Bill Text: NY A05479 | 2009-2010 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: An act in relation to establishing legal stabilized and maximum rent controlled rents and determination of occupancy rights where a cooperative or condominium is deconverted
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-06 - referred to housing [A05479 Detail]
Download: New_York-2009-A05479-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
5479
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 13, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. V. LOPEZ -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Housing
AN ACT in relation to establishing legal stabilized and maximum rent
controlled rents and determination of occupancy rights where a cooper-
ative or condominium is deconverted
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. The cooperative corporation deconversion rent and occupancy
2 rights act is added to read as follows:
3 COOPERATIVE CORPORATION DECONVERSION
4 RENT AND OCCUPANCY RIGHTS ACT
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 2. Definitions.
7 3. Applicability.
8 4. Non-purchasing tenants.
9 5. Deconversion resulting from mortgage foreclosure; former
10 owners and current renters.
11 6. Legal stabilized rent for units vacant on the base date.
12 7. Cooperative or condominium conversions revoked retroactively
13 by the attorney general on fraud or other grounds.
14 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
15 the "cooperative corporation deconversion rent and occupancy rights
16 act".
17 S 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act:
18 (a) "Deconversion" shall mean the loss of title to a building by a
19 cooperative corporation in the event of a foreclosure of the underlying
20 mortgage, or where a cooperative or condominium conversion is revoked
21 retroactively by the attorney general to the date immediately prior to
22 the effective date of the conversion plan, on the basis of fraud or on
23 other grounds.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08713-01-9
A. 5479 2
1 (b) "Conversion plan" shall mean every offering statement or prospec-
2 tus submitted to the department of law pursuant to section 352-e of the
3 general business law for the conversion of a building or group of build-
4 ings or development from residential rental status to cooperative or
5 condominium ownership or other form of cooperative interest in realty,
6 other than an offering statement or prospectus for such conversion
7 pursuant to article 2, 8, or 11 of the private housing finance law.
8 (c) "Division" shall mean the division of housing and community
9 renewal.
10 (d) "Rent laws" shall mean the emergency housing rent control law, the
11 emergency tenant protection act of 1974, the local emergency housing
12 rent control act, the rent control and the rent stabilization law of
13 1969.
14 (e) "Base date" shall mean for the purpose of establishing the legal
15 registered rent and required services under the rent laws the date imme-
16 diately preceding the date of the deconversion and the restoration of
17 rent regulation.
18 S 3. Applicability. (a) Upon deconversion, units which were subject
19 to rent regulation prior to conversion to cooperative or condominium
20 ownership shall revert to rent regulated status, and remain regulated as
21 provided for under related rent laws.
22 (b) Upon deconversion, units subject to rent regulation solely as a
23 condition of receiving governmental benefits shall remain subject to
24 rent regulation only for such period of time as is required by law or by
25 the rules of the governmental program.
26 S 4. Non-purchasing tenants. Upon deconversion, a non-purchasing
27 tenant's occupancy rights are as follows:
28 (a) except as provided for under the applicable rent laws, tenants
29 protected from eviction pursuant to section 352-eee or 352-eeee of the
30 general business law shall retain such protected status.
31 (b) Upon deconversion, each non-purchasing tenant's rent, which was
32 continuously regulated prior to deconversion, shall continue to be so
33 regulated without any adjustment to the rent.
34 S 5. Deconversion resulting from mortgage foreclosure; former owners
35 and current renters. (a) Where the unit is occupied by a renter on the
36 base date, the unit's owner's occupancy rights are as follows:
37 1. Units in cities with a population of 1,000,000 or more.
38 2. Except as provided in paragraph 3 of this subdivision, the owner of
39 shares allocated to a cooperative unit loses all ownership interest in
40 such unit upon deconversion. The current renter, although not a rent
41 regulated tenant at the time of initial occupancy, shall be entitled to
42 remain in occupancy upon deconversion as a rent regulated tenant.
43 3. Where the owner occupies the unit as a primary residence at the end
44 of the current renter's lease, the owner shall not be required to offer
45 a renewal lease to such renter, and will become a regulated tenant under
46 the following conditions:
47 a. such owner rented the unit for a period of no more than 2 out of
48 the last 4 years immediately preceding the base date with the intention
49 to occupy the unit as a primary residence at the end of the current
50 renter's lease; or
51 b. such owner had been in occupancy at any time prior to the current
52 renter, and rented the unit as a primary residence at the end of the
53 current renter's lease.
