Senate Bill S1381

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Limits landlord's rights to recovery of premises for personal use to use as a primary residence

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Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 29, 2009	recommit, enacting clause stricken
Jan 29, 2009	referred to housing, construction and community development

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2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Details

Law Section:: New York City Administrative Code
Laws Affected:: Amd §§26-408 & 26-511, NYC Ad Cd; amd §5, Emerg Hous Rent Cont L; amd §10, Emerg Ten Prot Act of 1974

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that a landlord receiving possession of a rent regulated housing accommodation for his own use or that of his family must act in good faith, show an immediate and compelling need, and use such housing accommodation as his primary residence or the primary residence of a family member.

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1381

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, the
emergency housing rent control law and the emergency tenant protection
act of nineteen seventy-four, in relation to an owner's right to
recover an apartment for personal use


 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :
To provide greater protection to tenants in cases where landlords seek
to recover apartments for their own use.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :
* Amends paragraph 1 of subdivision b of section 26-408 of the
administrative code of the City of New York;

* Amends subparagraph (b) of paragraph 9 of subdivision C of section
26-511 of the administrative code of the City of New York;

* Amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 5 of chapter 274 of
the laws of 1946, constituting the emergency housing rent control law,
as amended by chapter 234 of the laws of 1984;

* Amends subdivision a 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 chapter 234 of the laws of 1984

 JUSTIFICATION :
This bill would make uniform a number of present tenant protections
which exist in the State's four regulatory systems in cases where
landlords seek to recover apartments for their own use or the use of
their family and add additional protections to the rent regulatory
systems.  Under this legislation, landlords in all four systems would
be required to demonstrate immediate and compelling need and good
faith and would have to utilize a recovered housing accommodation as
their primary residence. The bill would also prohibit evictions for
owner occupancy in cases where a landlord sought an apartment for
non-residential use.

The tight rental housing markets which exist in regulated areas of the
state, eviction is often a great hardship for tenants. This measure
would protect tenants against evictions by imposing additional
requirements in cases where landlords sought apartments for their own
personal use. These additional requirements would help ensure that
tenants could only be evicted from their homes when the landlord had
sufficient justification to do so.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
This bill has been introduced in previous legislative sessions.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately and applies to any tenant in possession at or after the
time it takes effect (with additional provisions).

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  1381

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 29, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sens.  STAVISKY,  ADAMS, DIAZ, DUANE, ONORATO, PARKER --
  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 housing rent control law and the emergency tenant protection
  act of nineteen seventy-four, in  relation  to  an  owner's  right  to
  recover an apartment for personal use

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision  b  of  section  26-408  of  the
administrative  code  of  the  city  of  New  York is amended to read as
follows:
   (1) The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of a hous-
ing accommodation because of immediate and compelling necessity for  his
or her own personal use and occupancy AS HIS OR HER PRIMARY RESIDENCE or
for  the use and occupancy AS A PRIMARY RESIDENCE FOR A MEMBER of his or
her immediate family provided, however, that this subdivision shall  not
apply  where  a  member  of the household lawfully occupying the housing
accommodation is sixty-two years of age or older, has been a tenant in a
housing accommodation in that building for twenty years or more, or  has
an impairment which results from anatomical, physiological or psycholog-
ical  conditions,  other  than  addiction  to  alcohol, gambling, or any
controlled substance, which are  demonstrable  by  medically  acceptable
clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques, and which are expected to
be permanent and which [prevent the tenant from engaging in any substan-
tial  gainful  employment]  SUBSTANTIALLY  LIMIT  ONE  OR  MORE  OF SUCH
TENANT'S MAJOR LIFE ACTIVITIES AND  PROVIDED  FURTHER  THAT  A  LANDLORD
SHALL  NOT  BE ENTITLED TO RECOVER POSSESSION OF A HOUSING ACCOMMODATION
FOR OTHER THAN RESIDENTIAL USE; or

