2019 New York Laws
ETP - Emergency Tenant Protection Act 576/74
§ 4. The emergency tenant protection act of nineteen hundred seventy-four is hereby enacted to read as follows:
EMERGENCY TENANT PROTECTION ACT
OF NINETEEN SEVENTY-FOUR Section 1. Short title.
2. Legislative finding.
3. Local determination of emergency; end of emergency.
4. Establishment of rent guidelines boards; duties.
5. Housing accommodations subject to regulation.
6. Regulation of rents.
7. Maintenance of services.
8. Administration.
9. Application for adjustment of initial legal regulated
rent.
10. Regulations.
10-a. Right to sublease.
10-b. Major capital improvements and individual apartment
improvements in rent regulated units.
11. Non-waiver of rights.
12. Enforcement and procedures.
12-a. Rent registration.
13. Cooperation with other governmental agencies.
14. Application of act.
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be
cited as the "emergency tenant protection act of nineteen
seventy-four".
§ 2. Legislative finding. The legislature hereby finds and
declares that a serious public emergency continues to exist in
the housing of a considerable number of persons in the state of
New York, that such emergency necessitates the intervention of
federal, state and local government in order to prevent
speculative, unwarranted and abnormal increases in rents; that
there continues to exist in many areas of the state an acute
shortage of housing accommodations caused by continued high
demand, attributable in part to new household formations and
decreased supply, in large measure attributable to reduced
availability of federal subsidies, and increased costs of
construction and other inflationary factors; that a substantial
number of persons residing in housing not presently subject to
the provisions of this act or the emergency housing rent control
law or the local emergency housing rent control act are being
charged excessive and unwarranted rents and rent increases; that
preventive action by the legislature continues to be imperative
in order to prevent exaction 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, safety and general
welfare; that in order to prevent uncertainty, hardship and
dislocation, the provisions of this act 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 the
ultimate objective of state policy, must take place with due
regard for such emergency; and that the policy herein expressed
shall be subject to determination of the existence of a public
emergency requiring the regulation of residential rents within
any city, town or village by the local legislative body of such
city, town or village.
§ 3. Local determination of emergency; end of emergency. a.
The existence of public emergency requiring the regulation of
residential rents for all or any class or classes of housing
accommodations, including any plot or parcel of land which had
been rented prior to May first, nineteen hundred fifty, for the
purpose of permitting the tenant thereof to construct or place
his own dwelling thereon and on which plot or parcel of land
there exists a dwelling owned and occupied by a tenant of such
plot or parcel, heretofore destabilized; heretofore or hereafter
decontrolled, exempt, not subject to control, or exempted from
regulation and control under the provisions of the emergency
housing rent control law, the local emergency housing rent
control act or the New York city rent stabilization law of
nineteen hundred sixty-nine; or subject to stabilization or
control under such rent stabilization law, shall be a matter for
local determination within each city, town or village. Any such
determination shall be made by the local legislative body of
such city, town or village on the basis of the supply of housing
accommodations within such city, town or village, the condition
of such accommodations and the need for regulating and
controlling residential rents within such city, town or village.
A declaration of emergency may be made as to any class of
housing accommodations if the vacancy rate for the housing
accommodations in such class within such municipality is not in
excess of five percent and a declaration of emergency may be
made as to all housing accommodations if the vacancy rate for
the housing accommodations within such municipality is not in
excess of five percent.
b. The local governing body of a city, town or village having
declared an emergency pursuant to subdivision a of this section
may at any time, on the basis of the supply of housing
accommodations within such city, town or village, the condition
of such accommodations and the need for continued regulation and
control of residential rents within such municipality, declare
that the emergency is either wholly or partially abated or that
the regulation of rents pursuant to this act does not serve to
abate such emergency and thereby remove one or more classes of
accommodations from regulation under this act. The emergency
must be declared at an end once the vacancy rate described in
subdivision a of this section exceeds five percent.
c. No resolution declaring the existence or end of an
emergency, as authorized by subdivisions a and b of this
section, may be adopted except after public hearing held on not
less than ten days public notice, as the local legislative body
may reasonably provide.
§ 4. Establishment of rent guidelines boards; duties. a. In
each county wherein any city having a population of less than
one million or any town or village has determined the existence
of an emergency pursuant to section three of this act, there
shall be created a rent guidelines board to consist of nine
members appointed by the commissioner of housing and community
renewal upon recommendation of the county legislature, except
that a rent guidelines board created subsequent to the effective
date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen that
amended this section shall consist of nine members appointed by
the commissioner of housing and community renewal upon
recommendations of the local legislative body of each city
having a population of less than one million or town or village
which has determined the existence of an emergency pursuant to
section three of this act. Such recommendation shall be made
within thirty days after the first local declaration of an
emergency in such county; two such members shall be
representative of tenants, two shall be representative of owners
of property, and five shall be public members each of whom shall
have had at least five years experience in either finance,
economics or housing. One public member shall be designated by
the commissioner to serve as chairman and shall hold no other
public office. No member, officer or employee of any municipal
rent regulation agency or the state division of housing and
community renewal and no person who owns or manages real estate
covered by this law or who is an officer of any owner or tenant
organization shall serve on a rent guidelines board. One public
member, one member representative of tenants and one member
representative of owners shall serve for a term ending two years
from January first next succeeding the date of their
appointment; one public member, one member representative of
tenants and one member representative of owners shall serve for
terms ending three years from the January first next succeeding
the date of their appointment and three public members shall
serve for terms ending four years from January first next
succeeding the dates of their appointment. Thereafter, all
members shall serve for terms of four years each. Members shall
continue in office until their successors have been appointed
and qualified. The commissioner shall fill any vacancy which may
occur by reason of death, resignation or otherwise in a manner
consistent with the original appointment. A member may be
removed by the commissioner for cause, but not without an
opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel, in his defense,
upon not less than ten days notice. Compensation for the members
of the board shall be at the rate of one hundred dollars per
day, for no more than twenty days a year, except that the
chairman shall be compensated at the rate of one hundred
twenty-five dollars a day for no more than thirty days a year.
The board shall be provided staff assistance by the division of
housing and community renewal. The compensation of such members
and the costs of staff assistance shall be paid by the division
of housing and community renewal which shall be reimbursed in
the manner prescribed in section four of this act. The local
legislative body of each city having a population of less than
one million and each town and village in which an emergency has
been determined to exist as herein provided shall be authorized
to designate one person who shall be representative of tenants
and one person who shall be representative of owners of property
to serve at its pleasure and without compensation to advise and
assist the county rent guidelines board in matters affecting the
adjustment of rents for housing accommodations in such city,
town or village as the case may be.
a-1. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this
section to the contrary, in each county that became subject to
this act pursuant to the chapter of the laws of two thousand
nineteen that amended this section, the commissioner shall
reconstitute the existing rent guidelines board subsequent to
any initial local declaration of emergency within such county
for the purpose of ensuring representation of all cities having
a population of less than one million and all towns and villages
within such county having determined the existence of an
emergency in accordance with this act are represented, pursuant
to rules and regulations promulgated by the division of housing
and community renewal.
b. A county rent guidelines board shall establish annual
guidelines for rent adjustments which, at its sole discretion
may be varied and different for and within the several zones and
jurisdictions of the board, and in determining whether rents for
housing accommodations as to which an emergency has been
declared pursuant to this act shall be adjusted, shall consider
among other things (1) the economic condition of the residential
real estate industry in the affected area including such factors
as the prevailing and projected (i) real estate taxes and sewer
and water rates, (ii) gross operating maintenance costs
(including insurance rates, governmental fees, cost of fuel and
labor costs), (iii) costs and availability of financing
(including effective rates of interest), (iv) over-all supply of
housing accommodations and over-all vacancy rates, (2) relevant
data from the current and projected cost of living indices for
the affected area, (3) such other data as may be made available
to it. As soon as practicable after its creation and thereafter
not later than July first of each year, a rent guidelines board
shall file with the state division of housing and community
renewal its findings for the preceding calendar year, and shall
accompany such findings with a statement of the maximum rate or
rates of rent adjustment, if any, for one or more classes of
accommodation subject to this act, authorized for leases or
other rental agreements commencing during the next succeeding
twelve months. The standards for rent adjustments may be
applicable for the entire county or may be varied according to
such zones or jurisdictions within such county as the board
finds necessary to achieve the purposes of this subdivision. A
rent guidelines board shall not establish annual guidelines for
rent adjustments based on the current rental cost of a unit or
on the amount of time that has elapsed since another rent
increase was authorized pursuant to this chapter.
