Requires publication of the New York City housing and vacancy survey and rent reduction schedules every three years

Summary of provisions

This legislation amends subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city of New York by adding a new paragraph 15, amends section 26-405 of the administrative code of the city of New York by adding a new subdivision n, amends subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the emergency tenant protection act by adding a new paragraph 6, and amends section 4 of chapter 274 of the emergency housing rent control law by adding a new subdivision 9.

Justification

Rent regulated tenants in master-metered buildings receive unlimited electric current as a service included in the rent, and there is no incentive to the tenants to moderate their consumption of electricity. An incentive for moderation of such consumption is indi- vidual metering of electricity (direct metering or submetering), as it makes each user responsible for the cost of his or her own consumption. DHCR has thus, encouraged owners of master-metered buildings to undergo the substantial expense of converting their buildings to individual metering, thereby transferring responsibility for the cost of their consumption of electricity to the tenants. Recognizing that assuming the cost of their own electricity could also be a financial burden on the tenants, DHCR has sought to mitigate that burden by imposing build- ing-wide rent reductions as a condition to conversion.

DHCR has applied schedules of rent reductions for rent controlled and rent stabilized housing accommodations that are converted to individual utility metering. The schedules are derived from the New York City Rent Guidelines Board's tabulation of data from the United States Census Bureau's Housing and Vacancy Survey (HVS), which is updated every three years. To ensure that the schedule of rent adjustments is updated in a timely manner, this bill would require the New York City Rent Guidelines Board to provide staff and assistance to DHCR to tabulate the data of the HVS within 90 days of publication and DHCR to publish a schedule of updated rent adjustments within 6 months of the publication.

Legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal implications

None to state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become a law, and shall apply to all fiscal years commencing on or after such date; provided that:

a. the amendments to section 26-511 of the rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine made by section one 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;

b. the amendments to section 26-405 of the city rent and rehabilitation law made by section two of this act shall remain in full force and effect only as long as the public emergency requiring the regulation and control of residential rents and evictions continues, as provided in subdivision 3 of section 1 of the local emergency housing rent control act;

c. the amendments to paragraph d of section 6 of section 4 of the emer- gency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section three 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

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