidence, either to the city housing rent agency or directly to the
court, in accordance with the first paragraph of this subdivision. The
provisions of the second paragraph of this subdivision shall be
applicable with respect to any proceedings instituted in accordance with
this paragraph.
In any proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision ten of this section
involving an alleged violation of any provision of any such regulation
or order, the court shall stay the proceeding:
(1) during the period within which a petition may be filed in the
supreme court pursuant to leave granted under the third paragraph of
this subdivision with respect to such provision;
(2) during the pendency of any administrative proceeding before the
city housing rent agency properly commenced by the defendant prior to
the institution of the proceeding under subdivision ten of this section,
setting forth objections to the validity of such provision which the
court finds to have been made in good faith; and
(3) during the pendency of any judicial proceeding instituted by the
defendant under this subdivision with respect to such administrative
proceeding or instituted by the defendant under the third paragraph of
this subdivision with respect to such provision, and until the
expiration of the time allowed in this subdivision for the taking of
further proceedings with respect thereto.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the immediately preceding paragraph,
stays shall be granted thereunder in civil proceedings only after
judgment and upon application made within five days after judgment.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the third paragraph of this
subdivision, in the case of a proceeding under the first paragraph of
subdivision ten of this section the court granting a stay under the
immediately preceding paragraph of this subdivision shall issue a
temporary injunction or restraining order enjoining or restraining,
during the period of the stay, violations by the defendant of any
provision of the regulation or order involved in the proceeding. If any
provision of a regulation or order is determined to be invalid by
judgment of the supreme court which has become effective in accordance
with the second paragraph of this subdivision, any proceeding pending in
any court shall be dismissed, and any judgment in such proceeding
vacated, to the extent that such proceeding or judgment is based upon
violation of such provision. Except as provided in this paragraph, the
pendency of any administrative proceeding before the city housing rent
agency or judicial proceeding under this subdivision shall not be
grounds for staying any proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision ten
of this section; nor, except as provided in this paragraph, shall any
retroactive effect be given to any judgment setting aside a provision of
a regulation or order.
The method prescribed herein for the judicial review of a regulation
or order of the city housing rent agency shall be exclusive.
9. Prohibitions. (a) It shall be unlawful, regardless of any contract,
lease or other obligation heretofore or hereafter entered into, for any
person to demand or receive any rent for any housing accommodations in
excess of the maximum rent established therefor by the temporary state
housing rent commission or the city housing rent agency or otherwise to
do or omit to do any act, in violation of any regulation, order or
requirement of the city housing rent agency hereunder or under any local
law adopted pursuant to subdivision five of this section or to offer,
solicit, attempt or agree to do any of the foregoing.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to remove or attempt to remove
from any housing accommodations the tenant or occupant thereof or to
refuse to renew the lease or agreement for the use of such
accommodations, because such tenant or occupant has taken, or proposes
to take, action authorized or required by the state emergency housing
rent control law or any local law adopted pursuant to subdivision five
of this section or any regulation, order or requirement thereunder.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the city
housing rent agency or for any official adviser or consultant to the
city housing rent agency to disclose, otherwise than in the course of
official duty, any information obtained under this section, or to use
any such information for personal benefit.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any landlord or any person acting on his
behalf, with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, to engage in any
course of conduct (including, but not limited to, interruption or
discontinuance of essential services) which interferes with or disturbs
or is intended to interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace
or quiet of the tenant in his use or occupancy of the housing
accommodations.
10. Enforcement. (a) Whenever in the judgment of the city housing rent
agency any person has engaged or is about to engage in any acts or
practices which constitute or will constitute a violation of any
provision of subdivision nine of this section, the city housing rent
agency may make application to the supreme court for an order enjoining
such acts or practices, or for an order enforcing compliance with such
provision, or for an order directing the landlord to correct the
violation, and upon a showing by the city housing rent agency that such
person has engaged or is about to engage in any such acts or practices a
permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order
shall be granted without bond. Jurisdiction shall not be deemed lacking
in the supreme court because the defense is based upon an order of an
inferior court.
(b) Any person who wilfully violates any provision of subdivision nine
of this section, and any person who makes any statement or entry false
in any material respect in any document or report required to be kept or
filed under any local law adopted pursuant to subdivision five of this
section or any regulation, order, or requirement thereunder, and any
person who wilfully omits or neglects to make any material statement or
entry required to be made in any such document or report, shall, upon
conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand
dollars, or to imprisonment for not more than two years in the case of a
violation of paragraph (c) of subdivision nine of this section and for
not more than one year in all other cases, or to both such fine and
imprisonment. Whenever the city housing rent agency has reason to
believe that any person is liable to punishment under this paragraph,
the city housing rent agency may certify the facts to the district
attorney of any county having jurisdiction of the alleged violation, who
shall cause appropriate proceedings to be brought.