The standards for rent adjustments established annually shall
be effective for leases commencing on October first of each year
and during the next succeeding twelve months whether or not the
board has filed its findings and statement of the maximum rate
or rates of rent adjustment by July first of each year. If such
lease is entered into before such filing by the board, it may
provide for the rent to be adjusted by the rates then in effect,
subject to change by the applicable rates of rent adjustment
when filed, such change to be effective as of the date of the
commencement of the lease. Said lease must provide that, if the
new rates of rent adjustment differ for leases of different
terms, the tenant has the option of changing the original lease
term to any other term for which a rate of rent adjustment is
set by the board, with the rental to be adjusted accordingly.
Where a city, town or village shall act to determine the
existence of public emergency pursuant to section three of this
act subsequent to the establishment of annual guidelines for
rent adjustments of the accommodations subject to this act, the
rent guidelines board as soon as practicable thereafter shall
file its findings and rates of rent adjustment for leases or
other rental agreements for the housing accommodations in such a
city, town or village, which rates shall be effective for leases
or other rental agreements commencing on or after the effective
date of the determination.
c. In a city having a population of one million or more, the
rent guidelines board shall be the rent guidelines board
established pursuant to the New York city rent stabilization law
of nineteen hundred sixty-nine as amemded, and such board shall
have the powers granted pursuant to the New York city rent
stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine as amended.
d. Maximum rates of rent adjustment shall not be established
more than once annually for any housing accommodation within a
board's jurisdiction. Once established, no such rate shall,
within the one-year period, be adjusted by any surcharge,
supplementary adjustment or other modification.
e. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the
adjustment for vacancy leases covered by the provisions of this
act shall be determined exclusively pursuant to section ten of
this act. Rent guidelines boards shall no longer promulgate
adjustments for vacancy leases.
§ 5. Housing accommodations subject to regulation. a. A
declaration of emergency may be made pursuant to section three
as to all or any class or classes of housing accommodations in a
municipality, except:
(1) housing accommodations subject to the emergency housing
rent control law, or the local emergency housing rent control
act, other than housing accommodations subject to the New York
city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine;
(2) housing accommodations owned or operated by the United
States, the state of New York, any political subdivision, agency
or instrumentality thereof, any municipality or any public
housing authority;
(3) housing accommodations in buildings in which rentals are
fixed by or subject to the supervision of the state division of
housing and community renewal under other provisions of law or
the New York city department of housing preservation and
development or the New York state urban development corporation,
or, to the extent that regulation under this act is inconsistent
therewith aided by government insurance under any provision of
the National Housing Act;
(4) (a) housing accommodations in a building containing fewer
than six dwelling units, other than any plot or parcel of land
in cities having a population of one million or more which had
been rented prior to May first, nineteen hundred fifty, for the
purpose of permitting the tenant thereof to construct or place
his own dwelling thereon and heretofore or hereafter
decontrolled, exempt, not subject to control or exempted from
regulation and control under the provisions of the emergency
housing rent control law or the local emergency housing rent
control act and on which plot or parcel of land there exists a
dwelling owned and occupied by a tenant of such plot or parcel;
(b) for purposes of this paragraph four, a building shall be
deemed to contain six or more dwelling units if it is part of a
multiple family garden-type maisonette dwelling complex
containing six or more dwelling units having common facilities
such as a sewer line, water main or heating plant and operated
as a unit under common ownership, notwithstanding that
certificates of occupancy were issued for portions thereof as
one- or two-family dwellings.
(5) housing accommodations in buildings completed or buildings
substantially rehabilitated as family units on or after January
first, nineteen hundred seventy-four;
(5-a) housing accommodations located outside of a city with a
population of one million or more in any such buildings that
were vacant and unoccupied on June first, two thousand nineteen
and had been vacant and unoccupied for at least the one-year
period immediately preceding such date;
(6) housing accommodations owned or operated by a hospital,
convent, monastery, asylum, public institution, or college or
school dormitory or any institution operated exclusively for
charitable or educational purposes on a non-profit basis other
than (i) those accommodations occupied by a tenant on the date
such housing accommodation is acquired by any such institution,
or which are occupied subsequently by a tenant who is not
affiliated with such institution at the time of his initial
occupancy or (ii) permanent housing accommodations with
government contracted services, as of and after June fourteenth,
two thousand nineteen, to vulnerable individuals or individuals
with disabilities who are or were homeless or at risk of
homelessness; provided, however, that the terms of leases in
existence as of June fourteenth, two thousand nineteen, shall
only be affected upon lease renewal, and further provided that
upon the vacancy of such housing accommodations, the legal
regulated rent for such housing accommodations shall be the
legal regulated rent paid for such housing accommodations by the
prior tenant, subject only to any adjustment adopted by the
applicable rent guidelines board;
(7) rooms or other housing accommodations in hotels, other
than hotel accommodations in cities having a population of one
million or more not occupied on a transient basis and heretofore
subject to the emergency housing rent control law, the local
emergency housing rent control act or to the New York city rent
stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine;
(8) any motor court, or any part thereof, any trailer, or
trailer space used exclusively for transient occupancy or any
part thereof; or any tourist home serving transient guests
exclusively, or any part thereof;
The term "motor court" shall mean an establishment renting
rooms, cottages or cabins, supplying parking or storage
facilities for motor vehicles in connection with such renting
and other services and facilities customarily supplied by such
establishments, and commonly known as motor, auto or tourist
court in the community.
The term "tourist home" shall mean a rooming house which
caters primarily to transient guests and is known as a tourist
home in the community.
(9) non-housekeeping, furnished housing accommodations,
located within a single dwelling unit not used as a rooming or
boarding house, but only if:
(a) no more than two tenants for whom rent is paid (husband
and wife being considered one tenant for this purpose), not
members of the landlord's immediate family, live in such
dwelling unit, and
(b) the remaining portion of such dwelling unit is occupied by
the landlord or his immediate family.
(10) housing accommodations in buildings operated exclusively
for charitable purposes on a non-profit basis except for
permanent housing accommodations with government contracted
services, as of and after the effective date of the chapter of
the laws of two thousand nineteen that amended this paragraph,
to vulnerable individuals or individuals with disabilities who
are or were homeless or at risk of homelessness; provided,
however, that the terms of leases in existence as of the
effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand
nineteen that amended this paragraph, shall only be affected
upon lease renewal, and further provided that upon the vacancy
of such housing accommodations, the legal regulated rent for
such housing accommodations shall be the legal regulated rent
paid for such housing accommodations by the prior tenant,
subject only to any adjustment adopted by the applicable rent
guidelines board;
(11) housing accommodations which are not occupied by the
tenant, not including subtenants or occupants, as his or her
primary residence, as determined by a court of competent
jurisdiction. 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. For
the purposes of this paragraph, where a housing accommodation is
rented to a not-for-profit hospital for residential use,
affiliated subtenants authorized to use such accommodations by
such hospital shall be deemed to be tenants. For the purposes of
this paragraph, where a housing accommodation is rented to a
not-for-profit for providing, as of and after the effective date
of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen that amended
this paragraph, permanent housing to individuals who are or were
homeless or at risk of homelessness, affiliated subtenants
authorized to use such accommodations by such not-for-profit
shall be deemed to be tenants. No action or proceeding shall be
commenced seeking to recover possession on the ground that a
housing accommodation is not occupied by the tenant as his or
her primary residence unless the owner or lessor shall have
given thirty days notice to the tenant of his or her intention
to commence such action or proceeding on such grounds.
