Authorizes criminal penalties for the breach of an owner's duty to refrain from harassment of tenants

Summary of provisions

Section 1 Paragraphs 2 and 6 of subdivision (m) section 272115 of the administrative code of the city of New York, paragraph 2 as amended and paragraph 6 as added by local law number 47 of the city of New York for the year 2014, are amended and a new paragraph 7 is added to read as follows: (2) If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that conduct in violation of subdivision d of section 27-2005 of this chapter has occurred, it may determine that a class c violation existed at the time that such conduct occurred. Notwithstanding the foregoing, such court may also issue an order restraining the owner of the property from violating such subdivision and direct the owner to ensure that no further violation occurs, in accordance with section 27-2121 of this chapter. Such court shall impose a civil penalty in an amount not less than one thousand dollars and not more than ten thousand dollars and may impose a criminal penalty of not less than one year nor more than four years imprisonment for each dwelling unit in which a tenant or any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of such unit has been the subject of such violation, and such other relief as the court deems appropriate, provided that where a petitioner establishes that there was a previous finding of a violation of subdivision d of section 27-2005 of this chapter against such owner and such finding was made (i) within the preceding five year period and (ii) on or after the effective date of [the] local law [that added this clause] number forty-seven of the city of New York for the year two thousand fourteen, such court shall impose a civil penalty in an amount not less than two thousand dollars and not more ten thousand dollars and may impose a criminal penalty of not less than one year nor more than four years imprisonment. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that conduct in violation of subdivision d of section 27-2005 of this chapter has occurred and the tenant or any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of the dwelling unit who was the subject of such violation suffers from a mental illness, as defined in subdivision twenty of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law, such court shall impose a civil penalty of not less than five thousand dollars and may impose a criminal penalty of not less than one year nor more than four years imprisonment. (6) After a court of competent jurisdiction has issued a finding that conduct in violation of subdivision d of section 27-2005 of this chapter has occurred, the department, if it receives notice of such finding, shall post on its website, no later than ninety days after receiving such notice of such finding, the following information for each such finding: (i) the

address of the building containing the dwelling unit that was the subject of such violation; (ii) the name of the property owner, (iii) the civil or criminal penalty imposed for such violation, (iv) the date such penalty was imposed; and (v) whether an order restraining the owner of such unit from violating subdivision d of section 27-2005 of this chapter was issued. (7) The division of housing and community renewal and the special prosecutions division, or other appropriate division, of the district attorney's office having jurisdiction thereof shall collaborate on all proceedings where a penalty may be imposed pursuant to paragraph two of this subdivision.

Existing law

New

Justification

Tenant harassment complaints in New York City's Housing Court have nearly doubled since 2011, officials said. Many landlords and management companies are suspected of using disruptive and dangerous renovation and construction projects to force out tenants Once vacated, an owner can automatically increase rents by 20 percent or eventually convert rent-regulated buildings into luxury condominiums.

New York Daily News - 2014- Brooklyn landlords illegally harassed, targeted rent-stabilized tenants. suit Brooklyn tenants say they were victims of a pattern of harassment, neglect and frivolous housing lawsuits designed to force them out to make room for new tenants paying double even several times the rent

2013 - In Brown v. NYCHA, Manhattan Housing Court Justice Phyllis Saxe ruled that NYCHA was in contempt of court and fined the board $19,205 for repeatedly failing to fix the hot water in a tenant's apartment.

CBS NY - 2012 - New York City Housing - Many have been complaining about mold in their city apartments for years, but charge the New York City Housing Authority never really confronts the problem.

We need to make it tougher on landlords who abuse our system. We need to protect renters from being priced out of neighborhoods they helped build. We also must strengthen the punishments on landlords who abuse rent regulated tenants by illegally raising rents or physically and mentally abusing tenants by adding both financial fines and jail time to those landlords who are guilty of such crimes.

Legislative history

New Legislation

Fiscal implications

TBD

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately