New York State Restriction of Landlord Rights: Summary

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        I am bringing you this information directly from the summary of provisions outlined in the bill that just passed entitled "The statewide housing security and Tenant protection act of 2019". Please note this is a fairly extensive read and is quite technical too. As a realtor here in central new york I am a member of my local board and a member of the state association. As an industry we were given barely any notice that this was even being considered. Prior to this legisaltion passing, we debated an even stricter version of this legislation and won. Then, not even a week after winning the previous debate this new bill was on the floor, passed and was signed into law by governor Cuomo. We fought hard against this new sweeping restriction of landlord rights but our democratic dominated state legilslature was not willing to listen. This law is effective immediately. 

Part A. Names this Act the "Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act

of 2019; Would make permanent the system of rent regulation in New York

State and building conversions to cooperative or condominium ownership

in the City of New York.

Part B: Repeals Vacancy Bonus Increases, which allows automatic rent

increases of up to 20% upon vacancy; Repeals Longevity Increases, which

allows automatic rent increases based on the length of time since the

last vacancy.

Part C: Prohibits a Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) from setting vacancy

bonus rent increases. Prohibits an RGB from setting longevity rent

increases.

Part D: Repeals High Rent Deregulation, which allows units to be removed

from rent regulation upon vacancy after the rent achieves a high rent

threshold; and Repeals High Income Deregulation provisions, which allows

units to be removed from rent regulation if a tenant's income is

$200,000 or more for two consecutive years.

Part E: Sets the Preferential Rent as the base rent for the duration of

a tenancy, but preserves regulatory agreements that allow for legal rent

increases.

Part F: Allows HCR or a court of competent jurisdiction to look back at

6 years of rent history when determining rent overcharges, or a longer

look back period if it is reasonably necessary to make a determination.

Eliminates the ability of an owner to escape punitive damages where the

overcharges were willful.

Part G: Enacts the "Statewide Tenant Protection Act of 2019" to allow

any city, town or village to opt-in to ETPA and provides the appointment

of the members of the new RGBs to be done by the opting-in munici-

palities.

Part H: Amends the maximum collectable rent increase formula that

applies to Rent Control units to set annual increase at either an aver-

age of the last five years of RGB increases, or 7.5%, whichever is less;

and prohibits Fuel Pass-Along charges for rent-controlled tenants.

Part I: Reforms the personal use exclusion to limit the number of units

an owner can take out of rent regulation, and requires the use to be an

immediate and compelling necessity for use as a primary residence.

Part J: Ensures that units rented by nonprofits to provide housing to

homeless or previously homeless people revert to rent regulation at the

end of the use by the nonprofit, and that the previously homeless person

or persons are treated as tenants for purposes of the law.

Part K: Major Capital Improvement (MCI) & Individual Apartment Improve-

ment (IAI) Reforms

*Limits approvals to work for essential building functions and other

improvements (e.g, heat, plumbing, windows, roofing); exclude mainte-

nance.

*Limits spending to HCR schedule of reasonable costs for improvements.

*Prohibits approval where owner has hazardous violations on building.

*Adjust the annual cap for MCI rent increases approved within the prior

seven years for continuing tenant.

*Associated rent increases may only be prospective.

*Requires HCR to audit and inspect work on a minimum of 25% of approved

MCIs annually.

*Reduces rent increases paid by tenants and makes increases temporary:

o Amortize: 12 years for buildings of 35 units or less; 12.5 years for

other buildings;

o Cap Rent Increases at 2% annually;

o Rent surcharges would expire in 30 years.

*Reforms Individual Apartment Improvements (IAIs) to limit rent

increases to substantial modifications:

o Up to 3 times in any 15 years, for up to $15,000;

o Amortize: 14 years for smaller buildings of 35 units or less; 15 years

for all other larger buildings; and,

o Surcharges expire in 30 years.

Part L: Requires the Division of Home and Community Renewal (HCR) to

conduct an annual report on rent regulation that would be due on Dec.

31 of each year and be made publicly available.

Part M: Establishes the Statewide Housing Security and Tenant Protection

Act of 2019."

*Section one sets forth the short title.