(14) (i) housing accommodations owned as a cooperative or
condominium unit which are or become vacant on or after the
effective date of this paragraph, except that this subparagraph
shall not apply to units occupied by non-purchasing tenants
under section three hundred fifty-two-eee of the general
business law until the occurrence of a vacancy. (ii) This
paragraph shall not apply, however, to or become effective with
respect to housing accommodations which the commissioner
determines or finds the landlord or any person acting on his or
her behalf, with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, engaged
in any course of conduct (including, but not limited to,
interruption or discontinuance of required 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 or her use or occupancy of the housing accommodations. In
connection with such course of conduct any other general
enforcement provision of this act shall also apply;
b. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
nothing shall prevent the declaration of an emergency pursuant
to section three of this act for rental housing accommodations
located in buildings or structures which are subject to the
provisions of article eighteen of the private housing finance
law.
§ 6. Regulation of rents. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of
any lease or other rental agreement, no owner shall, on or after
the first day of the first month or other rental period
following a declaration of emergency pursuant to section three,
which date shall be referred to in this act as the local
effective date, charge or collect any rent in excess of the
initial legal regulated rent or adjusted initial legal regulated
rent until such time as a different legal regulated rent shall
be authorized pursuant to guidelines adopted by a rent
guidelines board pursuant to section four.
b. The initial legal regulated rents for housing
accommodations in a city having a population of less than one
million or a town or village as to which a declaration of
emergency has been made pursuant to this act shall be:
(1) For housing accommodations subject to the emergency
housing rent control law which become vacant on or after the
local effective date of this act, the rent agreed to by the
landlord and the tenant and reserved in a lease or provided for
in a rental agreement; provided that such initial legal
regulated rent may be adjusted on application of the owner or
tenant pursuant to subdivision a of section nine of this act;
and provided further that no increase of such initial regulated
rent pursuant to annual guidelines adopted by the rent
guidelines board shall become effective until the expiration of
the first lease or rental agreement taking effect after the
local effective date, but in no event before one year from the
commencement of such rental agreement.
(2) For all other housing accommodations, the rent reserved in
the last effective lease or other rental agreement; provided
that an initial rent based upon the rent reserved in a lease or
other rental agreement which became effective on or after
January first, nineteen hundred seventy-four may be adjusted on
application of the tenant pursuant to subdivision b of section
nine of this act or on application of either the owner or tenant
pursuant to subdivision a of such section; and further provided
that if a lease is entered into for such housing accommodations
after the local effective date, but before the effective date of
the first guidelines applicable to such accommodations, the
lease may provide for an adjustment of rent pursuant to such
guidelines, to be effective on the first day of the month next
succeeding the effective date of such guidelines.
c. The initial legal regulated rents for housing
accommodations in a city having a population of one million or
more shall be the initial rent established pursuant to the New
York city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine
as amended.
d. Provision shall be made pursuant to regulations under this
act for individual adjustment of rents where:
(1) there has been a substantial modification or increase of
dwelling space, or installation of new equipment or improvements
or new furniture or furnishings, provided in or to a tenant's
housing accommodation, on written informed tenant consent to the
rent increase. In the case of a vacant housing accommodation,
tenant consent shall not be required. The temporary increase in
the legal regulated rent for the affected housing accommodation
shall be one-one hundred sixty-eighth, in the case of a building
with thirty-five or fewer housing accommodations or one-one
hundred eightieth in the case of a building with more than
thirty-five housing accommodations where such increase takes
effect on or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws
of two thousand nineteen that amended this paragraph, of the
total actual cost incurred by the landlord up to fifteen
thousand dollars in providing such reasonable and verifiable
modification or increase in dwelling space, furniture,
furnishings, or equipment, including the cost of installation
but excluding finance charges and any costs that exceed
reasonable costs established by rules and regulations
promulgated by the division of housing and community renewal.
Such rules and regulations shall include: (i) requirements for
work to be done by licensed contractors and a prohibition on
common ownership between the landlord and the contractor or
vendor; and (ii) a requirement that the owner resolve within the
dwelling space all outstanding hazardous or immediately
hazardous violations of the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building
Code (Uniform Code), New York City Fire Code, or New York City
Building and Housing Maintenance Codes, if applicable. Provided
further that an owner who is entitled to a rent increase
pursuant to this paragraph shall not be entitled to a further
rent increase based upon the installation of similar equipment,
or new furniture or furnishings within the useful life of such
new equipment, or new furniture or furnishings. Provided further
that the recoverable costs incurred by the landlord, pursuant to
this paragraph, shall be limited to an aggregate cost of fifteen
thousand dollars that may be expended on no more than three
separate individual apartment improvements in a fifteen year
period beginning with the first individual apartment improvement
on or after June fourteenth, two thousand nineteen. Provided
further that increases to the legal regulated rent pursuant to
this paragraph shall be removed from the legal regulated rent
thirty years from the date the increase became effective
inclusive of any increases granted by the applicable rent
guidelines board.
