What's happening
This bill requires landlords to provide rent increase documentation, and allows courts to consider unregistered years when determining legal rent.
Why it matters
Strengthens tenant protections by allowing courts to review rent histories beyond the usual four-year limit if landlords failed to file required rent registrations, potentially uncovering longer-term overcharges.
Increases landlord accountability by mandating that documentation supporting recent rent increases must be provided to prospective tenants, making it harder for landlords to impose unjustified rent hikes.
Helps tenants challenge illegal rent increases by ensuring that missing or late rent registration years aren’t ignored when determining the legal rent, closing a loophole previously used by some landlords to reset or inflate rents.
Applies retroactively to ongoing court cases and administrative proceedings, meaning current disputes could be affected, not just future ones—potentially impacting a significant number of tenants and landlords.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Stop Rent Fraud Time Limits
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 14
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to housing, construction and community development
- Referred to housing, construction and community development
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.
Extend Rent Overcharge Lookback
In Assembly Committee · Housing · Sponsor Al Taylor
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2818
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 29, 2019
Introduced by Sens. COMRIE, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, and the civil practice law and rules, in relation to rent overcharges
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision a of section 26-516 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new clause (iii) to read as follows:
(iii) Notwithstanding the provisions of clause (i) of this paragraph, for any year in which an owner or a landlord who is required to file an annual rent registration statement, has failed to timely file such annual rent registration statement, the division or a court of competent jurisdiction shall consider such year or years when determining the current legal regulated rent.
§ 2. Section 26-512 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new subdivision g to read as follows:
g. Upon the offering of a lease to a prospective tenant, an owner or a landlord shall be required to provide such tenant with the documentation used by such owner or landlord to support any allowable increases in the legal regulated rent during the previous four years.
§ 3. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 12 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four is amended by adding a new clause (iii) to read as follows:
(iii) Notwithstanding the provisions of clause (i) of this paragraph, for any year in which an owner or a landlord who is required to file an annual rent registration statement, has failed to timely file such annual rent registration statement, the division or a court of competent
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08850-01-9
S. 2818 2
jurisdiction shall consider such year or years when determining the current legal regulated rent.
§ 4. Section 6 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four is amended by adding a new subdivision h to read as follows:
h. Upon the offering of a lease to a prospective tenant, an owner or a landlord shall be required to provide such tenant with the documentation used by such owner or landlord to support any allowable increases in the legal regulated rent during the previous four years.
§ 5. Section 213-a of the civil practice law and rules, as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
§ 213-a. Actions to be commenced within four years; residential rent overcharge. An action on a residential rent overcharge shall be commenced within four years of the first overcharge alleged and no determination of an overcharge and no award or calculation of an award of the amount of any overcharge may be based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four years before the action is commenced. This section shall preclude examination of the rental history of the housing accommodation prior to the four-year period immediately preceding the commencement of the action; provided however, for any year in which an owner or a landlord who is required to file an annual rent registration statement, has failed to timely file such annual rent registration statement, a court of competent jurisdiction shall consider such year or years when determining the current legal regulated rent.
§ 6. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to any action or proceeding pending in any court or any application, complaint or proceeding before an administrative agency on the effective date of this act, as well as any action or proceeding commenced thereafter; provided, however, that:
(a) the amendments to subdivision a of section 26-516 of the administrative code of the city of New York made by section one of this act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration of such section as provided under section 26-520 of such code; and
(b) the amendments to section 26-512 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 section as provided under section 26-520 of such code; and
(c) the amendments to the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by sections three and four 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.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, and the civil practice law and rules, in relation to rent overcharges
Purpose or general idea of bill
To protect tenants against rent overcharges by allowing a court, or the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, to consider, in determining the legal regulated rent, any year when a landlord did not timely file an annual rent registration statement.
Summary of specific provisions
Sections one and three, respectively, amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act to allow a court or DHCR to consider, in determining the legal regulated rent, any year where a landlord has not timely filed an annual rent registration statement.
Sections two and four, respectively, amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act to require an owner or a landlord to, upon the offering of a lease to prospective tenant, provide such tenant with the documentation used to support any allowable increases in the legal regulated rent during the previous four years.
Section five amends the Civil Practice Law and Rules to-notwithstanding the four-year statute of limitations-allow a court to consider, in determining the legal regulated rent, any year where a landlord has not timely filed an annual rent registration statement.
Justification
Landlords are required, by statute, to file an annual rent regulation statement with the Division of Housing-and Community Renewal to support rent charges to tenants of rent-stabilized units. However, some land- lords either: 1. outright fail to file-during which years, or those subsequent, rent overcharges or other abuses can occur; or
2. file multiple backdated annual rent regulation statements in a single year, and through so doing, can obscure rent overcharges or other abuses.
Under current law, when a tenant challenges a rent regulation statement, a court or DHCR cannot consider certain years beyond the four-year stat- ute of limitations. However, these years can be relevant to rent charge abuses-as established by two 2010 New York Court of Appeals decisions: Cintron v. Calogero and Grimm v. DHCR.
Further, in most instances, tenants have the least access to information that would support or justify their rent. On this imbalance of informa- tion and capitalizing on tenants' lack of familiarity with the law, some landlords have taken advantage of tenants by overcharging them for rent. As a matter of clarity in contract, it is critical that both parties- landlord and tenant-have the same understanding of the terms of their lease agreement. To prevent deception or fraud of tenants, this bill would provide a prospective tenant (only those to whom a landlord choos- es to offer a lease) with the documentation used to support their legal regulated rent, before such tenant signs a lease.
Prior legislative history
S 8770 COMRIE Same as A 9816 Taylor
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Essentially, immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.