Bill Text: NY S02949 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Requires landlords to mitigate damages if a tenant vacates a premises in violation of the terms of the lease.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO JUDICIARY [S02949 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S02949-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2949
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 31, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by Sen. STAVISKY -- 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  requiring  land-
          lords  to mitigate damages if a tenant vacates a premises in violation
          of the terms of the lease
          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 section
     2  227-e to read as follows:
     3    § 227-e. Landlord duty to mitigate damages. In  any  lease  or  rental
     4  agreement  covering premises occupied for dwelling purposes, if a tenant
     5  vacates a premises in violation of the terms of the lease, the  landlord
     6  shall,  in good faith, take reasonable and customary actions to rent the
     7  premises at fair market value. If the landlord  rents  the  premises  at
     8  fair  market value, the new tenant's lease shall, once in effect, termi-
     9  nate the previous tenant's lease and mitigate damages otherwise recover-
    10  able against the previous tenant because of such tenant's  vacating  the
    11  premises.  The  burden of proof shall be on the party seeking to recover
    12  damages. Any provision in a lease that  exempts  a  landlord's  duty  to
    13  mitigate  damages under this section shall be void as contrary to public
    14  policy.
    15    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06169-01-9