(2) there has been since January first, nineteen hundred
seventy-four an increase in the rental value of the housing
accommodations as a result of a substantial rehabilitation of
the building or the housing accommodation therein which
materially adds to the value of the property or appreciably
prolongs its life, excluding ordinary repairs, maintenance, and
replacements, or
(3) there has been since January first, nineteen hundred
seventy-four a major capital improvement essential for the
preservation, energy efficiency, functionality, or
infrastructure of the entire building, improvement of the
structure including heating, windows, plumbing and roofing, but
shall not be for operation costs or unnecessary cosmetic
improvements. An adjustment under this paragraph shall be in an
amount sufficient to amortize the cost of the improvements
pursuant to this paragraph over a twelve-year period for a
building with thirty-five or fewer housing accommodations, or a
twelve and one-half period for a building with more than
thirty-five housing accommodations and shall be removed from the
legal regulated rent thirty years from the date the increase
became effective inclusive of any increases granted by the
applicable rent guidelines board, for any determination issued
by the division of housing and community renewal after the
effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand
nineteen that amended this paragraph. Temporary major capital
improvement increases shall be collectable prospectively on the
first day of the first month beginning sixty days from the date
of mailing notice of approval to the tenant. Such notice shall
disclose the total monthly increase in rent and the first month
in which the tenant would be required to pay the temporary
increase. An approval for a temporary major capital improvement
increase shall not include retroactive payments. The collection
of any increase shall not exceed two percent in any year from
the effective date of the order granting the increase over the
rent set forth in the schedule of gross rents, with
collectability of any dollar excess above said sum to be spread
forward in similar increments and added to the rent as
established or set in future years. Upon vacancy, the landlord
may add any remaining balance of the temporary major capital
improvement increase to the legal regulated rent.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the collection
of any rent increases for any renewal lease commencing on or
after June 14, 2019, due to any major capital improvements
approved on or after June 16, 2012 and before June 16, 2019
shall not exceed two percent in any year for any tenant in
occupancy on the date the major capital improvement was
approved, or
(3-a) an application for a temporary major capital improvement
increase has been filed, a tenant shall have sixty days from the
date of mailing of a notice of a proceeding in which to answer
or reply. The state division of housing and community renewal
shall provide any responding tenant with the reasons for the
division's approval or denial of such application; or
(4) an owner by application to the state division of housing
and community renewal for increases in the rents in excess of
the rent adjustment authorized by the rent guidelines board
under this act establishes a hardship, and the state division
finds that the rate of rent adjustment is not sufficient to
enable the owner to maintain approximately the same ratio
between operating expenses, including taxes and labor costs but
excluding debt service, financing costs, and management fees,
and gross rents which prevailed on the average over the
immediate preceding five year period, or for the entire life of
the building if less than five years, or
(5) as an alternative to the hardship application provided
under paragraph four of this subdivision, owners of buildings
acquired by the same owner or a related entity owned by the same
principals three years prior to the date of application may
apply to the division for increases in excess of the level of
applicable guideline increases established under this law based
on a finding by the commissioner that such guideline increases
are not sufficient to enable the owner to maintain an annual
gross rent income for such building which exceeds the annual
operating expenses of such building by a sum equal to at least
five percent of such gross rent. For the purposes of this
paragraph, operating expenses shall consist of the actual,
reasonable, costs of fuel, labor, utilities, taxes, other than
income or corporate franchise taxes, fees, permits, necessary
contracted services and non-capital repairs, insurance, parts
and supplies, management fees and other administrative costs and
mortgage interest. For the purposes of this paragraph, mortgage
interest shall be deemed to mean interest on a bona fide
mortgage including an allocable portion of charges related
thereto. Criteria to be considered in determining a bona fide
mortgage other than an institutional mortgage shall include;
condition of the property, location of the property, the
existing mortgage market at the time the mortgage is placed, the
term of the mortgage, the amortization rate, the principal
amount of the mortgage, security and other terms and conditions
of the mortgage. The commissioner shall set a rental value for
any unit occupied by the owner or a person related to the owner
or unoccupied at the owner's choice for more than one month at
the last regulated rent plus the minimum number of guidelines
increases or, if no such regulated rent existed or is known, the
commissioner shall impute a rent consistent with other rents in
the building. The amount of hardship increase shall be such as
may be required to maintain the annual gross rent income as
provided by this paragraph. The division shall not grant a
hardship application under this paragraph or paragraph four of
this subdivision for a period of three years subsequent to
granting a hardship application under the provisions of this
paragraph. The collection of any increase in the rent for any
housing accommodation pursuant to this paragraph shall not
exceed six percent in any year from the effective date of the
order granting the increase over the rent set forth in the
schedule of gross rents, with collectability of any dollar
excess above said sum to be spread forward in similar increments
and added to the rent as established or set in future years. No
application shall be approved unless the owner's equity in such
building exceeds five percent of: (i) the arms length purchase
price of the property; (ii) the cost of any capital improvements
for which the owner has not collected a surcharge; (iii) any
repayment of principal of any mortgage or loan used to finance
the purchase of the property or any capital improvements for
which the owner has not collected a surcharge; and (iv) any
increase in the equalized assessed value of the property which
occurred subsequent to the first valuation of the property after
purchase by the owner. For the purposes of this paragraph,
owner's equity shall mean the sum of (i) the purchase price of
the property less the principal of any mortgage or loan used to
finance the purchase of the property, (ii) the cost of any
capital improvement for which the owner has not collected a
surcharge less the principal of any mortgage or loan used to
finance said improvement, (iii) any repayment of the principal
of any mortgage or loan used to finance the purchase of the
property or any capital improvement for which the owner has not
collected a surcharge, and (iv) any increase in the equalized
assessed value of the property which occurred subsequent to the
first valuation of the property after purchase by the owner.
This subdivision shall apply to accommodations outside a city
of one million or more.
e. Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of this act, on and
after July first, nineteen hundred eighty-four the legal
regulated rent shall be the rent registered pursuant to section
twelve-a of this act subject to any modification imposed
pursuant to this act.
f. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, rule,
regulation, contract, agreement, lease or other obligation, no
owner, in addition to the authorized collection of rent, shall
demand, receive or retain a security deposit or advance payment
which exceeds the rent of one month for or in connection with
the use or occupancy of a housing accommodation by (i) any
tenant who is sixty-five years of age or older for any lease or
lease renewal entered into after July 1, 1996 or (ii) any tenant
who is receiving disability retirement benefits or supplemental
security income pursuant to the federal social security act for
any lease or lease renewal entered into after July 1, 2002.
§ 7. Maintenance of services. a. In order to collect a rent
adjustment authorized pursuant to the provisions of subdivision
b of section four, the owner of housing accommodations subject
to this act located in a city having a population of less than
one million or a town or village must file with the state
division of housing and community renewal on a form which it
shall prescribe, a written certification that he is maintaining
and will continue to maintain all services furnished on the date
upon which this act becomes a law or required to be furnished by
any law, ordinance or regulation applicable to the premises. In
addition to any other remedy afforded by law, any tenant may
apply to the state division of housing and community renewal for
a reduction in the rent to the level in effect prior to its most
recent adjustment, and the state division of housing and
community renewal may so reduce the rent if it finds that the
owner has failed to maintain such services. The owner shall be
supplied with a copy of the application and shall be permitted
to file an answer thereto. A hearing may be held upon the
request of either party, or the state division of housing and
community renewal may hold a hearing upon its own motion. The
state division of housing and community renewal may consolidate
the proceedings for two or more petitions applicable to the same
building. If the state division of housing and community renewal
finds that the owner has knowingly filed a false certification,
it shall, in addition to abating the rent, assess the owner with
the reasonable costs of the proceeding, including reasonable
attorneys' fees, and impose a penalty not in excess of two
hundred fifty dollars for each false certification. The amount
of the reduction in rent ordered by the state division of
housing and community renewal under this subdivision shall be
reduced by any credit, abatement or offset in rent which the
tenant has received pursuant to section two hundred
thirty-five-b of the real property law, that relates to one or
more conditions covered by such order.
b. In order to collect a rent adjustment authorized pursuant
to the provisions of subdivision c of section four, the owner of
housing accommodations located in a city having a population of
more than one million shall comply with the requirements with
respect to the maintenance of services of the New York city rent
stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine.
§ 8. Administration. a. Whenever a city having a population of
less than one million, or a town or village has determined the
existence of an emergency pursuant to section three of this act,
the state division of housing and community renewal shall be
designated as the sole administrative agency to administer the
regulation of residential rents as provided in this act. The
costs incurred by the state division of housing and community
renewal in administering such regulation shall be paid by such
city, town or village. Such local resolution shall forthwith be
transmitted to the state division of housing and community
renewal and shall be accompanied by an initial payment in an
amount previously determined by the commissioner of housing and
community renewal as necessary to defray the division's
anticipated first year cost. Thereafter, annually, after the
close of the fiscal year of the state, the commissioner of
housing and community renewal shall determine the amount of all
costs incurred and shall certify to each such city, town or
village its proportionate share of such costs, after first
deducting therefrom the amount of such initial payment. The
amount so certified shall be paid to the commissioner by such
city, town or village within ninety days after the receipt of
such certification. In the event that the amount thereof is not
paid to the commissioner as herein prescribed, the commissioner
shall certify the unpaid amount to the comptroller, and the
comptroller shall withhold such amount from the next succeeding
payment of per capita assistance to be apportioned to such city,
town or village.
b. The legislative body of any city, town or village acting to
impose regulation of residential rents pursuant to the
provisions of this act may impose on the owner of every building
containing housing accommodations subject to such regulation an
annual charge for each such accommodation in such amount as it
determines to be necessary for the expenses to be incurred in
the administration of such regulation.