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD04879-01-9

S. 1381                             2

  S 2. Subparagraph (b) of paragraph  9  of  subdivision  c  of  section
26-511  of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to
read as follows:
  (b)  where  he or she seeks IN GOOD FAITH to recover possession of one
or more dwelling units BECAUSE OF IMMEDIATE AND COMPELLING NECESSITY for
his or her own personal use and occupancy as his or  her  primary  resi-
dence  [in  the  city of New York] and/or for the use and occupancy of a
member of his or her immediate family as his or  her  primary  residence
[in  the  city  of  New  York], provided however, that this subparagraph
shall not apply where a tenant or the spouse of a tenant lawfully  occu-
pying  the  dwelling  unit is sixty-two years of age or older, or has an
impairment which results from anatomical, physiological or psychological
conditions, other than addiction to alcohol, gambling, or any controlled
substance, which are demonstrable by medically acceptable  clinical  and
laboratory diagnostic techniques, and which are expected to be permanent
and  which  [prevent the tenant from engaging in any substantial gainful
employment,] SUBSTANTIALLY LIMIT ONE OR MORE OF SUCH TENANT'S MAJOR LIFE
ACTIVITIES unless  such  owner  offers  to  provide  and  if  requested,
provides  an equivalent or superior housing accommodation at the same or
lower stabilized rent in a closely proximate  area.  The  provisions  of
this  subparagraph shall only permit one of the individual owners of any
building to recover possession of one or more dwelling units for his  or
her own personal use and/or for that of his or her immediate family. Any
dwelling  unit recovered by an owner pursuant to this subparagraph shall
not for a period of three years be rented, leased, subleased or assigned
to any person other than a person for  whose  benefit  recovery  of  the
dwelling  unit  is  permitted  pursuant  to  this subparagraph or to the
tenant in occupancy at the time of recovery under the same terms as  the
original  lease.   This subparagraph shall not be deemed to establish or
eliminate any claim that the former tenant  of  the  dwelling  unit  may
otherwise  have  against  the owner. Any such rental, lease, sublease or
assignment during such period to any other person may be  subject  to  a
penalty  of  a  forfeiture  of the right to any increases in residential
rents in such building for a period of three years.   A  LANDLORD  SHALL
NOT BE ENTITLED TO RECOVER POSSESSION OF A DWELLING FOR OTHER THAN RESI-
DENTIAL USE; or
  S 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 5 of chapter 274 of the
laws  of  1946,  constituting the emergency housing rent control law, as
amended by chapter 234 of the laws  of  1984,  is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  (a)  the landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of housing
accommodations because of immediate and compelling necessity for his own
personal use and occupancy AS HIS PRIMARY RESIDENCE or for the  use  and
occupancy  AS  A PRIMARY RESIDENCE FOR A MEMBER of his immediate family;
provided, however, this subdivision shall not apply where  a  member  of
the  household lawfully occupying the housing accommodation is sixty-two
years of age or older, has been a tenant in a housing  accommodation  in
that  building  for  twenty  years  or  more, or has an impairment which
results from  anatomical,  physiological  or  psychological  conditions,
other  than addiction to alcohol, gambling, or any controlled substance,
which are demonstrable by medically acceptable clinical  and  laboratory
diagnostic  techniques, and which are expected to be permanent and which
[prevent the tenant from engaging in any substantial gainful employment]
SUBSTANTIALLY LIMIT ONE OR MORE OF SUCH TENANT'S MAJOR  LIFE  ACTIVITIES
AND  PROVIDED  FURTHER  THAT A LANDLORD SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO RECOVER
POSSESSION OF A HOUSING ACCOMMODATION FOR OTHER THAN RESIDENTIAL USE; or

S. 1381                             3

  S 4. Subdivision a of section 10 of section 4 of chapter  576  of  the
laws  of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nine-
teen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 234 of the  laws  of  1984,  is
amended to read as follows:
  a.  For  cities having a population of less than one million and towns
and villages, the state division of housing and community renewal  shall
be  empowered  to  implement  this act by appropriate regulations.  Such
regulations may encompass such speculative or manipulative practices  or
renting or leasing practices as the state division of housing and commu-
nity  renewal determines constitute or are likely to cause circumvention
of this act.  Such regulations shall prohibit practices which are likely
to prevent any person from asserting any right or remedy granted by this
act, including but not limited to retaliatory  termination  of  periodic
tenancies and shall require owners to grant a new one or two year vacan-
cy or renewal lease at the option of the tenant, except where a mortgage
or  mortgage  commitment existing as of the local effective date of this
act provides that the owner shall not grant a one-year lease; and  shall
prescribe  standards with respect to the terms and conditions of new and
renewal leases, additional rent and such  related  matters  as  security
deposits, advance rental payments, the use of escalator clauses in leas-
es and provision for increase in rentals for garages and other ancillary
facilities,  so  as to insure that the level of rent adjustments author-
ized under this law will not be  subverted  and  made  ineffective.  Any
provision  of  the  regulations permitting an owner to refuse to renew a
lease on grounds that the owner seeks to recover possession of the hous-
ing accommodation for his own use and occupancy or for the use and occu-
pancy of his immediate family shall require that  an  owner  demonstrate
immediate and compelling need AND GOOD FAITH and shall not apply where a
member  of the housing accommodation is sixty-two years of age or older,
has been a tenant in a housing accommodation in that building for twenty
years or more, or has an impairment which results from anatomical, phys-
iological or psychological conditions, other than addiction to  alcohol,
gambling,  or  any  controlled  substance,  which  are  demonstrable  by
medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques,  and
which  are  expected  to be permanent and which [prevent the tenant from
engaging in any substantial gainful employment] SUBSTANTIALLY LIMIT  ONE
OR  MORE  OF  SUCH  TENANT'S MAJOR LIFE ACTIVITIES. ANY PROVISION OF THE
REGULATIONS PERMITTING AN OWNER TO  REFUSE  TO  RENEW  A  LEASE  ON  THE
GROUNDS  THAT  THE  OWNER SEEKS TO RECOVER THE UNIT FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL
USE, SHALL REQUIRE THAT  DWELLING  UNITS  RECOVERED  SHALL  BE  FOR  THE
OWNER'S  OWN  USE  AND OCCUPANCY AS HIS PRIMARY RESIDENCE OR FOR THE USE
AND OCCUPANCY OF A MEMBER OF HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY AS HIS  PRIMARY  RESI-
DENCE  AND  THAT  A UNIT MAY NOT BE RECOVERED BY AN OWNER FOR OTHER THAN
RESIDENTIAL USE.
  S 5. This act shall take effect immediately and  shall  apply  to  any
tenant  in  possession  at  or  after such effective date, regardless of
whether the landlord's application for an  order,  refusal  to  renew  a
lease  or  refusal  to  extend or renew a tenancy took place before such
effective date; provided, however, the amendment to  section  26-408  of
the  city  rent  and  rehabilitation law made by section one of this act
shall remain in full force and effect only so long as the  public  emer-
gency  requiring  the  regulation  and  control of residential rents and
evictions continues, as provided in subdivision 3 of section  1  of  the
local  emergency  housing rent control act; provided, further the amend-
ment to section 26-511 of the rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred
sixty-nine made by section two of this act shall expire on the same date

S. 1381                             4

as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration of such  law  as
provided  under  section 26-520 of such law; provided further the amend-
ment to section 5 of the emergency housing  rent  control  law  made  by
section  three  of  this  act  shall expire on the same date as such law
expires and shall not affect the expiration of such law as  provided  in
subdivision 2 of section 1 of such law, as amended; provided further the
amendment  to section 10 of the emergency tenant protection act of nine-
teen seventy-four made by section 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,
as amended.

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Senate Bill S1381

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Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

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co-Sponsors

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Toby Ann Stavisky

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

Actions

co-Sponsors

Eric Adams

Ruben Diaz

Thomas K. Duane

Shirley L. Huntley

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-S1381 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments