What's happening
This bill repeals provisions allowing rent increases for individual apartment improvements in New York's rent regulation laws.
Why it matters
Ends a key incentive for landlords to make improvements. By repealing the provision for rent increases tied to individual apartment improvements, property owners lose a direct way to recoup the costs of renovating or upgrading rent-regulated units, which may impact their willingness to invest in such improvements.
Increases rent stability for tenants. Tenants in rent-regulated apartments would be protected from sudden or permanent rent hikes that previously could result from landlord-initiated renovations, making housing costs more predictable and affordable.
Shifts focus to broader building-wide upgrades. The removal of individual apartment improvement (IAI) rent increases means landlords may prioritize larger, building-wide renovations (which may still allow some rent adjustments) over improvements specific to individual units.
Addresses a source of tenant harassment concerns. The IAI mechanism has been criticized for being misused by some landlords to push out existing tenants through excessive or unnecessary renovations; repealing it aims to curb such practices and strengthen tenant protections.
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Who cares
Rent-regulated tenants
The bill would repeal provisions authorizing individual apartment improvement rent increases under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act and New York City’s rent stabilization law.
Owners of rent-regulated apartments
The bill would remove the cited legal provisions for raising rents based on individual apartment improvements.
State and New York City rent regulators
The bill would immediately repeal the individual apartment improvement rent increase provisions in the two cited laws.
Headline styles
End Apartment Rent Hike Loophole
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 26
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.
Stop Rent Hikes for Improvements
In Assembly Committee · Housing · Sponsor Diana Richardson
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3770
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 14, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KAVANAGH -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development
AN ACT to repeal paragraph 1 of subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, relating to individual apartment improvement rent increases; and to repeal paragraph 13 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city of New York, relating to individual apartment improvement rent increases
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, is REPEALED.
§ 2. Paragraph 13 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city of New York is REPEALED.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09310-02-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to repeal paragraph 1 of subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, relat- ing to individual apartment improvement rent increases; and to repeal paragraph 13 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city of New York, relating to individual apartment improve- ment rent increases
Purpose
To repeal the provisions allowing landlords to adjust rents in accord- ance with the total cost incurred for individual apartment improvements (IAIs).
Summary of provisions
Section 1 repeals paragraph 1 of subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of 2 chapter the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy- four, relating to IAIs.
Section 2 repeals paragraph 13 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code of the city of New York, relating to IAIs.
Justification
The LAI increase allows a landlord to raise the rent on rent stabilized apartment by passing the cost of physical improvements to the tenant by raising the monthly rent an amount equal to 1/40th or 1/60th of the total cost of the improvements depending upon the size of the building. This increase can be taken in addition to any other rent increase to which the landlord is statutorily entitled and it is permanently added to the rent, even after the landlord has fully recouped the amount claimed to be the cost of the improvement.
Landlords are able to use the increase to move the apartment above the current decontrol threshold that allows them to permanently de-regulate the apartment. To approach that threshold more quickly, landlords can make improvements that exceed what otherwise would be considered a reasonable cost. Although there are not absolutely clear government records of the frequency with which these increases are used, it is clear that rent regulated apartments are moving out of affordability at a rate faster than statutory rent increases would allow.
The only present oversight mechanism is a tenant-initiated complaint. The tenant may challenge the rent increase up to four years after the
Landlord asserts that they incurred the cost of improvements. Only then, is a claimed IAI supported by adequate documentation.
IAI changes are not justified in a system that permits landlords to raise rent at rates that far exceed the rates at which operations. And capital improvement costs increase. They create problematic incentives for landlords, and are difficult to monitor or verify. This bill would repeal the provisions that permit them.
Fiscal impact on the state
To be determined.
Legislative history
New bill.
Effective date
This act takes effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.