c. Whenever a city having a population of one million or more
has determined the existence of an emergency pursuant to section
three of this act, the provisions of this act and the New York
city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine shall
be administered by the state division of housing and community
renewal as provided in the New York city rent stabilization law
of nineteen hundred sixty-nine, as amended, or as otherwise
provided by law. The costs incurred by the state division of
housing and community renewal in administering such regulation
shall be paid by such city. All payments for such administration
shall be transmitted to the state division of housing and
community renewal as follows: on or after April first of each
year commencing with April, nineteen hundred eighty-four, the
commissioner of housing and community renewal shall determine an
amount necessary to defray the division's anticipated annual
cost, and one-quarter of such amount shall be paid by such city
on or before July first of such year, one-quarter of such amount
on or before October first of such year, one-quarter of such
amount on or before January first of the following year and
one-quarter of such amount on or before March thirty-first of
the following year. After the close of the fiscal year of the
state, the commissioner shall determine the amount of all actual
costs incurred in such fiscal year and shall certify such amount
to such city. If such certified amount shall differ from the
amount paid by the city for such fiscal year, appropriate
adjustments shall be made in the next quarterly payment to be
made by such city. In the event that the amount thereof is not
paid to the commissioner as herein prescribed, the commissioner
shall certify the unpaid amount to the comptroller, and the
comptroller shall, to the extent not otherwise prohibited by
law, withhold such amount from any state aid payable to such
city. In no event shall the amount imposed on the owners exceed
twenty dollars per unit per year.
d. The failure to pay the prescribed assessment not to exceed
twenty dollars per unit for any housing accommodation subject to
this act or the New York city rent stabilization law of nineteen
hundred sixty-nine shall constitute a charge due and owing such
city, town or village which has imposed an annual charge for
each such housing accommodation pursuant to subdivision b of
this section. Any such city, town or village shall be authorized
to provide for the enforcement of the collection of such charges
by commencing an action or proceeding for the recovery of such
fees or by the filing of a lien upon the building and lot. Such
methods for the enforcement of the collection of such charges
shall be the sole remedy for the enforcement of this section.
e. The division shall maintain at least one office in each
county which is governed by the rent stabilization law of
nineteen hundred sixty-nine or this act; provided, however, that
the division shall not be required to maintain an office in the
counties of Nassau, Rockland, or Richmond.
§ 9. Application for adjustment of initial legal regulated
rent. a. The owner or tenant of a housing accommodation
described in paragraph one or two of subdivision b of section
six may, within sixty days of the local effective date of this
act or the commencement of the first tenancy thereafter,
whichever is later, file with the state division of housing and
community renewal an application for adjustment of the initial
legal regulated rent for such housing accommodation. The state
division of housing and community renewal may adjust such
initial legal regulated rent upon a finding that the presence of
unique or peculiar circumstances materially affecting the
initial legal regulated rent has resulted in a rent which is
substantially different from the rents generally prevailing in
the same area for substantially similar housing accommodations.
b. The tenant of a housing accommodation described in
paragraph two, subdivision b, of section six may file with the
state division of housing and community renewal, within ninety
days after notice has been received pursuant to subdivision c of
this section, an application for adjustment of the initial legal
regulated rent for such housing accommodation. Such tenant need
only allege that such rent is in excess of the fair market rent
and shall present such facts which, to the best of his
information and belief, support such allegation. The rent
guidelines board shall promulgate as soon as practicable after
its creation guidelines for the determination of fair market
rents for housing accommodations as to which an application may
be made pursuant to this subdivision. In rendering a
determination on an application filed pursuant to this
subdivision b, the state division of housing and community
renewal shall be guided by such guidelines. Where the state
division of housing and community renewal has determined that
the rent charged is in excess of the fair market rent it shall
order a refund, of any excess paid since January first, nineteen
hundred seventy-four or the date of the commencement of the
tenancy, whichever is later. Such refund shall be made by the
landlord in cash or as a credit against future rents over a
period not in excess of six months.
c. Upon receipt of any application filed pursuant to this
section nine, the state division of housing and community
renewal shall notify the owner or tenant, as the case may be,
and provide a copy to him of such application. Such owner or
tenant shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to respond to
the application. A hearing may be held upon the request of
either party, or the division may hold a hearing on its own
motion. The division shall issue a written opinion to both the
tenant and the owner upon rendering its determination.
d. Within thirty days after the local effective date of this
act the owner of housing accommodations described in paragraph
two of subdivision b of section six, as to which an emergency
has been declared pursuant to this act, shall give notice in
writing by certified mail to the tenant of each such housing
accommodation on a form prescribed by the state division of
housing and community renewal of the initial legal regulated
rent for such housing accommodation and of such tenant's right
to file an application for adjustment of the initial legal
regulated rent of such housing accommodation.
e. The initial legal regulated rents for housing
accommodations in a city having a population of one million or
more shall be subject to adjustment in accordance with the
provisions of the New York city rent stabilization law as
amended.
§ 10. Regulations. a. For cities having a population of less
than one million and towns and villages, the state division of
housing and community renewal shall be empowered to implement
this act by appropriate regulations. Such regulations may
encompass such speculative or manipulative practices or renting
or leasing practices as the state division of housing and
community renewal determines constitute or are likely to cause
circumvention of this act. Such regulations shall prohibit
practices which are likely to prevent any person from asserting
any right or remedy granted by this act, including but not
limited to retaliatory termination of periodic tenancies and
shall require owners to grant a new one or two year vacancy or
renewal lease at the option of the tenant, except where a
mortgage or mortgage commitment existing as of the local
effective date of this act provides that the owner shall not
grant a one-year lease; and shall prescribe standards with
respect to the terms and conditions of new and renewal leases,
additional rent and such related matters as security deposits,
advance rental payments, the use of escalator clauses in leases
and provision for increase in rentals for garages and other
ancillary facilities, so as to ensure that the level of rent
adjustments authorized under this law will not be subverted and
made ineffective. Any provision of the regulations permitting an
owner to refuse to renew a lease on grounds that the owner seeks
to recover possession of a housing accommodation for his or her
own use and occupancy or for the use and occupancy of his or her
immediate family shall permit recovery of only one housing
accommodation, shall require that an owner demonstrate immediate
and compelling need and that the housing accommodation will be
the proposed occupants' primary residence and shall not apply
where a member of the housing accommodation is sixty-two years
of age or older, has been a tenant in a housing accommodation in
that building for fifteen years or more, or has an impairment
which results from anatomical, physiological or psychological
conditions, other than addiction to alcohol, gambling, or any
controlled substance, which are demonstrable by medically
acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques, and
which are expected to be permanent and which prevent the tenant
from engaging in any substantial gainful employment; provided,
however, that a tenant required to surrender a housing
accommodation under this subdivision shall have a cause of
action in any court of competent jurisdiction for damages,
declaratory, and injunctive relief against a landlord or
purchaser of the premises who makes a fraudulent statement
regarding a proposed use of the housing accommodation. In any
action or proceeding brought pursuant to this subdivision a
prevailing tenant shall be entitled to recovery of actual
damages, and reasonable attorneys' fees.