(c) Any court shall advance on the docket and expedite the disposition
of any criminal or other proceedings brought before it under this
subdivision.
(d) No officer or employee of the city housing rent agency shall be
held liable for damages or penalties in any court, on any grounds for or
in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in good faith pursuant
to any provision of the state emergency housing rent control law or any
local law adopted pursuant to subdivision five of this section or any
regulation, order, or requirement thereunder, notwithstanding that
subsequently such provision, regulation, order, or requirement may be
modified, rescinded, or determined to be invalid. In any action or
proceeding wherein a party relies for ground of relief or defense or
raises issue or brings into question the construction or validity of
such local law or any regulation, order, or requirement thereunder, the
court having jurisdiction of such action or proceeding may at any stage
certify such fact to the city housing rent agency. The city housing rent
agency may intervene in any such action or proceeding.
(e) If any landlord who receives rent from a tenant violates a
regulation or order of the temporary state housing rent commission or
the city housing rent agency prescribing the maximum rent with respect
to the housing accommodations for which such rent is received from such
tenant, the tenant paying such rent may, within two years from the date
of the occurrence of the violation, except as hereinafter provided,
bring an action against the landlord on account of the overcharge as
hereinafter defined. In such action, the landlord shall be liable for
reasonable attorney's fees and costs as determined by the court, plus
whichever of the following sums is the greater: (a) such amount not more
than three times the amount of the overcharge, or the overcharges, upon
which the action is based as the court in its discretion may determine,
or (b) an amount not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty
dollars, as the court in its discretion may determine; provided,
however, that such amount shall be the amount of the overcharge or
overcharges or twenty-five dollars, whichever is greater, if the
defendant proves that the violation of the regulation or order in
question was neither wilful nor the result of failure to take
practicable precautions against the occurrence of the violation. As used
in this section, the word "overcharge" shall mean the amount by which
the consideration paid by a tenant to a landlord exceeds the applicable
maximum rent. If any landlord who receives rent from a tenant violates a
regulation or order of the temporary state housing rent commission or
the city housing rent agency prescribing maximum rent with respect to
the housing accommodations for which such rent is received from such
tenant, and such tenant either fails to institute an action under this
paragraph within thirty days from the date of the occurrence of the
violation or is not entitled for any reason to bring the action, the
city housing rent agency may institute an action within such two-year
period. If such action is instituted by the city housing rent agency,
the tenant affected shall thereafter be barred from bringing an action
for the same violation or violations. Any action under this paragraph by
either the tenant or the city housing rent agency, as the case may be,
may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction. A judgment in an
action for damages under this subdivision shall be a bar to the recovery
under this paragraph of any damages in any other action against the same
landlord on account of the same overcharge prior to the institution of
the action in which such judgment was rendered. Where judgment is
rendered in favor of the city housing rent agency in such action, there
shall be paid over to the tenant from the moneys recovered one-third of
such recovery, exclusive of costs and disbursements.
(f) If any landlord who receives rent from a tenant violates any order
of the city housing rent agency containing a directive that rent
collected by the landlord in excess of the maximum rent be refunded to
the tenant within thirty days, the city housing rent agency may, within
one year after the expiration of such thirty day period or after such
order shall become final by regulation of the city housing rent agency,
bring an action against the landlord on account of the failure of the
landlord to make the prescribed refund. In such action, the landlord
shall be liable for reasonable attorney's fees and costs as determined
by the court, plus whichever of the following sums is the greater: (a)
such amount not more than three times the amount directed to be
refunded, or the amount directed to be refunded, upon which the action
is based as the court in its discretion may determine, or (b) an amount
not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars, as the
court in its discretion may determine; provided, however, that such
amount shall be the amount directed to be refunded or twenty-five
dollars, whichever is greater, if the defendant proves that the
violation of the order in question was neither wilful nor the result of
failure to take practical precautions against the occurrence of the
violation. The tenant paying such rent may also institute an action
under this section if the city housing rent agency fails to institute an
action within thirty days from the date of occurrence of the violation.
