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A03033 Summary:

A03033 Floor Votes:

A03033 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A3033
 
SPONSOR: Lopez V (MS)

 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the administrative code of the city of
New York, the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four
and the emergency housing rent control law, in relation to recovery of
certain housing accommodations by a landlord
 
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: The purpose of the bill is to expand
tenant protections by limiting a landlord's ability to take possession
of units for their own personal use.
 
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: This bill would limit a landlord's

ability to take possession of units for their own primary residence to
cases of immediate and compelling necessity, permit recovery of only one
unit, and restrict such ability if the tenant has occupied the apartment
for twenty or more years.
 
 
EFFECTS OF PRESENT LAW WHICH THIS BILL WOULD ALTER:  This bill would
amend paragraph 1 of subdivision 6 of section 26-408 of the administra-
tive code of the city of New York; subparagraph (b) of paragraph 9 of
subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city
of New York; subdivision a of section 10 of section 4 of chapter 576 of
the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of
nineteen seventy-four; and paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 5
of chapter 274 of the laws of 1946, constituting the emergency housing
rent control law.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION: There continues to be an ongoing housing emergency in

many areas of New York State, and especially in New York City. According
to the Rent Guidelines Board report "Housing NYC:  Rents, Markets and
Trends 2009", the percentage of vacant available rentals has fallen in
the past decade, from 3.19% in 1999, to 3.09% in 2005, to 2.88% in 2008.
Clarifying when landlords can take units for their own personal use will
help keep units in the rent regulation system.
 
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2009: A.1685 Passed Assembly;
2008: A.799 Passed Assembly;
2007: A.799 Advanced to 3rd Reading;
2006: A.3774 Ordered to 3rd Reading;
2005: A.3774 Passed Assembly;
2004: A.10847 Passed Assembly
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:  None to the
State.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately.

A03033 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          3033
 
                               2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 21, 2011
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. V. LOPEZ, GLICK, SILVER, ROSENTHAL, GOTTFRIED,
          KAVANAGH,  O'DONNELL,   FARRELL,   ORTIZ,   WRIGHT,   COLTON,   SPANO,
          BROOK-KRASNY  --  Multi-Sponsored  by  -- M.   of A. CASTRO, DINOWITZ,
          JACOBS, JEFFRIES, MILLMAN, PERRY -- read  once  and  referred  to  the
          Committee on Housing
 

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the administrative code of the city of New York, the
          emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four and the emer-
          gency housing rent control law, in relation  to  recovery  of  certain
          housing accommodations by a landlord
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision  b  of  section  26-408  of  the
     2  administrative  code  of  the  city  of  New  York is amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    (1) The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of a  hous-
     5  ing  accommodation because of immediate and compelling necessity for his
     6  or her own personal use and occupancy as his or her primary residence or
     7  for the use and occupancy of his or her immediate family as their prima-

     8  ry residence provided,  however,  that  this  subdivision  shall  permit
     9  recovery  of  only one housing accommodation and shall not apply where a
    10  member of the household lawfully occupying the housing accommodation  is
    11  sixty-two years of age or older, has been a tenant in a housing accommo-
    12  dation  in  that building for twenty years or more, or has an impairment
    13  which results from anatomical,  physiological  or  psychological  condi-
    14  tions,  other  than  addiction  to  alcohol, gambling, or any controlled
    15  substance, which are demonstrable by medically acceptable  clinical  and
    16  laboratory diagnostic techniques, and which are expected to be permanent
    17  and  which  prevent  the tenant from engaging in any substantial gainful
    18  employment; or
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00443-01-1
        A. 3033                             2
 
     1    § 2. Subparagraph (b) of paragraph  9  of  subdivision  c  of  section
     2  26-511  of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to
     3  read as follows:
     4    (b)  where  he  or  she  seeks  to recover possession of one [or more]
     5  dwelling [units] unit because of immediate and compelling necessity  for
     6  his  or  her  own personal use and occupancy as his or her primary resi-
     7  dence [in the city of New York and/or] or for the use and occupancy of a
     8  member of his or her immediate family as his or  her  primary  residence

     9  [in  the  city  of  New  York], provided however, that this subparagraph
    10  shall permit recovery of only one dwelling  unit  and  shall  not  apply
    11  where a tenant or the spouse of a tenant lawfully occupying the dwelling
    12  unit is sixty-two years of age or older, has been a tenant in a dwelling
    13  unit  in  that  building  for twenty years or more, or has an impairment
    14  which results from anatomical,  physiological  or  psychological  condi-
    15  tions,  other  than  addiction  to  alcohol, gambling, or any controlled
    16  substance, which are demonstrable by medically acceptable  clinical  and
    17  laboratory diagnostic techniques, and which are expected to be permanent
    18  and  which  prevent  the tenant from engaging in any substantial gainful
    19  employment, unless such  owner  offers  to  provide  and  if  requested,

    20  provides  an equivalent or superior housing accommodation at the same or
    21  lower stabilized rent in a closely proximate  area.  The  provisions  of
    22  this  subparagraph shall only permit one of the individual owners of any
    23  building to recover possession of one [or more]  dwelling  [units]  unit
    24  for  his or her own personal use and/or for that of his or her immediate
    25  family. [Any] A dwelling unit recovered by an  owner  pursuant  to  this
    26  subparagraph  shall  not  for a period of three years be rented, leased,
    27  subleased or assigned to any person other than a person for whose  bene-
    28  fit recovery of the dwelling unit is permitted pursuant to this subpara-
    29  graph  or  to  the tenant in occupancy at the time of recovery under the
    30  same terms as the original lease. This subparagraph shall not be  deemed