(a-2) Where the amount of rent charged to and paid by the
tenant is less than the legal regulated rent for the housing
accommodation, the amount of rent for such housing accommodation
which may be charged upon vacancy thereof, may, at the option of
the owner, be based upon such previously established legal
regulated rent, as adjusted by the most recent applicable
guidelines increases and other increases authorized by law. For
any tenant who is subject to a lease on or after the effective
date of a chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen which
amended this subdivision, or is or was entitled to receive a
renewal or vacancy lease on or after such date, upon renewal of
such lease, the amount of rent for such housing accommodation
that may be charged and paid shall be no more than the rent
charged to and paid by the tenant prior to that renewal, as
adjusted by the most recent applicable guidelines increases and
any other increases authorized by law. Provided, however, that
for buildings that are subject to this statute by virtue of a
regulatory agreement with a local government agency and which
buildings receive federal project based rental assistance
administered by the United States department of housing and
urban development or a state or local section eight
administering agency, where the rent set by the federal, state
or local governmental agency is less than the legal regulated
rent for the housing accommodation, the amount of rent for such
housing accommodation which may be charged with the approval of
such federal, state or local governmental agency upon renewal or
upon vacancy thereof, may be based upon such previously
established legal regulated rent, as adjusted by the most recent
applicable guidelines increases or other increases authorized by
law; and further provided that such vacancy shall not be caused
by the failure of the owner or an agent of the owner, to
maintain the housing accommodation in compliance with the
warranty of habitability set forth in subdivision one of section
two hundred thirty-five-b of the real property law.
b. For cities having a population of one million or more, this
act may be implemented by regulations adopted pursuant to the
New York city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred
sixty-nine, as amended, or as otherwise provided by law.
c. Each owner of premises subject to this act shall furnish to
each tenant signing a new or renewal lease, a copy of the fully
executed new or renewal lease bearing the signatures of owner
and tenant and the beginning and ending dates of the lease term,
within thirty days from the owner's receipt of the new or
renewal lease signed by the tenant.
§ 10-a. Right to sublease. Units subject to this law may be
sublet pursuant to section two hundred twenty-six-b of the real
property law provided that (a) the rental charged to the
subtenant does not exceed the legal regulated rent plus a ten
percent surcharge payable to the tenant if the unit sublet was
furnished with the tenant's furniture; (b) the tenant can
establish that at all times he has maintained the unit as his
primary residence and intends to occupy it as such at the
expiration of the sublease; (c) an owner may terminate the
tenancy of a tenant who sublets or assigns contrary to the terms
of this section but no action or proceeding based on the
non-primary residence of a tenant may be commenced prior to the
expiration date of his lease; (d) where an apartment is sublet
the prime tenant shall retain the right to a renewal lease and
the rights and status of a tenant in occupancy as they relate to
conversion to condominium or cooperative ownership; (e) where a
tenant violates the provisions of subdivision (a) of this
section the subtenant shall be entitled to damages of three
times the overcharge and may also be awarded attorneys fees and
interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest
payable on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of
the civil practice law and rules; (f) the tenant may not sublet
the unit for more than a total of two years, including the term
of the proposed sublease, out of the four-year period preceding
the termination date of the proposed sublease. The provisions of
this subdivision (f) shall only apply to subleases commencing on
and after July first, nineteen hundred eighty-three; (g) for the
purposes of this section only, the term of the proposed sublease
may extend beyond the term of the tenant's lease. In such event,
such sublease shall be subject to the tenant's right to a
renewal lease. The subtenant shall have no right to a renewal
lease. It shall be unreasonable for an owner to refuse to
consent to a sublease solely because such sublease extends
beyond the tenant's lease; and (h) notwithstanding the
provisions of section two hundred twenty-six-b of the real
property law, a not-for-profit hospital shall have the right to
sublet any housing accommodation leased by it to its affiliated
personnel without requiring the landlord's consent to any such
sublease and without being bound by the provisions of
subdivisions (b), (c) and (f) of this section. Commencing with
the effective date of this subdivision, whenever a
not-for-profit hospital executes a renewal lease for a housing
accommodation, the legal regulated rent shall be increased by a
sum equal to fifteen percent of the previous lease rental for
such housing accommodation, hereinafter referred to as a vacancy
surcharge, unless the landlord shall have received within the
seven year period prior to the commencement date of such renewal
lease any vacancy increases or vacancy surcharges allocable to
the said housing accommodation. In the event the landlord shall
have received any such vacancy increases or vacancy surcharges
during such seven year period, the vacancy surcharge shall be
reduced by the amount received by any such vacancy increase or
vacancy surcharges.
§ 10-b. Major capital improvements and individual apartment
improvements in rent regulated units. (a) Notwithstanding any
other provision of law to the contrary, the division of housing
and community renewal, the "division", shall promulgate rules
and regulations applicable to all rent regulated units that
shall:
1. establish a schedule of reasonable costs for major capital
improvements, which shall set a ceiling for what can be
recovered through a temporary major capital improvement
increase, based on the type of improvement and its rate of
depreciation;
2. establish the criteria for eligibility of a temporary major
capital improvement increase including the type of improvement,
which shall be essential for the preservation, energy
efficiency, functionality or infrastructure of the entire
building, including heating, windows, plumbing and roofing, but
shall not be for operational costs or unnecessary cosmetic
improvements. Allowable improvements must additionally be
depreciable pursuant to the Internal Revenue Service, other than
for ordinary repairs, that directly or indirectly benefit all
tenants; and no increase shall be approved for group work done
in individual apartments that is otherwise not an improvement to
an entire building. Only such costs that are actual, reasonable,
and verifiable may be approved as a temporary major capital
improvement increase;
3. require that any temporary major capital improvement
increase granted pursuant to these provisions be reduced by an
amount equal to (i) any governmental grant received by the
landlord, where such grant compensates the landlord for any
improvements required by a city, state or federal government, an
agency or any granting governmental entity to be expended for
improvements and (ii) any insurance payment received by the
landlord where such insurance payment compensates the landlord
for any part of the costs of the improvements;
4. prohibit temporary major capital improvement increases for
buildings with outstanding hazardous or immediately hazardous
violations of the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code
(Uniform Code), New York City Fire Code, or New York City
Building and Housing Maintenance Codes, if applicable;
5. prohibit individual apartment improvement increases for
housing accommodations with outstanding hazardous or immediately
hazardous violations of the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building
Code (Uniform Code), New York City Fire Code, or New York City
Building and Housing Maintenance Codes, if applicable;
6. prohibit temporary major capital improvement increases for
buildings with thirty-five per centum or fewer rent-regulated
units;
7. establish that temporary major capital improvement
increases shall be fixed to the unit and shall cease thirty
years from the date the increase became effective. Temporary
major capital improvement increases shall be added to the legal
regulated rent as a temporary increase and shall be removed from
the legal regulated rent thirty years from the date the increase
became effective inclusive of any increases granted by the local
rent guidelines board;
8. establish that temporary major capital improvement
increases shall be collectible prospectively on the first day of
the first month beginning sixty days from the date of mailing
notice of approval to the tenant. Such notice shall disclose
the total monthly increase in rent and the first month in which
the tenant would be required to pay the temporary increase. An
approval for a temporary major capital improvement increase
shall not include retroactive payments. The collection of any
increase shall not exceed two percent in any year from the
effective date of the order granting the increase over the rent
set forth in the schedule of gross rents, with collectability of
any dollar excess above said sum to be spread forward in similar
increments and added to the rent as established or set in future
years. Upon vacancy, the landlord may add any remaining balance
of the temporary major capital improvement increase to the legal
regulated rent. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law,
for any renewal lease commencing on or after June 14, 2019, the
collection of any rent increases due to any major capital
improvements approved on or after June 16, 2012 and before June
16, 2019 shall not exceed two percent in any year for any tenant
in occupancy on the date the major capital improvement was
approved;
9. ensure that the application procedure for temporary major
capital improvement increases shall include an itemized list of
work performed and a description or explanation of the reason or
purpose of such work;
10. provide, that where an application for a major capital
improvement rent increase has been filed, a tenant shall have
sixty days from the date of mailing of a notice of a proceeding
in which to answer or reply;
11. establish a notification and documentation procedure for
individual apartment improvements that requires an itemized list
of work performed and a description or explanation of the reason
or purpose of such work, inclusive of photographic evidence
documenting the condition prior to and after the completion of
the performed work. Provide for the centralized electronic
retention of such documentation and any other supporting
documentation to be made available in cases pertaining to the
adjustment of legal regulated rents; and
12. establish a form in the top six languages other than
English spoken in the state according to the latest available
data from the U.S. Bureau of Census for a temporary individual
apartment improvement rent increase for a tenant in occupancy
which shall be used by landlords to obtain written informed
consent that shall include the estimated total cost of the
improvement and the estimated monthly rent increase. Such form
shall be completed and preserved in the centralized electronic
retention system to be operational by June 14, 2020. Nothing
herein shall relieve a landlord, lessor, or agent thereof of his
or her duty to retain proper documentation of all improvements
performed or any rent increases resulting from said
improvements.
