What's happening
This bill allows owners of certain rent-regulated buildings receiving federal rental assistance to adjust rents to the legal regulated level, with tenant protections.
Why it matters
Addresses rent disparities for tenants in buildings with both rent regulation and federal rental assistance. The bill allows landlords of buildings under regulatory agreements that also receive federal Section 8 or similar assistance to raise rents up to the legal regulated rent, even if government-set rents were previously lower, potentially impacting affordability for low-income tenants.
Includes tenant protection against landlord-caused vacancies. Landlords can only adjust rents to the legal regulated amount if the vacancy is not the result of the landlord failing to maintain habitable conditions, aiming to prevent intentional neglect as a way to increase rents.
Preserves existing rent deregulation thresholds. The bill maintains current rules that remove units from rent regulation if the legal rent crosses certain thresholds after a vacancy, meaning some apartments could still lose rent protections if their legal regulated rent exceeds those limits.
May affect housing stability and federal subsidy dynamics. By allowing rent increases up to the higher legal regulated level, the bill could increase federal subsidy payments (since Section 8 covers the gap between tenant payments and legal rent), possibly straining public resources or changing the financial incentives for property owners.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Stop Rent Hikes on Renewal
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
51 Co-sponsors
- Carmen De La Rosa
- Latrice Walker
- Linda Rosenthal
- Charles Barron
- Jeffrey Dinowitz
- Felix Ortiz
- Robert C. Carroll
- Jo Anne Simon
- Nily Rozic
- Rebecca Seawright
- Harvey Epstein
- Latoya Joyner
- Michael DenDekker
- Karines Reyes
- Nathalia Fernandez
- David Weprin
- Yuh-Line Niou
- Dan Quart
- Michael G. Miller
- Brian Barnwell
- Catalina Cruz
- Carmen E. Arroyo
- Diana Richardson
- Al Taylor
- Marcos Crespo
- Walter T. Mosley
- Deborah Glick
- Richard Gottfried
- Victor M. Pichardo
- Pamela J. Hunter
- Anthony D'Urso
- Daniel Rosenthal
- Aravella Simotas
- Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn
- Maritza Davila
- Mathylde Frontus
- Ellen C. Jaffee
- Michael Blake
- Andrew Hevesi
- N. Nick Perry
- Jaime R. Williams
- Ron Kim
- Jose Rivera
- Jeffrion Aubry
- Michele Titus
- Taylor Darling
- Robert J. Rodriguez
- Jonathan Jacobson
- William Colton
- Daniel O'Donnell
- Michael Benedetto
2 Multi-sponsors
History
- Referred to housing
- Referred to housing
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4349
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. CYMBROWITZ, DE LA ROSA, WALKER, L. ROSENTHAL, BARRON, DINOWITZ, ORTIZ, CARROLL, SIMON, ROZIC, SEAWRIGHT, EPSTEIN, JOYNER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the regulation of rents
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision (a-2) of section 10 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by section 11 of part A of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
(a-2) [Provides that where] Where the amount of rent charged to and paid by the tenant is less than the legal regulated rent for the housing accommodation, the amount of rent for such housing accommodation which may be charged [upon renewal or] upon vacancy thereof, may, at the option of the owner, be based upon such previously established legal regulated rent, as adjusted by the most recent applicable guidelines increases and other increases authorized by law; provided, however, that for buildings that are subject to this statute by virtue of a regulatory agreement with a local government agency and which buildings receive federal project based rental assistance administered by the United States department of housing and urban development or a state or local section eight administering agency, where the rent set by the federal, state or local governmental agency is less than the legal regulated rent for the housing accommodation, the amount of rent for such housing accommodation which may be charged upon renewal or upon vacancy thereof, may, at the option of the owner, be based upon such previously established legal regulated rent, as adjusted by the most recent applicable guidelines increases and other increases authorized by law; and further provided that such vacancy shall not be caused by the failure of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00186-03-9
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owner or an agent of the owner, to maintain the housing accommodation in compliance with the warranty of habitability set forth in subdivision one of section two hundred thirty-five-b of the real property law. Such housing accommodation shall be excluded from the provisions of this act pursuant to paragraph thirteen of subdivision a of section five of this act when subsequent to vacancy: (i) such legal regulated rent is two thousand five hundred dollars per month, or more, for any housing accommodation that is, or becomes, vacant after the effective date of the rent act of 2011 but prior to the effective date of the rent act of 2015 or (ii) such legal regulated rent is two thousand seven hundred dollars per month or more for any housing accommodation that is or becomes vacant on or after the rent act of 2015; starting on January 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, the maximum legal regulated rent for this deregulation threshold, shall also be increased by the same percent as the most recent one year renewal adjustment, adopted by the applicable rent guidelines board pursuant to the rent stabilization law.
§ 2. Paragraph 14 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by section 12 of part A of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
(14) [provides that] where the amount of rent charged to and paid by the tenant is less than the legal regulated rent for the housing accommodation, the amount of rent for such housing accommodation which may be charged [upon renewal or] upon vacancy thereof, may, at the option of the owner, be based upon such previously established legal regulated rent, as adjusted by the most recent applicable guidelines increases and any other increases authorized by law; provided, however, that for buildings that are subject to this statute by virtue of a regulatory agreement with a local government agency and which buildings receive federal project based rental assistance administered by the United States department of housing and urban development or a state or local section eight administering agency, where the rent set by the federal, state or local governmental agency is less than the legal regulated rent for the housing accommodation, the amount of rent for such housing accommodation which may be charged upon renewal or upon vacancy thereof, may, at the option of the owner, be based upon such previously established legal regulated rent, as adjusted by the most recent applicable guidelines increases and other increases authorized by law; and further provided that such vacancy shall not be caused by the failure of the owner or an agent of the owner, to maintain the housing accommodation in compliance with the warranty of habitability set forth in subdivision one of section two hundred thirty-five-b of the real property law. Such housing accommodation shall be excluded from the provisions of this code pursuant to section 26-504.2 of this chapter when, subsequent to vacancy: (i) such legal regulated rent prior to vacancy is two thousand five hundred dollars per month, or more, for any housing accommodation that is or becomes vacant after the effective date of the rent act of 2011 but prior to the effective date of the rent act of 2015 or (ii) such legal regulated rent is two thousand seven hundred dollars per month or more, provided, however that on January 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, the maximum legal regulated rent for this deregulation threshold shall be adjusted by the same percentage as the most recent one year renewal adjustment as adjusted by the relevant rent guidelines board, for any housing accommodation that is or becomes vacant on or after the rent act of 2015.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the amendments to section 10 of the emergency tenant protection act of
A. 4349 3
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, as amended; and provided, further, that the amendments to section 26-511 of chapter 4 of title 26 of the administrative code of the city of New York made by section two of this act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration of such law as provided under section 26-520 of such law.
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