S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7221
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 12, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. BARNWELL -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Housing
 
 AN  ACT to amend the public housing law, the emergency tenant protection
   act of nineteen seventy-four and the administrative code of  the  city
   of  New York, in relation to penalties for owners of property who fail
   to file a proper or timely rent registration statement
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The  commissioner  of housing and community renewal shall
 distribute to each unit rent controlled or rent stabilized at any  point
 since 1971 a copy of such unit's rent history, regardless of the current
 rent regulation status of the unit, as well as literature describing how
 a tenant can identify a possible rent overcharge.
   §  2.  Section 14 of the public housing law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 8 to read as follows:
   8. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL GENERATE AND DISTRIBUTE LITERATURE  EXPLAIN-
 ING  HOW  TO IDENTIFY A POSSIBLE RENT OVERCHARGE. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL
 CONDUCT GEOGRAPHIC LANGUAGE STUDIES TO ENSURE THAT  SUCH  LITERATURE  IS
 AVAILABLE TO ALL RESIDENTS, NOT JUST THOSE WHO SPEAK AND READ ENGLISH.
   §  3. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 12 of section 4 of chap-
 ter  576  of  the  laws  of  1974,  constituting  the  emergency  tenant
 protection  act  of  nineteen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 403 of
 the laws of 1983, the opening paragraph and clause (i)  of  subparagraph
 (b)  as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended and a new
 paragraph 9 is added to read as follows:
   (1) Subject to the conditions and limitations of this  paragraph,  any
 owner  of  housing  accommodations in a city having a population of less
 than one million or a town or village as to which an emergency has  been
 declared  pursuant  to section three, who, upon complaint of a tenant or
 of the state division of housing and community renewal, is found by  the
 state  division  of  housing  and  community renewal, after a reasonable
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD10737-04-9

 A. 7221                             2
 
 opportunity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the  rent
 authorized  for  a  housing  accommodation  subject to this act shall be
 liable to the tenant for a penalty equal to three times  the  amount  of
 such  overcharge.  [In  no  event  shall  such  treble damage penalty be
 assessed against an owner based solely on said owner's failure to file a
 proper or timely initial or annual rent registration statement.] If  the
 owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge
 was  neither willful nor attributable to his negligence, the state divi-
 sion of housing and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the
 amount of the overcharge plus interest at the rate of  interest  payable
 on  a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
 tice law and rules. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause
 (ii) of this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of  deter-
 mining  an overcharge, shall be deemed to be the rent indicated in [the]
 PRIOR annual registration [statement filed four years prior to the  most
 recent  registration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial
 registration statement)] STATEMENTS plus in  each  case  any  subsequent
 lawful increases and adjustments, LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES. [Where
 the  amount  of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement
 filed four years prior to the most recent registration statement is  not
 challenged  within  four  years  of  its  filing,  neither such rent nor
 service of any registration shall be subject to challenge  at  any  time
 thereafter.]  THE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL, IN INVESTI-
 GATING COMPLAINTS OF OVERCHARGE AND IN DETERMINING LEGAL REGULATED RENT,
 SHALL CONSIDER ALL AVAILABLE RENT HISTORY WHICH IS REASONABLY  NECESSARY
 TO  MAKE  SUCH DETERMINATIONS. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety
 days of the initial registration of a housing accommodation,  the  legal
 regulated rent for purposes of determining an overcharge shall be deemed
 to  be the rent charged [on the date four years prior to] AS OF the date
 of the initial registration of the housing  accommodation  (or,  if  the
 housing  accommodation  was NOT PREVIOUSLY subject to this act [for less
 than four years], the initial legal regulated rent) plus in  each  case,
 any  lawful  increases  and adjustments, LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES.
 Where the rent charged [on the date four years] prior to the date of the
 initial registration of the accommodation cannot  be  established,  such
 rent shall be established by the division. [Where the amount of rent set
 forth  in  the annual rent registration statement filed four years prior
 to the most recent registration statement is not challenged within  four
 years  of  its filing, neither such rent nor service of any registration
 shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]
   (a) The order of the state division of housing and  community  renewal
 shall  apportion  the  owner's  liability  between  or among two or more
 tenants found to have  been  overcharged  by  such  owner  during  their
 particular tenancy of a unit.
   (b)  (i)  Except  as  provided  under  clauses  (ii) and (iii) of this
 subparagraph, a complaint under this subdivision [shall]  MAY  be  filed
 with  the  state  division of housing and community renewal [within four
 years of the first overcharge alleged and no determination of  an  over-
 charge and no award or calculation of an award of the amount of an over-
 charge  may  be  based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four
 years before the complaint is filed. This paragraph shall preclude exam-
 ination of the rental history of the housing accommodation prior to  the
 four-year  period  preceding  the filing of a complaint pursuant to this
 subdivision] AT ANY TIME.
   (ii) [No] A penalty of three times the overcharge may be based upon an
 overcharge having occurred [more than two years] AT ANY TIME before  the

 A. 7221                             3

 complaint  is filed [or upon an overcharge which occurred prior to April
 first, nineteen hundred eighty-four.
   (iii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to the date
 of  filing of the initial rent registration as provided in subdivision b
 of section twelve-a of this act shall be filed within ninety days of the
 mailing of notice to the tenant of such registration].
   (c) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an  opportunity
 to  join  in  any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state
 division of housing and community renewal.
   (d) An owner found  to  have  overcharged  shall,  in  all  cases,  be
 assessed the reasonable costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding, and
 interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
 on  a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
 tice law and rules.
   (e) The order of the state division of housing and  community  renewal
 awarding  penalties  may, upon the expiration of the period in which the
 owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to  article  seventy-eight  of
 the  civil  practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in
 the same manner as a judgment or, in the alternative, not in  excess  of
 twenty  percent  thereof per month may be offset against any rent there-
 after due the owner.
   (f) Unless a tenant shall have filed a complaint  of  overcharge  with
 the  division  which complaint has not been withdrawn, nothing contained
 in this section shall be deemed to prevent a tenant or tenants, claiming
 to have been overcharged, from commencing an  action  or  interposing  a
 counterclaim  in  a court of competent jurisdiction for damages equal to
 the overcharge and the penalty provided for in this  section,  including
 interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
 on  a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
 tice law and rules, plus the statutory costs and allowable disbursements
 in connection with the proceeding. [Such action  must  be  commenced  or
 counterclaim  interposed  within  four  years of the date of the alleged
 overcharge but no recovery of three times the amount of  the  overcharge
 may  be  awarded  with respect to any overcharge which had occurred more
 than two years before the action is commenced or counterclaim is  inter-
 posed.]
   (9)  A  PENALTY SHALL BE ASSESSED AGAINST AN OWNER WHO FAILS TO FILE A
 TIMELY OR PROPER  INITIAL,  ANNUAL  OR  SUPPLEMENTAL  RENT  REGISTRATION
 STATEMENT  OR FAILS TO SUPPLY THE UNIT'S RENT HISTORY WITH A LEASE UNDER
 SECTION 12-A OF THIS ACT OF TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS PER UNIT FOR  BUILDINGS
 WITH  LESS  THAN FIFTEEN UNITS AND OF FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER UNIT FOR
 BUILDINGS WITH FIFTEEN UNITS OR MORE. SUCH PENALTY SHALL BE PAID TO  THE
 TENANT  OF  THE  UNIT,  EITHER  AS  CASH, CHECK OR A CREDIT TOWARD THEIR
 MONTHLY RENT.  SHOULD THE TENANT'S LEASE EXPIRE BEFORE THE CREDIT TOWARD
 THEIR MONTHLY RENT IS PAID, THEN THE REMAINDER OF  THE  CREDIT  WILL  BE
 PAID  OUT  AS  A  CASH  AWARD. THE CHOICE OF CASH, CHECK, OR RENT CREDIT
 SHALL BE DETERMINED BY THE TENANT.
   § 4. Section 12-a of section 4 of chapter 576 of  the  laws  of  1974,
 constituting  the  emergency  tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-
 four, is amended by adding two new subdivisions  i  and  j  to  read  as
 follows:
   I. A SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT SHALL BE FILED CONTAINING THE CURRENT RENT
 FOR  EACH  UNIT AND SUCH OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED IN SUBDIVISION A OF
 THIS SECTION AS SHALL BE REQUIRED BY THE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND  COMMU-
 NITY  RENEWAL WITHIN NINETY DAYS OF THE RENT ON A UNIT BEING RAISED. THE

