STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 305 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 4, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. SALAZAR, BRISPORT, STAVISKY, BAILEY, BRESLIN, BROUK, CLEARE, GIANARIS, GONZALEZ, HARCKHAM, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, KRUEGER, LIU, MAY, MAYER, MYRIE, RAMOS, RIVERA, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to prohibiting eviction without good cause The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The real property law is amended by adding a new article 2 6-A to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 6-A 4 PROHIBITION OF EVICTION WITHOUT GOOD CAUSE 5 Section 210. Short title. 6 211. Definitions. 7 212. Applicability. 8 213. Necessity for good cause. 9 214. Grounds for removal of tenants. 10 215. Preservation of existing requirements of law. 11 216. Waiver of rights void. 12 § 210. Short title. This article shall be cited as the "Prohibition of 13 eviction without good cause law". 14 § 211. Definitions. 1. The term "housing accommodation", as used in 15 this article shall mean any residential premises, including a mobile 16 home or land in a mobile home park. 17 2. The term "landlord" as used in this article shall mean any owner, 18 lessor, sublessor, assignor, or other person receiving or entitled to 19 receive rent for the occupancy of any housing accommodation or an agent 20 of any of the foregoing. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00464-01-3S. 305 2 1 3. The term "tenant" as used in this article shall mean a tenant, 2 sub-tenant, lessee, sublessee, assignee, manufactured home tenant as 3 defined in paragraph one of subdivision a of section two hundred thir- 4 ty-three of this chapter, an occupant of a rooming house or hotel as 5 defined in section seven hundred eleven of the real property actions and 6 proceedings law or any other person entitled to the possession, use or 7 occupancy of any housing accommodation. 8 4. The term "rent" as used in this article shall mean any consider- 9 ation, including any bonus, benefit or gratuity demanded or received for 10 or in connection with the possession, use or occupancy of housing accom- 11 modations or the execution or transfer of a lease for such housing 12 accommodations. 13 5. The term "disabled person" as used in this article shall mean a 14 person who has an impairment which results from anatomical, physiolog- 15 ical or psychological conditions, other than addiction to alcohol, 16 gambling, or any controlled substance, which are demonstrable by 17 medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques, and 18 which are expected to be permanent and which substantially limit one or 19 more of such person's major life activities. 20 § 212. Applicability. This article shall apply to all housing accommo- 21 dations except: 22 1. owner-occupied premises with less than four units; 23 2. premises sublet pursuant to section two hundred twenty-six-b of 24 this chapter, or otherwise, where the sublessor seeks in good faith to 25 recover possession of such housing accommodation for his or her own 26 personal use and occupancy; 27 3. premises the possession, use or occupancy of which is solely inci- 28 dent to employment and such employment is being lawfully terminated; and 29 4. premises otherwise subject to regulation of rents or evictions 30 pursuant to state or federal law to the extent that such state or feder- 31 al law requires "good cause" for termination or non-renewal of such 32 tenancies. 33 § 213. Necessity for good cause. No landlord shall, by action to evict 34 or to recover possession, by exclusion from possession, by failure to 35 renew any lease, or otherwise, remove any tenant from housing accommo- 36 dations covered by section two hundred twelve of this article except for 37 good cause as defined in section two hundred fourteen of this article. 38 § 214. Grounds for removal of tenants. 1. No landlord shall remove a 39 tenant from any housing accommodation, or attempt such removal or exclu- 40 sion from possession, notwithstanding that the tenant has no written 41 lease or that the lease or other rental agreement has expired or other- 42 wise terminated, except upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction 43 entered in an appropriate judicial action or proceeding in which the 44 petitioner or plaintiff has established one of the following grounds as 45 good cause for removal or eviction: 46 (a) The tenant has failed to pay rent due and owing, provided however 47 that the rent due and owing, or any part thereof, did not result from a 48 rent increase which is unreasonable or imposed for the purpose of 49 circumventing the intent of this article. In determining whether all or 50 part of the rent due and owing is the result of an unreasonable rent 51 increase, it shall be a rebuttable presumption that the rent for a 52 dwelling not protected by rent regulation is unreasonable if said rent 53 has been increased in any calendar year by a percentage exceeding either 54 three percent or one and one-half times the annual percentage change in 55 the Consumer Price Index for the region in which the housing accommo-S. 305 3 1 dation is located, as established the August preceding the calendar year 2 in question, whichever is greater; 3 (b) The tenant is violating a substantial obligation of his or her 4 tenancy, other than the obligation to surrender possession, and has 5 failed to cure such violation after written notice that the violation 6 cease within ten days of receipt of such written notice, provided howev- 7 er, that the obligation of tenancy for which violation is claimed was 8 not imposed for the purpose of circumventing the intent of this article; 9 (c) The tenant is committing or permitting a nuisance in such housing 10 accommodation, or is maliciously or by reason of negligence damaging the 11 housing accommodation; or the tenant's conduct is such as to interfere 12 with the comfort of the landlord or other tenants or occupants of the 13 same or adjacent buildings or structures; 14 (d) Occupancy of the housing accommodation by the tenant is in 15 violation of or causes a violation of law and the landlord is subject to 16 civil or criminal penalties therefore; provided however that an agency 17 of the state or municipality having jurisdiction has issued an order 18 requiring the tenant to vacate the housing accommodation. No tenant 19 shall be removed from possession of a housing accommodation on such 20 ground unless the court finds that the cure of the violation of law 21 requires the removal of the tenant and that the landlord did not through 22 neglect or deliberate action or failure to act create the condition 23 necessitating the vacate order. In instances where the landlord does not 24 undertake to cure conditions of the housing accommodation causing such 25 violation of the law, the tenant shall have the right to pay or secure 26 payment in a manner satisfactory to the court, to cure such violation 27 provided that any tenant expenditures shall be applied against rent to 28 which the landlord is entitled. In instances where removal of a tenant 29 is absolutely essential to his or her health and safety, the removal of 30 the tenant shall be without prejudice to any leasehold interest or other 31 right of occupancy the tenant may have and the tenant shall be entitled 32 to resume possession at such time as the dangerous conditions have been 33 removed. Nothing herein shall abrogate or otherwise limit the right of a 34 tenant to bring an action for monetary damages against the landlord to 35 compel compliance by the landlord with all applicable state or municipal 36 laws or housing codes; 37 (e) The tenant is using or permitting the housing accommodation to be 38 used for an illegal purpose; 39 (f) The tenant has unreasonably refused the landlord access to the 40 housing accommodation for the purpose of making necessary repairs or 41 improvements required by law or for the purpose of showing the housing 42 accommodation to a prospective purchaser, mortgagee or other person 43 having a legitimate interest therein; 44 (g) The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of a hous- 45 ing accommodation located in a building containing fewer than twelve 46 units because of immediate and compelling necessity for his or her own 47 personal use and occupancy as his or her principal residence, or the 48 personal use and occupancy as principal residence of his or her spouse, 49 parent, child, stepchild, father-in-law or mother-in-law, when no other 50 suitable housing accommodation in such building is available. This para- 51 graph shall permit recovery of only one housing accommodation and shall 52 not apply to a housing accommodation occupied by a tenant who is sixty- 53 two years of age or older or who is a disabled person; 54 (h) The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of any or 55 all housing accommodations located in a building with less than fiveS. 305 4 1 units to personally occupy such housing accommodations as his or her 2 principal residence. 3 2. A tenant required to surrender a housing accommodation by virtue of 4 the operation of paragraph (g) or (h) of subdivision one of this section 5 shall have a cause of action in any court of competent jurisdiction for 6 damages, declaratory, and injunctive relief against a landlord or 7 purchaser of the premises who makes a fraudulent statement regarding a 8 proposed use of the housing accommodation. In any action or proceeding 9 brought pursuant to this provision a prevailing tenant shall be entitled 10 to recovery of actual damages, and reasonable attorneys' fees. 11 3. Nothing in this section shall abrogate or limit the tenant's right 12 pursuant to section seven hundred fifty-one of the real property actions 13 and proceedings law to permanently stay the issuance or execution of a 14 warrant or eviction in a summary proceeding, whether characterized as a 15 nonpayment, objectionable tenancy, or holdover proceeding, the underly- 16 ing basis of which is the nonpayment of rent, so long as the tenant 17 complies with the procedural requirements of section seven hundred 18 fifty-one of the real property actions and proceedings law. 19 § 215. Preservation of existing requirements of law. No action shall 20 be maintainable and no judgment of possession shall be entered for hous- 21 ing accommodations pursuant to section two hundred fourteen of this 22 article, unless the landlord has complied with any and all applicable 23 laws governing such action or proceeding and has complied with any and 24 all applicable laws governing notice to tenants, including without limi- 25 tation the manner and the time of service of such notice and the 26 contents of such notice. 27 § 216. Waiver of rights void. Any agreement by a tenant heretofore or 28 hereinafter entered into in a written lease or other rental agreement 29 waiving or modifying his or her rights as set forth in this article 30 shall be void as contrary to public policy. 31 § 2. Severability. If any provision of this act, or any application of 32 any provision of this act, is held to be invalid, that shall not affect 33 the validity or effectiveness of any other provision of this act, or of 34 any other application of any provision of this act, which can be given 35 effect without that provision or application; and to that end, the 36 provisions and applications of this act are severable. 37 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to actions 38 and proceedings commenced on or after such effective date.