If an action is instituted by the city housing rent agency, the tenant
affected shall thereafter be barred from bringing an action for the same
violation. Any action under this section by either the city housing rent
agency or the tenant, as the case may be, may be brought in any court of
competent jurisdiction. A judgment in an action for damages under this
section shall be a bar to recovery under this subdivision of any damages
in any other action against the same landlord on account of the same
violation prior to the institution of the action in which such judgment
was rendered. Where an action is brought by the tenant the damages which
shall be awarded to the tenant shall be the same as if such action was
brought by the city housing rent agency. Where judgment is rendered in
favor of the city housing rent agency in such action, there shall be
paid over to the tenant from the moneys recovered one-third of such
recovery, exclusive of the costs and disbursements.
(g) Where after the city housing rent agency has granted a certificate
of eviction certifying that the landlord may pursue his remedies
pursuant to local law to acquire possession, and a tenant voluntarily
removes from a housing accommodation or has been removed therefrom by
action or proceeding to evict from or recover possession of a housing
accommodation upon the ground that the landlord seeks in good faith to
recover possession of such accommodation for any purpose specified in a
local law adopted pursuant to subdivision five of this section and such
landlord shall lease or sell the housing accommodation or the space
previously occupied thereby, or permit use thereof in any manner other
than contemplated in such eviction certificate, such landlord shall,
unless for good cause shown, be liable to the tenant for three times the
damages sustained on account of such removal plus reasonable attorney's
fees and costs as determined by the court; in addition to any other
damage, the cost of removal of property shall be a lawful measure of
damage.
* (h) Any tenant who has vacated his housing accommodations because
the landlord or any person acting on his behalf, with intent to cause
the tenant to vacate, engaged in any course of conduct (including but
not limited to, interruption or discontinuance of essential services)
which interfered with or disturbed or was intended to interfere with or
disturb the comfort, repose, peace or quiet of the tenant in his use or
occupancy of the housing accommodations may, within ninety days after
vacating, apply for a determination that the housing accommodations were
vacated as a result of such conduct, and may, within one year after such
determination, institute a civil action against the landlord by reason
of such conduct. Application for such determination may be made to the
city housing rent agency with respect to housing accommodations which,
by local law or ordinance, are made directly subject to regulation and
control by such agency. For all other housing accommodadations subject
to regulation and control pursuant to the New York city rent
stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine, application for such
determination may be made to the New York city conciliation and appeals
board. For the purpose of making and enforcing any determination of the
New York city conciliation and appeals board as herein provided, the
provisions of sections seven, eight and ten, whenever they refer to the
city housing rent agency, shall be deemed to refer to such board. In
such action the landlord shall be liable to the tenant for three times
the damages sustained on account of such conduct plus reasonable
attorney's fees and costs as determined by the court. In addition to any
other damages the cost of removal of property shall be a lawful measure
of damages.
* NB Effective until June 16, 2015
* (h) Any tenant who has vacated his housing accommodations because
the landlord or any person acting on his behalf, with intent to cause
the tenant to vacate, engaged in any course of conduct (including but
not limited to, interruption or discontinuance of essential services)
which interfered with or disturbed or was intended to interfere with or
disturb the comfort, repose, peace or quiet of the tenant in his use or
occupancy of the housing accommodations may, within ninety days after
vacating, apply for a determination that the housing accommodations were
vacated as a result of such conduct, and may, within one year after such
determination, institute a civil action against the landlord by reason
of such conduct. Application for such determination may be made to the
city housing rent agency with respect to housing accommodations which,
by local law or ordinance, are made directly subject to regulation and
control by such agency. For all other housing accommodations subject to
regulation and control by local law or ordinance, application for such
determination may be made to the state division of housing and community
renewal. For the purpose of making and enforcing any determination of
the state division, as herein provided, the provisions of sections
seven, eight and ten, whenever they refer to the city housing rent
agency, shall be deemed to refer to the state division. In such action
the landlord shall be liable to the tenant for three times the damages
sustained on account of such conduct plus reasonable attorney's fees and
costs as determined by the court. In addition to any other damages the
cost of removal of property shall be a lawful measure of damages.
* NB Effective June 16, 2015
11. Transfer of certain pending matters. Except as provided in
subdivision thirteen of this section, any matter, application,
proceeding or protest undertaken, filed or commenced by, with or before
the temporary state housing rent commission or the state rent
administrator relating to the regulation and control or residential
rents and evictions within a city having a population of one million or
more and pending on May first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, shall be
transferred to, conducted by, and completed or determined by the city
housing rent agency. In discharging such responsibilities the city
housing rent agency shall act in conformity with the provisions of the
state emergency housing rent control law, and the rules and regulations
promulgated thereunder, governing such matters, applications or
proceedings, unless at the time such action is taken, such state law,
and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, have been amended
or superseded by local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations adopted
pursuant to subdivision five of this section, and in such event, in
conformity therewith to the extent such local law, ordinances, rules or
regulations are made expressly applicable to such matters, applications
or proceedings.
