Increases civil penalties for violation of order and harassment of tenants to obtain vacancy of unit

Sections 2 and 6 of the bill amend, respectively, §26-516(e)(2) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York (the Rent Stabilization Law of 1969) and §12(a)(3)(ii) of §4 of Chapter 576 of the Laws of 1974, constituting the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974 (Unconsol. Law §86.32(a)(3)(ii)), as these sections will be in effect upon expiration of the amendments made by the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, to increase the penalties for tenant harassment by owners to $2,000 for a first offense and up to $10,000 for each subsequent offense.

Section 4 of the bill amends §26-413(b)(2)(a) of the Administrative Code of the City of New York (the City Rent and Rehabilitation Law), as this section will be in effect upon expiration of the amendments made by the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, to (1) increase the penal ties for a violation of an order of the Commissioner to $ 1,000 for a first offense and to $2000 for each subsequent offense; and (2) increase the penalties for tenant harassment by owners to $2,000 for a first offense and up to $10,000,00 for each subsequent offense.

Section 7 of the bill amends §64 of Chapter 403 of the Laws of 1983 to make technical corrections related to provisions of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974.

Section 8 of the bill provides for an immediate effective date, and further provides that the amendments to the rent laws made by this bill will not affect the expiration of those laws.

Existing law

Under the Rent Stabilization Law of 1969 and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974, the penalty for violation of an order of the Commissioner is $250 for a first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense, Under the City Rent and Rehabilitation Law, the penalty for such violations is $100 for a first offense and $500 for each subsequent offense, pursuant to amendments made by the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, which will sunset on June 15, 2011, under the Rent Stabilization Law of 1969, the City Rent and Rehabilitation Law and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974, the penalty for tenant harassment is not less than $1,000 or more than $5,000. When these provisions expire, the penalty for tenant harassment under the Rent Stabilization Law of 1969 and the Emergency Tenant protection Act of 1974 will be up to $1,000 for a first offense and up to $2,500 for subsequent offenses. Under the City Rent and Rehabilitation Law, the penalty will be $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for subsequent offenses.

Statement in support

The civil penalty provisions of the rent laws are intended to function both as a deterrent against violations of the rent laws, including the egregious conduct of tenant harassment and as an appropriate sanction for the violations that do occur. The penalty for violation of an order of the Commissioner has remained the same since 1984 a period of 23 years. The penalties for tenant harassment have not been updated since 1997, a period of more than 10 years. Increased penalties are needed to ensure that they will continue to be all effective deterrent and a meaningful sanction for violations of the rent laws.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Budget implications

In recent years, the fines for violating the rent laws have generated revenues less than $25,000 year in state revenues for the General Fund. The penalty increases proposed by this bill would likely generate very minimal additional state revenues.

Effective date

This bill would take effect immediately, and the amendments made by the bill would not affect the expiration of the underlying rent laws.