Allow Short-Term Condo Rentals

The permanent occupant is the lawful owner or shareholder of such dwell- ing and it is their primary or secondary residence; The owner does not own or control any other class A multiple dwelling being occupied or made available for occupancy for fewer than thirty consecutive days by other natural person;

The owner cannot rent out their unit on a temporary basis more than 90 total days in any calendar year and;

All applicable state and local taxes and fees are collected and remitted in accordance with applicable law.

Section 2 of the bill provides for an immediate effective date.

Justification

The purpose of the bill is to provide a narrow exemption for certain owner-occupied class A multiple dwellings units to be made available for rent on a short-term basis (less than 30 days). Specifically, the bill would allow an owner of a co-op or condominium unit to rent their unit for less than 30 days when they are temporarily absent for personal reasons such as vacation or medical treatment provided that all applica- ble state and local taxes associated with a short term rental are collected and remitted. Additionally, to prevent multiple listings, a condo or co-op owner cannot own or control more than 1 unit being rented on a short term basis or made available for short term rental. This legislation would not abrogate or annul the by-laws of a cooperative or condominium that currently prohibit or restrict this short term rental activity in their buildings nor would it restrict a building owner's rights or the authority of a governing board to prohibit or restrict this activity in their building in the future.

Current NY Multiple Dwellings Law, as amended in 2010 in response to an ongoing issue in New York City with single room occupancy (SRO) build- ings being used as illegal hotels, prohibits temporary occupancies (less than 30-days) in all Class A Multiple Dwellings. Under the definition of Class A Multiple Dwelling, this prohibition applies to Condominium and Co-Op units but does not include 1 and 2 family homes.

This bill is targeted to help another group of home-owners that live in Condo or Co-op units and would like to rent their units out on a short term basis, thereby providing tax revenue and tourism dollars to the state and city.

The prohibition on temporary occupancies in apartments and all other Class A Multiple Dwellings except for owner-occupied condos and co-ops will remain. The existing prohibition on short term rentals in apart- ments, especially rent stabilized and rent controlled units will not be effected.

Affording certain homeowners the ability to rent out their units on a short term basis is consistent with the original intent of the 2010 Multiple Dwellings Law changes which exempted 1 and 2 family property owners from the restriction of short term rentals. While the existing law as written is broad in its application, providing this limited exemption for condo and co-op owners to temporarily rent their units for less than 30 days, clarifies the law in a way to put the focus of the law's force squarely where it should be to protect the public - away from home owners and targeted at, SROs and illegal hotels in rental units.

By preserving the right of a building owner or a governing board that has been elected by owners or tenant-shareholders of a building to limit or restrict this activity, this bill keeps the control of the activity under the responsibility of the building to collectively decide what is best for all of the owners and tenant-shareholders of the building.

Prior legislative history

2018: S.5767 - Referred to Housing, Construction & Community Development / A.8331 - Referred to Housing 2017: 5.5767 - Referred to Housing, Construction & Community Development / A.8331 - Referred to Housing

Fiscal implications

This bill will result in increased revenue to the State and New York City.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.