    31  to establish or eliminate any claim that the former tenant of the dwell-
    32  ing  unit  may otherwise have against the owner. Any such rental, lease,
    33  sublease or assignment during such period to any  other  person  may  be
    34  subject  to  a  penalty of a forfeiture of the right to any increases in
    35  residential rents in such building for a period of three years; or
    36    § 3. Subdivision a of section 10 of section 4 of chapter  576  of  the
    37  laws  of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nine-
    38  teen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 234 of the  laws  of  1984,  is
    39  amended to read as follows:
    40    a.  For  cities having a population of less than one million and towns
    41  and villages, the state division of housing and community renewal  shall
    42  be  empowered  to  implement  this  act by appropriate regulations. Such

    43  regulations may encompass such speculative or manipulative practices  or
    44  renting or leasing practices as the state division of housing and commu-
    45  nity  renewal determines constitute or are likely to cause circumvention
    46  of this act. Such regulations shall prohibit practices which are  likely
    47  to prevent any person from asserting any right or remedy granted by this
    48  act,  including  but  not limited to retaliatory termination of periodic
    49  tenancies and shall require owners to grant a new one or two year vacan-
    50  cy or renewal lease at the option of the tenant, except where a mortgage
    51  or mortgage commitment existing as of the local effective date  of  this
    52  act  provides that the owner shall not grant a one-year lease; and shall
    53  prescribe standards with respect to the terms and conditions of new  and
    54  renewal  leases,  additional  rent  and such related matters as security

    55  deposits, advance rental payments, the use of escalator clauses in leas-
    56  es and provision for increase in rentals for garages and other ancillary
        A. 3033                             3
 
     1  facilities, so as to insure that the level of rent  adjustments  author-
     2  ized  under  this  law  will  not be subverted and made ineffective. Any
     3  provision of the regulations permitting an owner to refuse  to  renew  a
     4  lease  on  grounds that the owner seeks to recover possession of [the] a
     5  housing accommodation for his or her own use and occupancy  or  for  the
     6  use  and  occupancy of his or her immediate family shall permit recovery
     7  of only one housing accommodation, shall require that  an  owner  demon-
     8  strate  immediate and compelling need and that the housing accommodation

     9  will be the proposed occupants' primary residence and  shall  not  apply
    10  where a member of the housing accommodation is sixty-two years of age or
    11  older, has been a tenant in a housing accommodation in that building for
    12  twenty  years  or  more, or has an impairment which results from anatom-
    13  ical, physiological or psychological conditions, other than addiction to
    14  alcohol, gambling, or any controlled substance, which  are  demonstrable
    15  by  medically  acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques,
    16  and which are expected to be permanent and which prevent the tenant from
    17  engaging in any substantial gainful employment.
    18    § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 5 of chapter 274 of the
    19  laws of 1946, constituting the emergency housing rent  control  law,  as
    20  amended  by  chapter  234  of  the  laws  of 1984, is amended to read as
    21  follows:

    22    (a) the landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of a  hous-
    23  ing  [accommodations]  accommodation because of immediate and compelling
    24  necessity for his or her own personal use and occupancy as  his  or  her
    25  primary  residence  or for the use and occupancy of his or her immediate
    26  family as their primary residence; provided, however,  this  subdivision
    27  shall  permit  recovery  of only one housing accommodation and shall not
    28  apply where a member of the household  lawfully  occupying  the  housing
    29  accommodation is sixty-two years of age or older, has been a tenant in a
    30  housing  accommodation in that building for twenty years or more, or has
    31  an impairment which results from anatomical, physiological or psycholog-

    32  ical conditions, other than  addiction  to  alcohol,  gambling,  or  any
    33  controlled  substance,  which  are  demonstrable by medically acceptable
    34  clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques, and which are expected to
    35  be permanent and which prevent the tenant from engaging in any  substan-
    36  tial gainful employment; or
    37    §  5.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any
    38  tenant in possession at or after the time it takes effect, regardless of
    39  whether the landlord's application for an  order,  refusal  to  renew  a
    40  lease or refusal to extend or renew a tenancy took place before this act
    41  shall have taken effect, provided that:
    42    a.  the  amendments  to  section 26-408 of the city rent and rehabili-
    43  tation law made by section one of this act shall remain  in  full  force
    44  and effect only as long as the public emergency requiring the regulation

    45  and control of residential rents and evictions continues, as provided in
    46  subdivision  3  of section 1 of the local emergency housing rent control
    47  act;
    48    b. the amendments to section 26-511 of the rent stabilization  law  of
    49  nineteen hundred sixty-nine made by section two of this act shall expire
    50  on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration
    51  of such law as provided under section 26-520 of such law;
    52    c.  the  amendments to subdivision a of section 10 of section 4 of the
    53  emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section
    54  three of this act shall expire on the same date as such act expires  and
    55  shall not affect the expiration of such act as provided in section 17 of
    56  chapter 576 of the laws of 1974; and
        A. 3033                             4
 

     1    d.  the  amendments  to paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 5 of
     2  the emergency housing rent control law made by section four of this  act
     3  shall  expire  on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect
     4  the expiration of such law as provided in subdivision 2 of section 1  of
     5  chapter 274 of the laws of 1946.