54 (b) Units located outside a city with a population of 1,000,000 or
55 more.
A. 5479 3
1 1. Upon deconversion the following types of renters shall qualify as
2 rent-regulated tenants and are entitled to remain in occupancy:
3 a. subsequent renters in occupancy on July 1, 1993;
4 b. non-purchasing tenants; and
5 c. subsequent renters not in occupancy on July 7, 1993 but in occupan-
6 cy upon deconversion.
7 2. a. Except as provided in this paragraph the owner of shares allo-
8 cated to a cooperative unit loses ownership interest in such unit, the
9 owner loses any right to occupancy as against a current renter not in
10 occupancy on July 7, 1993.
11 b. The former proprietary lessee-owner shall be permitted to take
12 occupancy of a unit as a regulated tenant where the renter is in occu-
13 pancy pursuant to a sub-lease from the former proprietary lessee-owner
14 at the expiration of the term of the sublease under the following condi-
15 tions:
16 (1) the unit had not been sublet for a period of more than two out of
17 the last four years immediately preceding the base date; and
18 (2) the owner occupies the unit as a primary residence upon expiration
19 of the sublease, and intended to do so when executing the sublease.
20 (c) The legal stabilized rent shall be as follows:
21 1. For units located in a city with a population of 1,000,000 or more,
22 the legal stabilized rent shall be the rent charged and paid on the base
23 date, and where such rent was previously regulated under the private
24 housing finance law or other state or federal law, other than the rent
25 laws, upon the termination of such regulation the legal stabilized rent
26 shall be the rent paid by the tenant in occupancy on the date such regu-
27 lation ended.
28 2. For units outside a city with a population of 1,000,000 or more,
29 the legal stabilized rent for non-purchasing tenants, and subsequent
30 renters in occupancy on July 7, 1993, shall be the regulated rent
31 charged and paid by such tenants on the base date. For subsequent
32 renters not in occupancy on July 7, 1993, the legal stabilized rent
33 shall be the unregulated rent charged and paid by such tenants on the
34 base date.
35 (d) 1. Where the unit is occupied by the cooperative shareholder on
36 the base date, the owner's occupancy rights upon deconversion are as
37 follows:
38 a. a former owner in occupancy, who was either a rent stabilized or
39 rent controlled tenant prior to the conversion, shall regain such prior
40 regulated status; or
41 b. a former owner in occupancy, who was neither a rent controlled nor
42 rent stabilized tenant prior to the conversion, shall become a rent
43 stabilized tenant.
44 2. The legal stabilized or maximum rent controlled rents for such
45 former owners shall be the maintenance charged and paid on the base
46 date, subject to an order of the division establishing such legal stabi-
47 lized rent or maximum rent controlled unit where the maintenance charged
48 and paid on the base date is in dispute, in doubt or not known.
49 S 6. Legal stabilized rent for units vacant on the base date. (a) For
50 units in a city with a population of 1,000,000 or more the legal stabi-
51 lized rent shall be as follows:
52 1. For a unit last occupied by a rent controlled tenant, the initial
53 legal rent shall be, the rent agreed to by the owner and the tenant and
54 reserved in a lease, subject to a tenant's right to a fair market rent
55 appeal;
A. 5479 4
1 2. For a unit last occupied by a tenant other than a rent controlled
2 tenant, the initial legal rent shall be the rent charged and paid by the
3 most recent tenant, which shall be subject to vacancy guidelines
4 increases, but subject to a fair market rent appeal; or
5 3. For a unit last occupied by an owner, and the legal regulated rent
6 is not known, the legal rent shall be the maintenance charged and paid
7 by the most recent owner, which shall be subject to vacancy guidelines
8 increases but not subject to a fair market rent appeal.
9 (b) For units located outside a city with a population of 1,000,000 or
10 more the legal stabilized rent shall be as follows:
11 1. For a unit last occupied by a rent controlled tenant, the legal
12 stabilized rent shall be the rent agreed to by the landlord and the
13 tenant and reserved in a lease;
14 2. For a unit last occupied by a tenant other than a rent controlled
15 tenant, the legal stabilized rent shall be the rent charged and paid by
16 the most recent tenant which shall be subject to authorized vacancy
17 guidelines increases; or
18 3. For a unit last occupied by an owner, and the legal regulated rent
19 is not known, the legal regulated rent shall be the maintenance charged
20 and paid by the most recent owner, subject to authorized vacancy guide-
21 lines increases.
