Enacts the "tenant protection act of 2015"; relates to rent regulation; repealer

Summary of specific provisions

Part A:

*limit a landlord's ability to take possession of rent-regulated units for his or her own primary residence to cases of immediate and compelling necessity;

*permit recovery of only one such unit; and

*prohibit such recoveries if the tenant has occupied the apartment twenty or more Years

Part B:

*eliminate the automatic 20% vacancy bonus increase

*Cap the amount by which the legal rent of a vacant apartment can raised by Individual Apartment Improvements to 20%.

*Require landlords who are using Individual Apartment Improvements to justify rent increases of the legal rent to give an itemized list of the improvements and the accompanying receipts to the new tenant as a rider to the lease

*Changes law so IAI improvements are no longer permanent but temporary until the improvement cost is paid off.

Part C:

*authorize New York City or any city, town or village in the counties of Westchester, Nassau and Rockland to extend the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA) to cover rental buildings which: (1) were owned by limited-profit housing companies which voluntarily dissolved or which will dissolve in the future, or (2) were covered by rental assistance contracts between their owners and BUD and such contracts

expired or terminated previously or will terminate at some future date.

*set forth Legislative findings and declaration of emergency.

*amend Section 5 of section 4 of Chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 constituting the emergency tenant protection act of 1974 by adding a new subdivision c to set rents for buildings completed after January 1, 1974 as the rents charged on January 1, 2007, as subsequently adjusted by rent regulation laws, Furthermore, this section clarifies that the rent setting language with a base date of January 1, 2007, will supersede any agreement made between a tenant and landlord whether in a lease or another agreement.

*make it clear that "Unique" or "Peculiar" circumstances rent increases authorized by the New York City rent stabilization law and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act are not applicable to Mitchell-Lama or project-based Section 8 buildings whether the buildings were completed before or after January 1, 1974.

*provide that in a city having a population of one million or more, that the New York City rent law may be amended by local law or ordinance to provide for the regulation of rents and evictions and the enforcement of such rent stabilization law with regard to housing accommodations made subject to such law by a declaration of emergency made pursuant to this act,

*set forth an effective date of immediate and provides that the law applies to housing accommodations located in buildings or structures owned by housing companies that dissolved on, before, or after such date and to housing accommodations in buildings or structures that were covered projects and had contracts for rental assistance that expired or were terminated on, before, or after such date; provided that the amendments to section 5 of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section two 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.

Part D:

*the Emergency Housing Rent Control Law; *the Emergency Tenant Protection Act;

*sections 52-eee and 352-eeee of the General Business Law establishing cooperative and condominium conversion laws in New York City, Nassau, Westchester, and Rockland counties; and

*the ability of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal to issue increased penalties for violations of rent regulation law_ These various statutes would be extended until and including June 15, 2017, provided that there continues to be a housing emergency.

Part E:

*amend Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 14 of the public housing law to include uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces to the

definition of "family member" for the purposes of tenant succession of rent protected housing.

*amend Subdivision m of section 26-403 of the administrative code of the city of New York by redefining the term "tenant." It will also add a new section 26-504-4 to the administrative code of the city of New York. This bill will also amend Section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of 1974, by adding a new section 15.

Part F:

*set forth legislative findings and declaration of emergency.

*repeal paragraph (n) of subdivision 2 of section 2 of chapter 274 of the laws of 1946, constituting the emergency rent control law,

*repeal paragraph 13 of subdivision a of section 5 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of 1974

*repeal subparagraph (k) of paragraph 2 of subdivision e of section 25-403 of the administrative code of the city of New York.

*repeal section 26-504.2 of the administrative code of the city of New York.

*subject accommodations to regulation under such laws which were deregulated upon vacancy on or after January 1, 2007 or which were deregulated upon vacancy prior to January 1, 2007 and which rented for less than $5,000 per month in New York City or less than $3,500 per month in the counties of Westchester, Nassau, and Rockland on or after January 1, 2007 *repeal vacancy decontrol provisions of the New York City Administrative Code and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act that relate to preferential rents, respectively.

Part G:

*amend § 4(10) (a-2) of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act and S 26511(c) (14) of the Administrative Code of New York, to only allow the landlord to readjust the rent of preferential rent regulated apartments upon vacancy;

*add a provision that only allows the landlord to raise the unit's rent if the vacancy of the apartment was not caused by the landlord's failure to maintain the unit in a habitable condition;

*amend § 26-511(c) (14) of the administrative code of New York, to repeal the provision that would automatically deregulate a unit, upon vacancy, if the monthly rent for the unit is above $2,000; and

*amend § 4(10)(a-2) of the emergency tenant protection act, to repeal the provision that would automatically deregulate a unit upon vacancy if the monthly rent for the unit is above $2,000.

Part H:

*require that a major capital improvement rent increase cease once the cost of such improvement has been paid for;

*provide that such increase be a temporary surcharge, lasting no more than seven years, which is separately designated and billed from the rent;

*provide a method for determining the surcharge allocable to each apartment based upon the number of rooms in the apartment; and * mandate that such surcharge be limited to six percent of the monthly rent collected, and that any additional monies necessary to cover the cost of MCI's be collected in, future years as a further surcharge not to exceed an additional six percent in any one year period.

*Establish criteria for approval of rent increases to rent regulated property resulting from major capital improvements. The criteria will be used to ensure that the work performed is an enhancement or upgrade to a housing accommodation or service, and is not merely a repair or replacement of existing services. It also prohibits approval of major capital improvement rent increases when any outstanding hazardous violations exist.

*Amend subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 by adding a new paragraph 6 to exclude NYSERDA funded projects from receiving adjustments for major capital improvements. *Amend paragraph 1 of subdivision g of section 26-405 of the administrative code of the city of New York by adding a new subparagraph m to exclude NYSERDA funded projects.

Part I:

*amend subdivision a of paragraph 5 of section 26-405 of the administrative code of the city of New York

*repeal subparagraphs (1) and (n) of paragraph 1 of subdivision g of section 26-405 of the administrative cede of the city of New York

*amend section 4 of chapter 274 of the laws of 1946 by adding a new subdivision 9.

Part J:

*amend section (1) of the administrative code of the city of New York by adding a new section (26-416) that prohibits the imposition of any surcharge for the installation or use of a tenant-installed appliance where the tenant pays for electric utility service.

Justification

New York's rent-regulation laws provide protection to approximately 2.5 million tenants throughout the state, The basis for both rent control and rent stabilization is a housing emergency, defined as a vacancy rate below five percent. Recent analysis of vacancy rates in New York City has shown that the number of available apartments has decreased to below three percent, which is well below the five percent threshold necessary to declare a housing emergency.

For the rent-regulation laws to work, major loopholes must be closed For example, an Individual Apartment Improvement Increase allows a

landlord to raise the rent on rent stabilized apartments by passing the cost of physical improvements to the next tenant by raising the monthly rent an amount equal to 1/90th of the total cost of the improvements.

A 1/90th increase can be taken in addition to any other rent increase to which the landlord is statutorily entitled. There is no oversight of any kind of the 1/90th loophole. Landlords are allowed to unilaterally impose 1/40th rent increases without prior approval, or even documentation. The current oversight mechanism is an inadequate tenant-initiated complaint filed with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal as a Complaint of Rent Overcharge. Because the improvement occurs in a vacant apartment, the new tenant has no way of knowing what the rent should be, and if the work done justifies the increase. This legislation would give ONCE the authority to approve or disapprove such increases in whole or in part based upon the proof of expenses submitted by the landlord and would reduce the increase to 1/60th the amount of the individual apartment improvement.

With the shortage of housing in New York City and its surrounding areas, vacancy decontrol laws only continue the erosion of the existing rent regulation programs Vacancy decontrol is an incentive for owners of rental housing to withhold services and to use forms of harassment to induce regulated tenants to vacate their rental units.In some instances, costs of renovation have been inflated or even falsified in order to drive apartment rents to the $2,000 threshold for vacancy decontrol, The need to repeal these provisions in statute are of the greatest urgency, thus preserving affordable housing in New York City, and protecting low and middle income families.

Also, building owners are currently allowed to increase rent levels based on major capitol improvements to their buildings on a schedule to recover all costs within a seven year period. However, tenants have been forced to continue to pay for such improvements far past the window in which costs have been recovered. This bill seeks to balance the conflicting concerns of maintaining affordable housing and insuring adequate incentives for investment in MCI's in order to preserve and improve our housing stock.

In addition to the above mentioned reasons, this bill would make many other significant changes to the rent regulation laws to address the erosion of the existing rent regulation laws. These loopholes allow drastic increases in rent and can even be used to force tenants from their homes. The loss of affordable housing units can undermine and uproot local communities by forcing working families from their homes in the neighborhoods they helped create many years ago. This bill is an important stew to ensure that the residents of New York will still have access to affordable housing.

Prior legislative history

S2783A ESPAILLAT of 2011/12 S2105 ESPAILLAT of 2013/14

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

None to the state

Effective date

Part A: This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any tenant in possession at or after the time it takes

effect, regardless of whether the landlord's application for an order, refusal to renew a lease or refusal to extend or renew a tenancy took place before this act shall have taken effect, provided that amendments made to the administrative code of the city of New York, the emergency tenant protection act, and the emergency housing rent control law shall expire-on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration-date of such law.

Part B: This act shall take effect immediately, provided that amendments made to the administrative code of the city of New York and the emergency tenant protection act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration date of such law

Part C: This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all buildings that are covered by a project based assistance contract pursuant to section eight of the United States housing act of 1937, which contract ceased to be effective on or after such date; provided that amendments made to the administrative code of the city of New York and the emergency tenant protection act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration date of such law.

Part D: This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the amendments to chapter 21 of the laws of 1962 made by section one of this act shall remain in full force and effect only so 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; provided further, however, that the amendment to the second undesignated paragraph of subdivision 5 of section 1 of chapter 21 of the. laws of 1962 made by section one of this act shall not affect the expiration of such paragraph and shall be deemed to expire therewith

Part E: This act shall take effect immediately.

Part F: This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law, provided that amendments made to the administrative code of the city of New York, the emergency tenant protection act, and the emergency housing rent control law shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration date of such law Effective immediately, the Division of Housing and Community Renewal is authorized to and shall promulgate all rules, regulations and standards necessary to implement the provisions of this act.

Part G: This act shall take effect immediately.

Part H and Part I, This act shall take effect immediately, provided that amendments made to the administrative code of the city of New York and the emergency tenant protection act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration date of such law.

Part J: This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the amendments made to section 26-405 of the city rent and rehabilitation law made by Sections one and two of this act shall remain in full force and effect Only so 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; and provided further that amendments made to the administrative code of the city of New York, the emergency tenant protection act, and the emergency housing rent control law shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration date of such law.

Part K: This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to housing companies that dissolve before, on or after such date, provided, however, that the amendments made to the emergency tenant protection act shall not affect the expiration of such act.