What's happening
This bill, the Roomers' Rights Protection Act, requires landlords in large cities to include utilities in rent and provide protections for roomers with individual leases.
Why it matters
Shifts the responsibility for utility payments and accounts entirely to landlords. in large cities, preventing landlords from passing unpredictable or unfair utility costs onto roomers or requiring them to open utility accounts themselves.
Mandates individual leases for each roomer. , which can help protect tenants from collective liability for other occupants’ actions and clarify each person’s rights in shared housing situations.
Strengthens tenant legal protections. by explicitly prohibiting lease clauses that waive rights such as a jury trial, and by allowing tenants who prevail in disputes to recover attorney’s fees and related costs—potentially making it easier for vulnerable tenants to assert their rights.
Targets densely populated urban areas (cities with over one million residents). , addressing housing practices that often affect lower-income or transient populations in these cities, and aiming to standardize and increase protections in an often-overlooked segment of the rental market.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Protect Rights of Room Renters
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
7 Co-sponsors
1 Multi-sponsor
History
- Referred to housing
- Referred to housing
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
742
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. PERRY, WALKER, ARROYO, HUNTER, JEAN-PIERRE, GOTT- FRIED, HYNDMAN, TITUS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BLAKE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to enacting the roomers' rights protection act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "roomers' rights protection act".
§ 2. The real property law is amended by adding a new section 231-b to read as follows:
§ 231-b. Utility services for residential rooming leases. 1. Every landlord that apportions a residence and leases individual rooms to roomers where utility services, including, but not limited to, heat, electricity, and water are shared and are not individually measured, shall:
a. place all utility meters in the landlord's name;
b. enter into an individual lease with each roomer; and
c. provide on the lease the name and contact information for each utility service provider providing services to the roomer's premises.
2. Where services are shared, a landlord shall not require a roomer to list the meter for such services in his or her name and the cost of such utilities shall be deemed to be included in the rent.
3. a. A tenant shall not be required by lease, other document or oral agreement to waive his or her right to a trial by jury or any other legal rights that he or she would be entitled to as a tenant in the state of New York in the event the tenant becomes involved with a housing proceeding against the landlord based on a violation of the provisions of this section or any other law, rule or regulation governing landlord-tenant disputes.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06397-01-7
A. 742 2
b. A tenant who is successful against the landlord in a housing proceeding based on a violation of the provisions of this section may request the award of attorney's fees, costs and disbursements associated with the proceeding.
4. The provisions of this section shall only apply in a city having a population of one million or more persons.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
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.