(b) The division shall establish an annual inspection and
audit process which shall review twenty-five percent of
applications for a temporary major capital improvement increase
that have been submitted and approved. Such process shall
include individual inspections and document review to ensure
that owners complied with all obligations and responsibilities
under the law for temporary major capital improvement increases.
Inspections shall include in-person confirmation that such
improvements have been completed in such way as described in the
application.
(c) The division shall issue a notice to the landlord and all
the tenants sixty days prior to the end of the temporary major
capital improvement increase and shall include the initial
approved increase and the total amount to be removed from the
legal regulated rent inclusive of any increases granted by the
applicable rent guidelines board.
§ 11. Non-waiver of rights. Any provision of a lease or other
rental agreement which purports to waive a tenant's rights under
this act or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto shall be
void as contrary to public policy.
§ 12. Enforcement and procedures. a. (1) Subject to the
conditions and limitations of this paragraph, any owner of
housing accommodations in a city having a population of less
than one million or a town or village as to which an emergency
has been declared pursuant to section three, who, upon complaint
of a tenant or of the state division of housing and community
renewal, is found by the state division of housing and community
renewal, after a reasonable opportunity to be heard, to have
collected an overcharge above the rent authorized for a housing
accommodation subject to this act shall be liable to the tenant
for a penalty equal to three times the amount of such
overcharge. If the owner establishes by a preponderance of the
evidence that the overcharge was neither willful nor
attributable to his negligence, the state division of housing
and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the amount
of the overcharge plus interest at the rate of interest payable
on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the
civil practice law and rules. After a complaint of rent
overcharge has been filed and served on an owner, the voluntary
adjustment of the rent and/or the voluntary tender of a refund
of rent overcharges shall not be considered by the division of
housing and community renewal or a court of competent
jurisdiction as evidence that the overcharge was not willful.
(i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of
this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of
determining an overcharge, shall be deemed to be the rent
indicated in the most recent reliable annual registration
statement for a rent stabilized tenant filed and served upon the
tenant six or more years prior to the most recent registration
statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration
statement) plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases and
adjustments. The division of housing and community renewal or a
court of competent jurisdiction, in investigating complaints of
overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent, shall
consider all available rent history which is reasonably
necessary to make such determinations. (ii) As to complaints
filed within ninety days of the initial registration of a
housing accommodation, the legal regulated rent for purposes of
determining an overcharge shall be deemed to be the rent charged
on the date six years prior to the date of the initial
registration of the housing accommodation (or, if the housing
accommodation was subject to this act for less than six years,
the initial legal regulated rent) plus in each case, any lawful
increases and adjustments. Where the rent charged on the date
six years prior to the date of the initial registration of the
accommodation cannot be established, such rent shall be
established by the division.
(a) The order of the state division of housing and community
renewal shall apportion the owner's liability between or among
two or more tenants found to have been overcharged by such owner
during their particular tenancy of a unit.
(b) (i) Except as provided under clauses (ii) and (iii) of
this subparagraph, a complaint under this subdivision may be
filed with the state division of housing and community renewal
or in a court of competent jurisdiction at any time, however any
recovery of overcharge penalties shall be limited to the six
years preceding the complaint.
(ii) A penalty of three times the overcharge shall be assessed
upon all overcharges willfully collected by the owner starting
six years before the complaint is filed.
(iii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to
the date of filing of the initial rent registration as provided
in subdivision b of section twelve-a of this act shall be filed
within ninety days of the mailing of notice to the tenant of
such registration.
(c) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an
opportunity to join in any complaint filed by an officer or
employee of the state division of housing and community renewal.
(d) An owner found to have overcharged shall, in all cases, be
assessed the reasonable costs and attorney's fees of the
proceeding, and interest from the date of the overcharge at the
rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant to section five
thousand four of the civil practice law and rules.
(e) The order of the state division of housing and community
renewal awarding penalties may, upon the expiration of the
period in which the owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to
article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules, be
filed and enforced by a tenant in the same manner as a judgment
or, in the alternative, not in excess of twenty percent thereof
per month may be offset against any rent thereafter due the
owner.
(f) Unless a tenant shall have filed a complaint of overcharge
with the division which complaint has not been withdrawn,
nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to prevent a
tenant or tenants, claiming to have been overcharged, from
commencing an action or interposing a counterclaim in a court of
competent jurisdiction for damages equal to the overcharge and
the penalty provided for in this section, including interest
from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the
civil practice law and rules, plus the statutory costs and
allowable disbursements in connection with the proceeding. The
courts and the division shall have concurrent jurisdiction,
subject to the tenant's choice of forum.
(2) In addition to issuing the specific orders provided for by
other provisions of this act, the state division of housing and
community renewal shall be empowered to enforce this act and its
regulations by issuing, upon notice and a reasonable opportunity
for the affected party to be heard, such other orders as it may
deem appropriate.
(3) If the owner is found by the commissioner:
(i) to have violated an order of the division the commissioner
may impose by administrative order after hearing, a civil
penalty at minimum in the amount of one thousand but not to
exceed two thousand dollars for the first such offense, and at
minimum in the amount of two thousand but not to exceed three
thousand dollars for each subsequent offense; or
(ii) to have harassed a tenant to obtain vacancy of his
housing accommodation, the commissioner may impose by
administrative order after hearing, a civil penalty for any such
violation. Such penalty shall be at minimum in the amount of two
thousand but not to exceed three thousand dollars for the first
such offense, and at minimum in the amount of ten thousand but
not to exceed eleven thousand dollars for each subsequent
offense or for a violation consisting of conduct directed at the
tenants of more than one housing accommodation.
Such order shall be deemed a final determination for the
purposes of judicial review. Such penalty may, upon the
expiration of the period for seeking review pursuant to article
seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules, be docketed
and enforced in the manner of a judgment of the supreme court.
(4) Any proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of the
civil practice law and rules seeking review of any action
pursuant to this act shall be brought within sixty days of the
expiration of the ninety day period and any extension thereof
provided in subdivision c of this section or the rendering of a
determination, whichever is later. Any action or proceeding
brought by or against the commissioner under this act shall be
brought in the county in which the housing accommodation is
located.
(5) Violations of this act or of the regulations and orders
issued pursuant thereto may be enjoined by the supreme court
upon proceedings commenced by the state division of housing and
community renewal or the tenant or tenants who allege they have
been overcharged. The division shall not be required to post
bond.
(6) In furtherance of its responsibility to enforce this act,
the state division of housing and community renewal shall be
empowered to administer oaths, issue subpoenas, conduct
investigations, make inspections and designate officers to hear
and report. The division shall safeguard the confidentiality of
information furnished to it at the request of the person
furnishing same, unless such information must be made public in
the interest of establishing a record for the future guidance of
persons subject to this act.
