S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3812
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 27, 2015
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Introduced by M. of A. WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Housing
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, the
emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four and the emer-
gency housing rent control law, in relation to recovery of certain
housing accommodations by a landlord
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 of his or her immediate family AS THEIR PRIMA-
RY RESIDENCE provided, however, that this subdivision shall PERMIT
RECOVERY OF ONLY ONE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION AND 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 accommo-
dation in that building for [twenty] FIFTEEN 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; or
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 to recover possession of one [or more]
dwelling [units] UNIT BECAUSE OF IMMEDIATE AND COMPELLING NECESSITY for
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05283-01-5
A. 3812 2
his or her own personal use and occupancy as his or her primary resi-
dence [in the city of New York and/or] 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 PERMIT RECOVERY OF ONLY ONE DWELLING UNIT AND SHALL not apply
where a tenant or the spouse of a tenant lawfully occupying the dwelling
unit is sixty-two years of age or older, HAS BEEN A TENANT IN A DWELLING
UNIT IN THAT BUILDING FOR FIFTEEN YEARS OR MORE, or has an impairment
which results from anatomical, physiological or psychological condi-
tions, 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, 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] UNIT
for his or her own personal use and/or for that of his or her immediate
family. [Any] A 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 bene-
fit recovery of the dwelling unit is permitted pursuant to this subpara-
graph 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 dwell-
ing 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; or
S 3. 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] A
housing accommodation for his OR HER own use and occupancy or for the
A. 3812 3
use and occupancy of his OR HER immediate family shall PERMIT RECOVERY
OF ONLY ONE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION, SHALL require that an owner demon-
strate immediate and compelling need AND THAT THE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION
WILL BE THE PROPOSED OCCUPANTS' PRIMARY RESIDENCE 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] FIFTEEN 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.
S 4. 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 A hous-
ing [accommodations] 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 of his OR HER immediate
family AS THEIR PRIMARY RESIDENCE; provided, however, this subdivision
shall PERMIT RECOVERY OF ONLY ONE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION AND 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] FIFTEEN 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 accept-
able clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques, and which are
expected to be permanent and which prevent the tenant from engaging in
any substantial gainful employment; or
S 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any
tenant in possession at or after the time it takes effect, 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 this act
shall have taken effect, provided that:
a. the amendments to section 26-408 of the city rent and rehabili-
tation law made by section one of this act shall remain in full force
and effect only as long as the public emergency 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;
b. the amendments 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 as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration
of such law as provided under section 26-520 of such law;
c. the amendments to subdivision a of section 10 of section 4 of the
emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section
three 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; and
d. the amendments to paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 5 of
the emergency housing rent control law made by section four 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
chapter 274 of the laws of 1946.