22 S 7. Cooperative or condominium conversions revoked retroactively by
23 the attorney general on fraud or other grounds. (a) Where the unit is
24 vacant or occupied by anyone other than a non-purchasing tenant on the
25 base date, the current occupant shall become either a rent stabilized or
26 a rent controlled tenant, depending upon the unit's status immediately
27 prior to the date of conversion. The former owner shall not have any
28 occupancy rights to the unit.
29 (b) The legal stabilized rent for such units shall be as follows:
30 1. For units located in a city with a population of 1,000,000 or more
31 for units subject to rent stabilization prior to conversion, the rent of
32 any occupant who moved in after the cooperative or condominium conver-
33 sion plan became effective, upon deconversion, shall be based upon the
34 rent charged and paid one day prior to the date that the housing accom-
35 modation first became exempt from rent regulation, increased by the
36 division's biennial guidelines increases.
37 2. For units where the occupant is an owner of shares allocated to a
38 cooperative unit, or the owner of a condominium unit, but neither the
39 sponsor nor a holder of unsold shares or units, the rent shall not
40 exceed the maintenance charged and paid on the base date.
41 3. For units vacant on the base date, the rent may be increased by
42 vacancy guidelines increases upon rerenting.
43 (c) For units located outside a city with a population of 1,000,000 or
44 more subject to the emergency tenant protection act of 1974, the legal
45 stabilized rent shall be as follows:
46 1. For tenants in occupancy on the base date who were in occupancy on
47 July 7, 1993, the legal stabilized rent shall be the legal rent charged
48 and paid on the base date.
49 2. For tenants not in occupancy on July 7, 1993, the rent shall be
50 based upon the rent charged and paid one day prior to the date that the
51 housing accommodation first became exempt from rent regulation,
52 increased by the division's biennial guidelines increases.
53 3. For a unit occupied by the former owner or vacant on the base date,
54 the legal stabilized rent shall be the rent charged and paid by the last
55 tenant in occupancy, plus any authorized vacancy guidelines adjustment.
A. 5479 5
1 4. For a former owner who is neither the sponsor nor holder of unsold
2 shares, such rent shall not exceed the maintenance charged and paid on
3 the base date.
4 (d) The maximum rent controlled rent for such units shall be as
5 follows:
6 1. For units located in a city with a population of 1,000,000 or more:
7 a. For units subject to rent control prior to conversion, the rent of
8 the occupant who moved in after the cooperative or condominium conver-
9 sion plan became effective, or for any unit vacant on the base date,
10 upon deconversion, shall be based upon the rent charged and paid one day
11 prior to the date that such unit first became exempt from rent regu-
12 lation, increased by seven and one-half percent, as biennially adjusted
13 by the city rent agency of the city of New York;
14 b. Where the occupant is an owner of shares allocated to a cooperative
15 unit, or the owner of a condominium unit, but neither the sponsor nor a
16 holder of unsold shares or units, the rent shall not exceed the mainte-
17 nance charged and paid on the base date.
18 2. For units located outside a city with a population of 1,000,000 or
19 more:
20 a. For units subject to rent control prior to conversion, the rent of
21 the occupant who moved in after the conversion plan became effective, or
22 for any unit vacant on the base date, upon deconversion, shall be based
23 upon the rent charged and paid one day prior to the date that such unit
24 first became decontrolled, which may be adjusted by applicable periodic
25 increases, as may have been authorized by the division pursuant to the
26 emergency housing rent control law.
27 b. Where the occupant is an owner of shares allocated to a cooperative
28 unit, or the owner of a condominium unit, but neither the sponsor nor a
29 holder of unsold shares or units, the rent shall not exceed the mainte-
30 nance charged and paid on the base date.
31 (e) Overcharge complaints shall only be filed with the division for
32 any rent in excess of the legal or maximum rent as provided in this
33 subdivision which may have been collected by a sponsor or holder of
34 unsold shares or units.
35 1. For rent stabilized housing accommodations, deemed guidelines
36 increases authorized pursuant to this section shall not be considered in
37 mitigation of any overcharges found for any period during which such
38 increases were not registered with the division.
39 2. For rent controlled housing accommodations, deemed biennial or
40 periodic rent adjustments authorized pursuant to this section shall not
41 be considered in mitigation of any overcharges found.
42 S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
