Bill Text: NY A01618 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides that penalties may be levied against a person who intentionally withholds a housing accommodation from the market, including for the purpose of future co-operative conversion.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-10 - referred to housing [A01618 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A01618-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1618

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 10, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ROSENTHAL  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Housing

        AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and  the
          emergency  tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, in relation
          to warehousing of housing accommodations and penalties therefor

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds and
     2  declares that each person in the state shall have a right to  be  housed
     3  and that such right to housing is a basic human right.
     4    The legislature further finds and declares that the practice of "ware-
     5  housing",  that  is  of intentionally withholding housing accommodations
     6  from the housing market, including the  withholding  of  apartments  for
     7  purposes  of  future  co-operative apartment conversion, has contributed
     8  significantly to the shortage of housing in this  state,  especially  in
     9  the city of New York.
    10    The  legislature further finds and declares that the practice of ware-
    11  housing has violated the right to housing of many of  the  citizens  and
    12  residents of this state.
    13    It  is thus the intent of the legislature to eliminate the practice of
    14  warehousing by providing strong penalties to deter such practice.
    15    § 2. Section 26-412 of the administrative code of the city of New York
    16  is amended by adding a new subdivision g to read as follows:
    17    g. It shall be unlawful to harass a tenant to obtain vacancy  of  such
    18  tenant's housing accommodation or to have intentionally withheld a hous-
    19  ing  accommodation  from the market, including withholding such accommo-
    20  dation for the purpose of future co-operative apartment conversion.  For
    21  the purposes of this subdivision, harassment consists of engaging  in  a
    22  course of conduct or repeatedly committing acts which alarm or seriously
    23  annoy a tenant or other person residing in the tenant's housing accommo-
    24  dation and which serve no legitimate purpose.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03223-01-5
        A. 1618                             2

     1    § 3. Paragraph 2 of subdivision c of section 26-516 of the administra-
     2  tive code of the city of New York, as amended by section 23 of part A of
     3  chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (2)  to  have harassed a tenant to obtain vacancy of [his or her] such
     5  tenant's housing accommodation or to have intentionally withheld a hous-
     6  ing accommodation from the market, including withholding  such  accommo-
     7  dation  for the purpose of future co-operative apartment conversion, the
     8  commissioner may impose by administrative order after hearing,  a  civil
     9  penalty  for  any  such violation. Such penalty shall be at a minimum in
    10  the amount of two thousand but not to exceed three thousand dollars  for
    11  the first such offense, and at minimum in the amount of ten thousand but
    12  not to exceed eleven thousand dollars for each subsequent offense or for
    13  a  violation  consisting of conduct directed at the tenants of more than
    14  one housing accommodation.
    15    § 4. Clause (ii) of paragraph 3 of subdivision  a  of  section  12  of
    16  section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency
    17  tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by section 27
    18  of  part  A  of  chapter  20  of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as
    19  follows:
    20    (ii) to have harassed  a  tenant  to  obtain  vacancy  of  [his]  such
    21  tenant's housing accommodation or to have intentionally withheld a hous-
    22  ing  accommodation  from the market, including withholding such accommo-
    23  dation for the purpose of future co-operative apartment conversion,  the
    24  commissioner  may  impose by administrative order after hearing, a civil
    25  penalty for any such violation. Such penalty shall be at minimum in  the
    26  amount  of two thousand but not to exceed three thousand dollars for the
    27  first such offense, and at minimum in the amount of ten thousand but not
    28  to exceed eleven thousand dollars for each subsequent offense or  for  a
    29  violation consisting of conduct directed at the tenants of more than one
    30  housing accommodation.
    31    §  5.  This act shall take effect immediately provided that the amend-
    32  ment to section 26-412 of the city rent and rehabilitation law  made  by
    33  section  two  of  this act shall remain in full force and effect only so
    34  long as the public emergency requiring the  regulation  and  control  of
    35  residential  rents and evictions continues, as provided in subdivision 3
    36  of section 1 of the  local  emergency  housing  rent  control  act;  and
    37  provided  further  that  the  amendment  to  section  26-516 of the rent
    38  stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine made by  section  three
    39  of this act shall expire on the same date as such law expires.