(7) In any action or proceeding before a court wherein a party
relies for a ground of relief or defense or raises issue or
brings into question the construction or validity of this act or
any regulation, order or requirement hereunder, the court having
jurisdiction of such action or proceeding may at any stage
certify such fact to the state division of housing and community
renewal. The state division of housing and community renewal may
intervene in any such action or proceeding.
(8) Except where a specific provision of this law requires the
maintenance of rent records for a longer period, including
records of the useful life of improvements made to any housing
accommodation or any building, any owner who has duly registered
a housing accommodation pursuant to section twelve-a of this act
shall not be required to maintain or produce any records
relating to rentals of such accommodation more than six years
prior to the most recent registration or annual statement for
such accommodation. However, an owner's election not to maintain
records shall not limit the authority of the division of housing
and community renewal and the courts to examine the rental
history and determine legal regulated rents pursuant to this
subdivision.
(9) The division of housing and community renewal and the
courts, in investigating complaints of overcharge and in
determining legal regulated rents, shall consider all available
rent history which is reasonably necessary to make such
determinations, including but not limited to (a) any rent
registration or other records filed with the state division of
housing and community renewal, or any other state, municipal or
federal agency, regardless of the date to which the information
on such registration refers; (b) any order issued by any state,
municipal or federal agency; (c) any records maintained by the
owner or tenants; and (d) any public record kept in the regular
course of business by any state, municipal or federal agency.
Nothing contained in this paragraph shall limit the examination
of rent history relevant to a determination as to:
(i) whether the legality of a rental amount charged or
registered is reliable in light of all available evidence
including, but not limited to, whether an unexplained increase
in the registered or lease rents, or a fraudulent scheme to
destabilize the housing accommodation, rendered such rent or
registration unreliable;
(ii) whether an accommodation is subject to the emergency
tenant protection act;
(iii) whether an order issued by the division of housing and
community renewal or a court of competent jurisdiction,
including, but not limited to an order issued pursuant to
section seven of this act, or any regulatory agreement or other
contract with any governmental agency, and remaining in effect
within six years of the filing of a complaint pursuant to this
section, affects or limits the amount of rent that may be
charged or collected;
(iv) whether an overcharge was or was not willful;
(v) whether a rent adjustment that requires information
regarding the length of occupancy by a present or prior tenant
was lawful;
(vi) the existence or terms and conditions of a preferential
rent, or the propriety of a legal registered rent during a
period when the tenants were charged a preferential rent;
(vii) the legality of a rent charged or registered immediately
prior to the registration of a preferential rent; or
(viii) the amount of the legal regulated rent where the
apartment was vacant or temporarily exempt on the date six years
prior to a tenant's complaint.
b. Within a city having a population of one million or more,
the state division of housing and community renewal shall have
such powers to enforce this act as shall be provided in the New
York city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine,
as amended, or as shall otherwise be provided by law. Unless a
tenant shall have filed a complaint of overcharge with the
division which complaint has not been withdrawn, nothing
contained in this section shall be deemed to prevent a tenant or
tenants, claiming to have been overcharged, from commencing an
action or interposing a counterclaim in a court of competent
jurisdiction for damages equal to the overcharge and the penalty
provided for in this section, including interest from the date
of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable on a judgment
pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil practice law
and rules, plus the statutory costs and allowable disbursements
in connection with the proceeding. The courts and the division
shall have concurrent jurisdiction, subject to the tenant's
choice of forum.
c. The state division of housing and community renewal may, by
regulation, provide for administrative review of all orders and
determinations issued by it pursuant to this act. Any such
regulation shall provide that if a petition for such review is
not determined within ninety days after it is filed, it shall be
deemed to be denied. However, the division may grant one
extension not to exceed thirty days with the consent of the
party filing such petition; any further extension may only be
granted with the consent of all parties to the petition. No
proceeding may be brought pursuant to article seventy-eight of
the civil practice law and rules to challange any order or
determination which is subject to such administrative review
unless such review has been sought and either (1) a
determination thereon has been made or (2) the ninety-day period
provided for determination of the petition for review (or any
extension thereof) has expired.
§ 12-a. Rent registration. a. Each housing accommodation in a
city having a population of less than one million or a town or
village as to which an emergency has been declared pursuant to
section three of this act which is subject to this act shall be
registered by the owner thereof with the state division of
housing and community renewal prior to July first, nineteen
hundred eighty-four upon forms prescribed by the commissioner of
such division. The data to be provided on such forms shall
include the following: (1) the name and address of the building
or group of buildings or development in which such housing
accommodation is located and the owner and the tenant thereof;
(2) the number of housing accommodations in the building or
group of buildings or development in which such housing
accommodation is located; (3) the number of housing
accommodations in such building or group of buildings or
development subject to this act and the number of such housing
accommodations subject to the emergency housing rent control
law; (4) the rent charged on the registration date; (5) the
number of rooms in such housing accommodation; and (6) all
services provided in the last lease or rental agreement
commencing at least six months prior to the local effective date
of this act.
b. Registration pursuant to this section shall not be subject
to the freedom of information law, provided that registration
information relative to a tenant, owner, lessor or subtenant
shall be made available to such party or his authorized
representative.
c. Housing accommodations which become subject to this act
after the initial registration period must be registered within
ninety days thereafter. Registration of housing accommodations
subject to the emergency housing rent control law immediately
prior to the date of filing the initial registration statement
as provided in this section shall include, in addition to the
items listed above, where existing, the maximum rent immediately
prior to the date that such housing accommodations became
subject to this act.
d. Copies of the registration shall be filed with the state
division of housing and community renewal in such place or
places as it may require. In addition, one copy of that portion
of the registration statement which pertains to the tenant's
unit must be mailed by the owner to the tenant in possession at
the time of initial registration or to the first tenant in
occupancy if the apartment is vacant at the time of initial
registration.
e. The failure to file a proper and timely initial or annual
rent registration statement shall, until such time as such
registration is filed, bar an owner from applying for or
collecting any rent in excess of the legal regulated rent in
effect on the date of the last preceding registration statement
or if no such statements have been filed, the legal regulated
rent in effect on the date that the housing accommodation became
subject to the registration requirements of this section. The
filing of a late registration shall result in the prospective
elimination of such sanctions and provided that increases in the
legal regulated rent were lawful except for the failure to file
a timely registration, the owner, upon the service and filing of
a late registration, shall not be found to have collected an
overcharge at any time prior to the filing of the late
registration. If such late registration is filed subsequent to
the filing of an overcharge complaint, the owner shall be
assessed a late filing surcharge for each late registration in
an amount equal to fifty percent of the timely rent registration
fee.
f. An annual statement shall be filed containing the current
rent for each unit and such other information contained in
subdivision a of this section as shall be required by the
division. The owner shall provide each tenant then in occupancy
with a copy of that portion of such annual statement as pertains
to the tenant's unit.
g. Within a city having a population of one million or more,
each housing accommodation subject to this act shall be
registered with the state division of housing and community
renewal as shall be provided in the New York city rent
stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine.
h. Each housing accommodation for which a timely registration
statement was filed between April first, nineteen hundred
eighty-four and June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-four,
pursuant to subdivision a of this section shall designate the
rent charged on April first, nineteen hundred eighty-four, as
the rent charged on the registration date.
§ 13. Cooperation with other governmental agencies. The state
division of housing and community renewal and any rent
guidelines board may request and shall receive cooperation and
assistance in effectuating the purposes of this act from all
departments, divisions, boards, bureaus, commissions or agencies
of the state and political subdivisions thereof.
§ 14. Application of act. The provisions of this act shall be
applicable:
a. in the city of New York; and
b. in all counties within the state of New York outside the
city of New York and shall become and remain effective only in a
city, town or village located therein as provided in section
three of this act.
