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S05789 Summary:

BILL NOS05789
 
SAME ASSAME AS A02685
 
SPONSORSANDERS
 
COSPNSRTHOMAS
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §19-a, Civ Rts L
 
Requires cooperative housing corporations provide a prospective purchaser with a written statement of reasons when withholding consent to a purchase; voids any agreement inconsistent with such requirement.
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S05789 Memo:

Memo not available
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S05789 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          5789
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                     March 16, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
        AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to  discrimination  in
          the ownership of cooperative housing
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration of intent. The  legis-
     2  lature  recognizes  that cooperative ownership in multi-family dwellings
     3  is a popular form of home  ownership  in  New  York  state.  An  ongoing
     4  concern  for  consumers dealing in the cooperative housing market is the
     5  potential for the unlawful rejection by a board of directors of a buyer.
     6    The legislature finds and determines that, not infrequently,  a  co-op
     7  board  rejects  what appears to be a well-qualified customer. Often, the
     8  prospective purchaser has concerns that the rejection was in fact unlaw-
     9  ful discrimination. Both federal and state  laws  protect  our  citizens
    10  from  unfair  housing practices, which include discrimination based upon
    11  race, ethnicity, gender, age or family status.
    12    For such reasons, it is the legislature's intent to require boards  of
    13  directors of cooperative housing to disclose to proposed purchasers, the
    14  reasons for rejecting a sale.
    15    § 2.  Section 19-a of the civil rights law, as added by chapter 376 of
    16  the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
    17    §  19-a.    Prohibition  against  unreasonable withholding of consent.
    18  Whenever any corporation formed  for  the  purpose  of  the  cooperative
    19  ownership  of real estate within the state withholds consent to the sale
    20  or proposed sale of certificates of stock or other evidence of ownership
    21  of an interest in such corporation, such corporation shall  provide  the
    22  prospective  purchaser with a written statement of its reasons for with-
    23  holding consent no later than thirty days after its decision to withhold
    24  consent.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04824-01-3

        S. 5789                             2
 
     1    1. No such corporation [formed for  the  purpose  of  the  cooperative
     2  ownership  of  real  estate  within the state] shall withhold [its] such
     3  consent [to the sale or proposed sale of certificates of stock or  other
     4  evidence of ownership of an interest in such corporation] because of the
     5  race, creed, national origin, or sex of the purchaser.
     6    2.  For the purposes of this section a "corporation" shall include the
     7  cooperative management, cooperative tenants,  cooperative  shareholders,
     8  or any appointee or successor in interest of a corporation.
     9    3.  This section shall apply to every sale or proposed sale whether by
    10  a corporation directly, its successor  in  interest,  or  by  any  other
    11  lawfully entitled party.
    12    4.  Every  agreement, negative covenant, restrictive covenant or other
    13  provision, whether written or oral and wherever contained,  inconsistent
    14  with this section shall be void and unenforceable.
    15    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    16  have become a law.
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