12. Termination of state regulation and control. On and after May
first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, the temporary state housing rent
commission and the state rent administrator shall have no jurisdiction
over the regulation and control of residential rents and evictions
within any city having a population of one million or more.
13. Pending court proceedings. All appeals or other court proceedings
relating to the regulation and control of residential rents and
evictions in a city having a population of one million or more to which
the temporary state housing rent commission or the state rent
administrator is a party and which is pending on May first, nineteen
hundred sixty-two or thereafter prosecuted shall be prosecuted or
defended by the temporary state housing rent commission and the state
rent administrator pursuant to the state emergency housing rent control
law to a final determination or other disposition by the court in
accordance with law. If the court remits any such matter to the
temporary state housing rent commission, the commission may transfer
such matter to the city housing rent agency for disposition pursuant to
subdivision eleven of this section.
14. Civil service. Upon the transfer of the functions of the temporary
state housing rent commission to the city housing rent agency pursuant
to subdivision six of this section, the officers, and employees of such
commission, other than those certified for retention by the state rent
administrator to the state department of civil service prior to April
first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, as required for the continued
operations of such commission, shall be transferred as of May first,
nineteen hundred sixty-two, to the city housing rent agency for the
continued performance of their functions. Such officers and employees
shall be transferred to similar or corresponding positions in such city
housing rent agency, without further examination or qualification, and
shall retain their respective civil service jurisdictional
classifications and status. If the city housing rent agency determines
that it will not accept for transfer all such officers and employees,
the city housing rent agency shall certify to the state department of
civil service those officers and employees whom it will not accept for
transfer and in such event, the determination of those to be transferred
shall be made by selection of the city housing rent agency from among
officers and employees holding permanent appointments in competitive
class positions in the order of their respective dates of original
appointments in the service of the state, with due regard to the right
of preference in retention of disabled and non-disabled veterans and
blind persons.
Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law,
code or charter requiring officers and employees of a city having a
population of one million or more to be residents of such city at the
time of their entry into city service or during the continuance of such
service, officers and employees of the temporary state housing rent
commission shall be transferred to and shall be retained by the city
housing rent agency pursuant to this subdivision without regard to local
residence.
Officers and employees holding permanent appointments in competitive
class positions, other than those certified by the state rent
administrator for retention in the service of the state, who are not
accepted for transfer by the city housing rent agency or who request to
be excepted from such transfer shall have their names entered on an
appropriate preferred list for reinstatement to the same or similar
positions in the service of the state.
Officers and employees transferred to the city housing rent agency
pursuant to this subdivision shall be entitled to full seniority credit
for all purposes, including the determination of their city salaries and
increments, for service in the state government rendered prior to such
transfer, as though such service had been service in the city
government. Such transferees shall retain their earned unused sick leave
and vacation credits, but not in excess of maximum accumulations
permitted under such municipal rules as may be applicable.
Officers and employees transferred pursuant to this subdivision shall
thereafter be subject to the rules and jurisdiction of the municipal
civil service commission having jurisdiction over the city housing rent
agency to which such transfer is made. The state department of civil
service shall transfer to such municipal civil service commission on May
first, nineteen hundred sixty-two, or as soon thereafter as may be
practicable, all eligible lists, records, documents and files pertaining
to the officers and employees so transferred and to their positions.
Examinations for positions in the temporary state housing rent
commission which are in process on May first, nineteen hundred
sixty-two, shall be completed by the state civil service commission and
eligible lists established. Such lists shall be included among the
eligible lists transferred to the municipal civil service commission.
Any such eligible list shall continue to be used by such municipal civil
service commission and shall be certified by it in accordance with the
provisions of its rules and regulations for filling vacancies in
appropriate positions in the city housing rent agency exercising the
functions transferred pursuant to this section; provided, however, that
such certifications from promotion eligible lists shall be limited to
eligibles transferred to such city housing rent agency pursuant to this
subdivision. Promotions in the temporary state housing rent commission
shall be made from among eligibles on appropriate lists who are not
transferred to the city housing rent agency. All other matters which
relate to the administration of the civil service law with respect to
the officers and employees transferred pursuant to this subdivision, and
with respect to their positions, and which at the time of such transfer
are pending before the state department of civil service or the state
civil service commission, shall be transferred to such municipal civil
service commission, and any action theretofore taken on such matters by
such state department or commission shall have the same force and effect
as if taken by such municipal civil service commission.