*Section two strengthens tenant protections against retaliatory

evictions.

*Section three requires written notice before increasing the rent or

refusing to renew a ase.

*Section four requires a landlord to, in good faith and according to

their resources and abilities, take reasonable and customary steps to

re-rent a unit if the tenant vacates before the end of the lease term.

*Section five bans the use of "tenant blacklists" and protects a

tenant's ability to fight for their rights in housing court.

*Sections six and seven conform existing notice requirements for month-

to-month tenancies to the notice requirement created by section three.

*Section eight prohibits landlords from recovering attorneys' fees when

the tenant does not contest the eviction and the landlord wins a default

judgment.

*Section nine provides more robust record-keeping when tenants pay with

cash and requires notice if the landlord does not receive payment within

five days of the due date.

*Section ten prohibits landlords from charging application fees, except

the actual cost of background checks and credit checks, and limits late

fees to $50 or 5% of the monthly rent, whichever is less.

*Section eleven defines "rent" for the purposes of eviction proceedings

to exclude extraneous fees and charges to protect tenants from eviction

due to failure to pay fees.

*Section twelve requires a written demand for rent with 14 days' notice

before beginning an eviction proceeding for non-payment of rent.

*Section thirteen allows a tenant to pay the full amount of rent due

before the hearing on an eviction petition and avoid eviction.

*Sections fourteen and fifteen provide an additional five days for

tenants to respond to petitions for eviction.

*Section sixteen allows the tenant to answer the petition at the hear-

ing, rather than providing an answer three days before the hearing.

*Section seventeen provides tenants with at least one adjournment of an

eviction proceeding of at least 14 days, as of right, and it reforms the

requirements for payment of use and occupancy in New York City Housing

Court.

*Section eighteen repeals section 747-a of the Real Property Actions and

Proceedings Law.

*Section nineteen provides tenants with at least 14 days notice before

the execution of an eviction warrant and requires additional information

on the warrant. If the eviction was for non-payment of rent, it also

allows the tenant to pay the full amount of rent due before the

execution of the warrant and avoid eviction, unless the tenant withheld

the rent in bad faith.

*Section twenty repeals an expired subdivision of the Real Property

Actions and Proceedings Law.

*Section twenty-one allows judges to issue a stay of eviction for up to

one year where the tenant cannot find suitable housing in the same

neighborhood or the eviction would cause extreme hardship. It also

provides an automatic 30 day stay of eviction where the eviction is

based on breach of a provision of the lease to allow the tenant an

opportunity to cure the breach.

*Section twenty-two expands the requirement that a court stay eviction

proceedings if utilities have been cut off to the building due to the

landlord's failure to pay for utilities. Currently, this only applies to

multiple dwellings, but this section makes it apply to all dwellings.

*Section twenty-three requires the court to seal an eviction if it was

the result of a foreclosure of the building and the tenant was not at

fault.

*Section twenty-four creates the crime of unlawful eviction.

*Section twenty-five limits security deposits to one month's rent and

requires the return of the deposit within 14 days of the end of occupan-

cy with an itemized statement for any portion of the deposit withheld.

*Section twenty-six prohibits the Office of Court Administration from

selling housing court data to third parties.

*Section twenty-seven creates the New York State Temporary Commission on

Housing Security and Tenant Protection, which will study the impacts of

the bill and issue a report recommending future legislation by December

31, 2022.

*Section twenty-eight provides a severability clause.

*Section twenty-nine provides the effective date.

Part N. Reforms Condo & Co-Op Conversions to repeal eviction plan

conversions, limit non-eviction plan conversions of rent regulated

buildings to preserve the rental housing stock, and provide additional

protections for senior citizens and disabled tenants in buildings seek-

ing a non-eviction plan conversion.

Part 0: Mobile & Manufactured Home Part Tenant Protections:

*Establishes Rent-to-Own protections;

*Requires a Homeowner Rights rider to leases;.

*Requires a stipend to be paid to homeowners evicted for the conversion

of the use of the park parcels the home is situated on and 2 years

notice of the change of use;.

*Provides stronger protections against evictions; and,

*Limits rent increases to 3% with the ability of tenants to challenge in

court any higher increases.