NY State Senate Bill 2015-S590

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2016	referred to judiciary
Jan 07, 2015	referred to judiciary

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Real Property Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §235-e, RP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S7766
2017-2018: S3138

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the duty to provide a written receipt.

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S590

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the real property law, in relation
to the duty to provide a written receipt

 PURPOSE :  The purpose of this bill is to adjust and clarify existing
language regarding a landlord's duty to provide a tenant with a
receipt for the payment of rent.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of this bill amends section 235-e of the real property law
by:

* specifying that duly authorized agents of a landlord that collect
rent would also be responsible for providing a receipt, for such
payment, to tenants;

* clarifying that if a tenant requests a receipt for rent paid by
personal check, the request will remain valid for the remainder of the
tenancy unless otherwise specified;

* requiring that if rent is directly given to a landlord or their
authorized agent they must provide a tenant with a receipt
immediately;

* requiring that if rent is paid indirectly, including but not limited
to mailing or a drop-box, a landlord must provide the tenant a receipt
of the payment within ten business days of receiving the payment; and

* requiring a landlord to inform a tenant in writing if such landlord
fails to receive a tenant's rent payment within ten days of its due
date. If the landlord does not inform the tenant this could be used as
a defense by the tenant if the landlord is seeking to evict the tenant
for nonpayment of rent.

 JUSTIFICATION :  This bill attempts to clarify and expand existing
statute relating to receiving a written receipt for the payment of
rent. The current statute is unclear on whether a tenant needs to
request a receipt for rent paid by personal check every time they pay
their rent. This bill would address this concern by having such a
request remain in effect for the duration of the tenancy.

Additionally, there have been many instances where landlords have
failed to provide tenants with receipts when a tenant does not
directly give their rent payment to the landlord. This bill would
require landlords that receive rent via mail, from a drop-box, or from
another indirect means of conveyance to provide tenants with a receipt
in a reasonable amount of time. The final provision of this bill would
also require a landlord to notify a tenant if they do not receive
their rent payment. This will prevent situations where a rent payment
is lost in transit and the tenant does not know whether their landlord
has received the rent payment. This bill could potentially reduce the
number of eviction proceedings throughout the State by establishing a
methodology for rent payments and acknowledgement of their receipt.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :  2014: S7766/A7406- REFERRED TO JUDICIARY/Third
Reading Calendar Assembly 2013: A7406- Reported from housing and
referred to Codes

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :  None to the State

 EFFECTIVE DATE : Immediately.

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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

                                   590

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sen. SQUADRON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

AN ACT to amend the real property  law,  in  relation  to  the  duty  to
  provide a written receipt

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

  Section 1. Section 235-e of the real property law, as amended by chap-
ter 848 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:
  S 235-e. Duty [of landlord] to provide A written receipt. (a) Upon the
receipt of THE PAYMENT OF rent for residential premises in the  form  of
cash  or  any  instrument  other than the personal check of the [tenant]
LESSEE, it shall be the duty of the [landlord] LESSOR, OR ANY  AGENT  OF
THE  LESSOR  AUTHORIZED  TO  RECEIVE RENT, to provide the [payor] LESSEE
with a written receipt containing the following:
  1. The date;
  2. The amount;
  3. The identity of the premises and period for which paid; and
  4. The signature and title of the person receiving the rent.
  (b) [Where a tenant] A LESSEE MAY REQUEST, in writing, [requests] that
a [landlord]  LESSOR  provide  a  receipt  for  rent  paid  by  personal
check[,].  IF  SUCH A REQUEST IS MADE it shall be the duty of the [land-
lord] LESSOR, OR ANY AGENT OF THE LESSOR AUTHORIZED TO RECEIVE RENT,  to
provide the [payor] LESSEE with the receipt described in subdivision (a)
of  this  section  [for each such request made in writing]. SUCH REQUEST
SHALL, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY THE LESSEE, REMAIN  IN  EFFECT  FOR
THE DURATION OF THE TENANCY.
  (C)  IF A PAYMENT OF RENT IS PERSONALLY TRANSMITTED TO A LESSOR, OR AN
AGENT OF A LESSOR AUTHORIZED TO  RECEIVE  RENT,  THE  RECEIPT  FOR  SUCH
PAYMENT SHALL BE ISSUED IMMEDIATELY TO A LESSEE. IF A PAYMENT OF RENT IS
TRANSMITTED  INDIRECTLY  TO A LESSOR, OR AN AGENT OF A LESSOR AUTHORIZED

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

                                                           LBD01235-01-5

S. 590                              2

TO RECEIVE RENT, A LESSEE SHALL BE PROVIDED WITH A  RECEIPT  WITHIN  TEN
BUSINESS  DAYS OF SUCH LESSOR OR AGENT'S RECEIPT OF A RENT PAYMENT. IF A
LESSOR, OR AN AGENT OF A LESSOR AUTHORIZED TO  RECEIVE  RENT,  FAILS  TO
RECEIVE  PAYMENT FOR RENT WITHIN TEN BUSINESS DAYS OF THE DATE SPECIFIED
IN THE LEASE AGREEMENT, SUCH LESSOR OR AGENT SHALL PROVIDE A LESSEE WITH
A WRITTEN NOTICE STATING THE FAILURE TO RECEIVE SUCH RENT  PAYMENT.  THE
FAILURE  OF  A  LESSOR, OR ANY AGENT OF THE LESSOR AUTHORIZED TO RECEIVE
RENT, TO PROVIDE A LESSEE WITH A WRITTEN NOTICE OF  THE  NON-PAYMENT  OF
RENT MAY BE USED AS AN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE BY SUCH LESSEE IN AN EVICTION
PROCEEDING BASED ON THE NON-PAYMENT OF RENT.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Find your Senator and share your views on important issues.

Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S590

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Actions

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Details

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Do you support this bill?

Get Status Alerts for 2015-S590

Senate Bill S590

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Daniel L. Squadron

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Actions

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Details

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2015-S590 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments