What's happening
This bill reduces required experience for public rent guidelines board members from five to two years and restricts conflicts of interest related to landlord or tenant representation.
Why it matters
Broader eligibility for public board members. By reducing the required experience from five to two years in fields like finance, economics, or housing, the pool of candidates for public membership is expanded. This could bring new perspectives and potentially younger or less traditional voices into rent board decisions.
Stronger conflict-of-interest protections. The bill explicitly bars public members from working for organizations, law firms, or entities that mainly represent or advise landlords or tenants. This aims to ensure board members are more likely to act independently, reducing the risk of bias in rent-setting decisions.
Potential impact on rent regulation decisions. Changes in who can serve on rent guidelines boards may affect the overall approach and outcomes of rent regulation policies, potentially shifting how rent adjustments are evaluated and decided—matters that directly affect tenants’ housing costs and landlords’ incomes.
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Who cares
Prospective rent guidelines board public members
The bill would lower the required experience in finance, economics or housing from five years to two.
Law firms and organizations serving landlords or tenants
Their employees would be barred from public-member seats if the employer predominantly represents or advises landlords or tenants as part of its business or practice.
County legislatures and the commissioner of housing and community renewal
They would need to apply the revised eligibility rules when recommending and appointing public members to county rent guidelines boards.
Tenants and owners of housing covered by the Emergency Tenant Protection Act
The bill would change who qualifies for the five public-member seats on the nine-member boards that address rent adjustments.
Headline styles
Tighten Rent Board Rules
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Enacting clause stricken
- Referred to housing
- Referred to housing
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Limit Rent Board Conflicts
In Senate Committee · Housing, Construction And Community Development · Sponsor Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2062
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. MAYER, BUCHWALD, GALEF, PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, in relation to public members of a rent guidelines board
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision a of section 4 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 349 of the laws of 1979, is amended to read as follows:
a. In each county wherein any city having a population of less than one million or any town or village has determined the existence of an emergency pursuant to section three of this act, there shall be created a rent guidelines board to consist of nine members appointed by the commissioner of housing and community renewal upon recommendation of the county legislature which recommendation shall be made within thirty days after the first local declaration of an emergency in such county; two such members shall be representative of tenants, two shall be representative of owners of property, and five shall be public members each of whom shall have had at least [five] two years experience in either finance, economics or housing. The public members may not be employed by an organization, law firm, or other entity which predominantly represents or advises landlords or tenants as part of their business or practice. One public member shall be designated by the commissioner to serve as chairman and shall hold no other public office. No member, officer or employee of any municipal rent regulation agency or the state division of housing and community renewal and no person who owns or manages real estate covered by this law or who is an officer of any owner or tenant organization shall serve on a rent guidelines board. One public member, one member representative of tenants and one member representative of owners shall serve for a term ending two years from January first next
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02496-01-7
A. 2062 2
succeeding the date of their appointment; one public member, one member representative of tenants and one member representative of owners shall serve for terms ending three years from the January first next succeeding the date of their appointment and three public members shall serve for terms ending four years from January first next succeeding the dates of their appointment. Thereafter, all members shall serve for terms of four years each. Members shall continue in office until their successors have been appointed and qualified. The commissioner shall fill any vacancy which may occur by reason of death, resignation or otherwise in a manner consistent with the original appointment. A member may be removed by the commissioner for cause, but not without an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel, in his defense, upon not less than ten days notice. Compensation for the members of the board shall be at the rate of one hundred dollars per day, for no more than twenty days a year, except that the chairman shall be compensated at the rate of one hundred twenty-five dollars a day for no more than thirty days a year. The board shall be provided staff assistance by the division of housing and community renewal. The compensation of such members and the costs of staff assistance shall be paid by the division of housing and community renewal which shall be reimbursed in the manner prescribed in this section [four of this act]. The local legislative body of each city having a population of less than one million and each town and village in which an emergency has been determined to exist as herein provided shall be authorized to designate one person who shall be representative of tenants and one person who shall be representative of owners of property to serve at its pleasure and without compensation to advise and assist the county rent guidelines board in matters affecting the adjustment of rents for housing accommodations in such city, town or village as the case may be.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amendments to section 4 of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section one 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.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.