Bill Text: NY S01926 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Removes provisions that prohibit cities of one million or more from strengthening rent regulation laws to provide more comprehensive coverage than state laws.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO HOUSING, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT [S01926 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S01926-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1926 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 17, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. KRUEGER, ADDABBO, BAILEY, HOYLMAN, MONTGOMERY, PARK- ER, SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development AN ACT to amend the local emergency housing rent control act, in relation to rent regulation laws The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 1 of chapter 21 of the laws of 2 1962, constituting the local emergency housing rent control act, as 3 amended by chapter 82 of the laws of 2003 and the closing paragraph as 4 amended by chapter 422 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 5. Authority for local rent control legislation. Each city having a 7 population of one million or more, acting through its local legislative 8 body, may adopt and amend local laws or ordinances in respect of the 9 establishment or designation of a city housing rent agency. When it 10 deems such action to be desirable or necessitated by local conditions in 11 order to carry out the purposes of this section, such city, except as 12 hereinafter provided, acting through its local legislative body and not 13 otherwise, may adopt and amend local laws or ordinances in respect of 14 the regulation and control of residential rents, including but not 15 limited to provision for the establishment and adjustment of maximum 16 rents, the classification of housing accommodations, the regulation of 17 evictions, and the enforcement of such local laws or ordinances. The 18 validity of any such local laws or ordinances, and the rules or regu- 19 lations promulgated in accordance therewith, shall not be affected by 20 and need not be consistent with the state emergency housing rent control 21 law or with rules and regulations of the state division of housing and 22 community renewal. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06406-01-9S. 1926 2 1 Notwithstanding any local law or ordinance, housing accommodations 2 which became vacant on or after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-one 3 or which hereafter become vacant shall be subject to the provisions of 4 the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, provided, 5 however, that this provision shall not apply or become effective with 6 respect to housing accommodations which, by local law or ordinance, are 7 made directly subject to regulation and control by a city housing rent 8 agency and such agency determines or finds that the housing accommo- 9 dations became vacant because the landlord or any person acting on his 10 behalf, with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, engaged in any course 11 of conduct (including but not limited to, interruption or discontinuance 12 of essential services) which interfered with or disturbed or was 13 intended to interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace or 14 quiet of the tenant in his use or occupancy of the housing accommo- 15 dations. The removal of any housing accommodation from regulation and 16 control of rents pursuant to the vacancy exemption provided for in this 17 paragraph shall not constitute or operate as a ground for the subjection 18 to more stringent regulation and control of any housing accommodation in 19 such property or in any other property owned by the same landlord, 20 notwithstanding any prior agreement to the contrary by the landlord. The 21 vacancy exemption provided for in this paragraph shall not arise with 22 respect to any rented plot or parcel of land otherwise subject to the 23 provisions of this act, by reason of a transfer of title and possession 24 occurring on or after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-one of a 25 dwelling located on such plot or parcel and owned by the tenant where 26 such transfer of title and possession is made to a member of the 27 tenant's immediate family provided that the member of the tenant's imme- 28 diate family occupies the dwelling with the tenant prior to the transfer 29 of title and possession for a continuous period of two years. 30 The term "immediate family" shall include a husband, wife, son, daugh- 31 ter, stepson, stepdaughter, father, mother, father-in-law or mother-in- 32 law. 33 [Notwithstanding the foregoing, no local law or ordinance shall here-34after provide for the regulation and control of residential rents and35eviction in respect of any housing accommodations which are (1) present-36ly exempt from such regulation and control or (2) hereafter decontrolled37either by operation of law or by a city housing rent agency, by order or38otherwise. No housing accommodations presently subject to regulation and39control pursuant to local laws or ordinances adopted or amended under40authority of this subdivision shall hereafter be by local law or ordi-41nance or by rule or regulation which has not been theretofore approved42by the state commissioner of housing and community renewal subjected to43more stringent or restrictive provisions of regulation and control than44those presently in effect.45Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on and after the effective46date of this paragraph, a city having a population of one million or47more shall not, either through its local legislative body or otherwise,48adopt or amend local laws or ordinances with respect to the regulation49and control of residential rents and eviction, including but not limited50to provision for the establishment and adjustment of rents, the classi-51fication of housing accommodations, the regulation of evictions, and the52enforcement of such local laws or ordinances, or otherwise adopt laws or53ordinances pursuant to the provisions of this act, the emergency tenant54protection act of nineteen seventy-four, the New York city rent and55rehabilitation law or the New York city rent stabilization law, except56to the extent that such city for the purpose of reviewing the continuedS. 1926 3 1need for the existing regulation and control of residential rents or to2remove a classification of housing accommodation from such regulation3and control adopts or amends local laws or ordinances pursuant to subdi-4vision three of section one of this act, section three of the emergency5tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, section 26-415 of the6New York city rent and rehabilitation law, and sections 26-502 and726-520 of the New York city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred8sixty-nine.] 9 Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, any local 10 law adopted pursuant to this act shall provide that notwithstanding any 11 provision of such local law in the case where all tenants occupying the 12 housing accommodation on the effective date of this paragraph have 13 vacated the housing accommodation and a family member of such vacating 14 tenant or tenants is entitled to and continues to occupy the housing 15 accommodation subject to the protections of such act, if such accommo- 16 dation continues to be subject to such act after such family member 17 vacates, on the occurrence of such vacancy the maximum collectable rent 18 shall be increased by a sum equal to the allowance then in effect for 19 vacancy leases for housing accommodations covered by the rent stabiliza- 20 tion law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine, including the amount allowed by 21 paragraph (5-a) of subdivision c of section 26-511 of such law. This 22 increase shall be in addition to any other increases provided for in 23 this act and shall be applicable in like manner to each second subse- 24 quent succession. 25 Notwithstanding the foregoing, no local law or ordinance shall subject 26 to such regulation and control any housing accommodation which is not 27 occupied by the tenant in possession as his or her primary residence; 28 provided, however, that such housing accommodation not occupied by the 29 tenant in possession as his or her primary residence shall continue to 30 be subject to regulation and control as provided for herein unless the 31 city housing rent agency issues an order decontrolling such accommo- 32 dation, which the agency shall do upon application by the landlord when- 33 ever it is established by any facts and circumstances which, in the 34 judgment of the agency, may have a bearing upon the question of resi- 35 dence, that the tenant maintains his or her primary residence at some 36 place other than at such housing accommodation. For the purposes of 37 determining primary residency, a tenant who is a victim of domestic 38 violence, as defined in section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social 39 services law, who has left the unit because of such violence, and who 40 asserts an intent to return to the housing accommodation shall be deemed 41 to be occupying the unit as his or her primary residence. 42 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 43 the amendments to subdivision 5 of section 1 of chapter 21 of the laws 44 of 1962 made by section one of this act shall remain in full force and 45 effect only so long as the public emergency requiring the regulation and 46 control of residential rents and evictions continues, as provided in 47 subdivision 3 of section 1 of the local emergency housing rent control 48 act; provided further, however, that the amendment to the second undes- 49 ignated paragraph of subdivision 5 of section 1 of chapter 21 of the 50 laws of 1962 made by section one of this act shall not affect the expi- 51 ration of such paragraph and shall be deemed to expire therewith.