15. Intergovernmental cooperation. The temporary state housing rent
commission and the state rent administrator shall cooperate with the
city housing rent agency in effectuating the purposes of this act and
shall make available to the city housing rent agency such cooperation,
information, records and data as will assist the city housing rent
agency in effectuating such purposes.
Upon the request of the city housing rent agency, all such
information, records and data relating to the regulation and control of
residential rents and evictions within such city shall be transferred to
the city housing rent agency on May first, nineteen hundred sixty-two or
as soon thereafter as may be practicable.
Subject to the approval of the state rent administrator, the state
commissioner of general services is hereby authorized to sublease or
otherwise make available, in part or in whole, to the city housing rent
agency, upon such terms and conditions as the said commissioner may
prescribe, any premises leased to the state and occupied on or prior to
May first, nineteen hundred sixty-two by the temporary state housing
rent commission.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred seventy-eight of
the state finance law, the state commissioner of general services is
hereby authorized to sell, lease or otherwise make available to the city
housing rent agency, upon such terms and conditions as the said
commissioner may prescribe and subject to the approval of the state rent
administrator, any or all personal property used on or prior to May
first, nineteen hundred sixty-two by the temporary state housing rent
commission.
16. Saving clause. If any local law or ordinance in respect of the
regulation and control of residential rents and evictions adopted
pursuant to subdivision five of this section shall be held wholly or
partially invalid by final decree of a court of competent jurisdiction,
the city housing rent agency shall administer the provisions of the
state emergency housing rent control law to the extent of any such
invalidity.
17. Separability. If any subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or
provision of this section shall be held wholly or partially invalid by
final decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, to the extent that it
is not invalid, it shall be valid and no other subdivision, paragraph,
sentence, clause or provision shall on account thereof be deemed
invalid.
§ 2. Promptly after the effective date of this act, the mayor of each
city having a population of one million or more shall transmit to the
governor, in such form and detail as the governor may prescribe, his
request, if any, for an appropriation from the state treasury to defray
the reasonable and necessary expenses of such city for personal service
and for maintenance and operation in respect of the regulation and
control of residential rents within such city pursuant to this act. Any
such request shall be in sufficient detail to justify the reasonableness
and necessity of the amount requested.
If a request is received from the mayor of any such city after the
final adjournment of the regular session of the legislature in nineteen
hundred sixty-two, the state director of the budget is authorized to
transfer to such city from time to time a portion of any outstanding
appropriation made to the temporary state housing rent commission after
filing a certificate of such transfer with the state comptroller, the
chairman of the senate finance committee and the chairman of the
assembly ways and means committee. Any amount so transferred shall be
paid from the general fund to the credit of the local assistance fund on
the audit and warrant of the state comptroller on vouchers requisitioned
by the mayor of such city or by an official of such city designated by
the mayor.
§ 2-a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the period
April first, nineteen hundred seventy-two to March thirty-first,
nineteen hundred seventy-three, the city housing rent agency may assess
and collect fees or charges upon landlords pursuant to local rent
control laws or regulations subject to such terms and conditions as it
may deem to be appropriate, provided, however, that such fees or charges
shall not exceed three dollars per housing accommodation in the
aggregate. In addition, no such fees or charges shall be assessed
against any owner occupied structure with eight or less housing
accommodations. To the extent that such fees and charges are
insufficient to provide the full amount required for services and
expenses necessary to the operation of the rent control program, the
amount appropriated by the legislature, or so much thereof as may be
necessary, shall be available for the payment of state aid. The officer
or officers designated by local law or regulation to assess and collect
such fees or charges and to make disbursements therefrom, shall
maintain, and provide at such times and in the manner and form as may be
prescribed by the comptroller and the director of the budget of the
state of New York, a record and accounting of all funds received and
disbursed pursuant to this authorization.
§ 5. Any adjustments in maximum rents ordered by the temporary state
housing rent commission on and after June thirtieth, nineteen hundred
sixty-one, and resulting in an increase thereof solely by reason of the
amendments made by chapter three hundred thirty-seven of the laws of
nineteen hundred sixty-one to paragraph (a) of subdivision four of
section four of the emergency housing rent control law which provided
for the application of the most recent equalization rate, rather than
the equalization rate for the year nineteen hundred fifty-four, are
hereby rescinded and nullified, provided, however, that no right is
conferred by this act to recover any such increase paid prior to the
effective date of this act.
§ 6. Notwithstanding any provision of chapter three hundred
thirty-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-one, maximum rents
established in any city having a population of one million or more
pursuant to the emergency housing rent control law, as last amended by
such chapter, shall not be increased during the period between the
effective date of this act and May first, nineteen hundred sixty-two,
except with the voluntary written consent of the tenant affected.
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