NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5616
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
ty-four and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
to penalties for owners of property who fail to file a proper or timely
rent registration statement
PURPOSE:
This bill encourages building owners to file timely registration
documentation with the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal
(DHCR).
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of subdivision a
of section 12 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 constitut-
ing the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as
amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997.
Section two amends the opening paragraph of subdivision a of section
26-516 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by
chapter 116 of the laws of 1997.
Section three sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York's rent-stabilization program signals the enduring commitment of
elected offices to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing for
low-and-middle-income families. Today, our Rent-Stabilization laws
continue to shield hard working New Yorkers from the shrinking occupancy
of affordable apartments in New York City.
This informs the agency of the rent that is being charged for a specific
rent-stabilized apartment and ensures that the owner's correct and
up-to-date information is available to the state. A copy of the regis-
tration paperwork is also required to be sent to the tenant, providing
protections against overcharges.
The filing of this paperwork serves many purposes and creating a penalty
for the failure to file will help the State to keep track of rent-regu-
lated units and empower tenants to assert their rights relative to their
Rent-Regulated leases.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.385 - Referred to Housing
2019-20: A.836 - Referred to Housing; S.2917 - Referred to Housing,
Construction and Community Development
2017-18: A.3874 - Referred to Housing
2015-16: A.2234 - Referred to Housing
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the
amendments to the opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of subdivision a of
section 12 of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-
four made by section one of this act shall expire on the same date as
such act expires and shall not affect the expiration of such act as
provided in section 17 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, and that the
amendments to the opening paragraph of subdivision a of section 26-516
of chapter 4 of title 26 of the administrative code of the city of New
York made by section two of this act shall expire on the same date as
such law expires and shall not affect the expiration of such law as
provided under section 26-520 of such law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5616
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
ty-four and the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to penalties for owners of property who fail to file a proper
or timely rent registration statement
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of subdivision a of
2 section 12 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 constituting
3 the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended
4 by section 1 of part F of chapter 36 of the laws of 2019, is amended to
5 read as follows:
6 Subject to the conditions and limitations of this paragraph, any owner
7 of housing accommodations in a city having a population of less than one
8 million or a town or village as to which an emergency has been declared
9 pursuant to section three, who, upon complaint of a tenant or of the
10 state division of housing and community renewal, is found by the state
11 division of housing and community renewal, after a reasonable opportu-
12 nity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent author-
13 ized for a housing accommodation subject to this act shall be liable to
14 the tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of such over-
15 charge. If the owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence
16 that the overcharge was neither willful nor attributable to his negli-
17 gence, the state division of housing and community renewal shall estab-
18 lish the penalty as the amount of the overcharge plus interest at the
19 rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand
20 four of the civil practice law and rules. After a complaint of rent
21 overcharge has been filed and served on an owner, the voluntary adjust-
22 ment of the rent and/or the voluntary tender of a refund of rent over-
23 charges shall not be considered by the division of housing and community
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09839-01-3
A. 5616 2
1 renewal or a court of competent jurisdiction as evidence that the over-
2 charge was not willful. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to
3 clause (ii) of this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of
4 determining an overcharge, shall be deemed to be the rent indicated in
5 the most recent reliable annual registration statement for a rent stabi-
6 lized tenant filed and served upon the tenant six or more years prior to
7 the most recent registration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the
8 initial registration statement) plus in each case any subsequent lawful
9 increases and adjustments. The division of housing and community renewal
10 or a court of competent jurisdiction, in investigating complaints of
11 overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent, shall consider all
12 available rent history which is reasonably necessary to make such deter-
13 minations. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety days of the initial
14 registration of a housing accommodation, the legal regulated rent for
15 purposes of determining an overcharge shall be deemed to be the rent
16 charged on the date six years prior to the date of the initial registra-
17 tion of the housing accommodation (or, if the housing accommodation was
18 subject to this act for less than six years, the initial legal regulated
19 rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and adjustments. Where the
20 rent charged on the date six years prior to the date of the initial
21 registration of the accommodation cannot be established, such rent shall
22 be established by the division. (iii) Failure to file an annual rent
23 registration statement shall result in a fine of two thousand dollars
24 per unregistered housing accommodation, made payable to the state divi-
25 sion of housing and community renewal.
26 § 2. The opening paragraph of subdivision a of section 26-516 of the
27 administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by section 4 of
28 part F of chapter 36 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
29 Subject to the conditions and limitations of this subdivision, any
30 owner of housing accommodations who, upon complaint of a tenant, or of
31 the state division of housing and community renewal, is found by the
32 state division of housing and community renewal, after a reasonable
33 opportunity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent
34 authorized for a housing accommodation subject to this chapter shall be
35 liable to the tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of
36 such overcharge. If the owner establishes by a preponderance of the
37 evidence that the overcharge was not willful, the state division of
38 housing and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the amount
39 of the overcharge plus interest. After a complaint of rent overcharge
40 has been filed and served on an owner, the voluntary adjustment of the
41 rent and/or the voluntary tender of a refund of rent overcharges shall
42 not be considered by the division of housing and community renewal or a
43 court of competent jurisdiction as evidence that the overcharge was not
44 willful. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of
45 this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of determining an
46 overcharge, shall be the rent indicated in the most recent reliable
47 annual registration statement filed and served upon the tenant six or
48 more years prior to the most recent registration statement, (or, if more
49 recently filed, the initial registration statement) plus in each case
50 any subsequent lawful increases and adjustments. The division of housing
51 and community renewal or a court of competent jurisdiction, in investi-
52 gating complaints of overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent,
53 shall consider all available rent history which is reasonably necessary
54 to make such determinations. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety
55 days of the initial registration of a housing accommodation, the legal
56 regulated rent shall be deemed to be the rent charged on the date six
A. 5616 3
1 years prior to the date of the initial registration of the housing
2 accommodation (or, if the housing accommodation was subject to this
3 chapter for less than six years, the initial legal regulated rent) plus
4 in each case, any lawful increases and adjustments. Where the rent
5 charged on the date six years prior to the date of the initial registra-
6 tion of the accommodation cannot be established, such rent shall be
7 established by the division. (iii) Failure to file an annual rent
8 registration statement shall result in a fine of two thousand dollars
9 per unregistered housing accommodation, made payable to the state divi-
10 sion of housing and community renewal.
11 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
12 the amendments to the opening paragraph of subdivision a of section
13 26-516 of chapter 4 of title 26 of the administrative code of the city
14 of New York made by section two of this act shall expire on the same
15 date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration of such law
16 as provided under section 26-520 of such law.