 A. 7221                             4
 
 OWNER SHALL PROVIDE EACH TENANT THEN IN OCCUPANCY WITH A  COPY  OF  THAT
 PORTION OF SUCH STATEMENT AS PERTAINS TO THE TENANT'S UNIT.
   J.  THE  OWNER  SHALL  SUPPLY  WITH  EACH LEASE (1) LITERATURE ON RENT
 HISTORY PRODUCED BY THE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND  COMMUNITY  RENEWAL  AND
 (2) A COPY OF SUCH UNIT'S ENTIRE RENT HISTORY.
   §  5.    Subdivision a of section 26-516 of the administrative code of
 the city of New York, as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997,  is
 amended and a new subdivision i is added to read as follows:
   a.  Subject to the conditions and limitations of this subdivision, any
 owner of housing accommodations who, upon complaint of a tenant,  or  of
 the  state  division  of  housing and community renewal, is found by the
 state division of housing and  community  renewal,  after  a  reasonable
 opportunity  to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent
 authorized for a housing accommodation subject to this chapter shall  be
 liable  to  the  tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of
 such overcharge. [In no  event  shall  such  treble  damage  penalty  be
 assessed against an owner based solely on said owner's failure to file a
 timely  or proper initial or annual rent registration statement.] If the
 owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge
 was not willful, the state division of  housing  and  community  renewal
 shall  establish the penalty as the amount of the overcharge plus inter-
 est. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii)  of  this
 paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of determining an over-
 charge,  shall  be  the  AMOUNT  OF rent indicated in [the] PRIOR annual
 registration [statement filed four years prior to the most recent regis-
 tration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration
 statement)] STATEMENTS plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases
 and adjustments, LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES. [Where  the  amount  of
 rent  set  forth  in  the  annual rent registration statement filed four
 years prior to the most recent registration statement is not  challenged
 within  four  years  of its filing, neither such rent nor service of any
 registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]  THE
 DIVISION  OF  HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL, IN INVESTIGATING COMPLAINTS
 OF OVERCHARGE AND IN DETERMINING LEGAL REGULATED  RENT,  SHALL  CONSIDER
 ALL  AVAILABLE  RENT  HISTORY WHICH IS REASONABLY NECESSARY TO MAKE SUCH
 DETERMINATIONS. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety  days  of  the
 initial  registration  of  a  housing accommodation, the legal regulated
 rent shall be deemed to be the rent charged  [on  the  date  four  years
 prior  to]  AS  OF  the  date of the initial registration of the housing
 accommodation (or, if  the  housing  accommodation  was  NOT  PREVIOUSLY
 subject  to  this  chapter [for less than four years], the initial legal
 regulated rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and adjustments,
 LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES. Where the rent charged [on the date four
 years prior to] AS OF the date of the initial registration of the accom-
 modation cannot be established, such rent shall be  established  by  the
 division.
   Where the PRIOR rent charged [on the date four years prior to the date
 of  initial  registration  of]  FOR  the housing accommodation cannot be
 established, such rent shall be established  by  the  division  provided
 that  where  a rent is established based on rentals determined under the
 provisions of the local emergency housing rent  control  act  such  rent
 must be adjusted to account for no less than the minimum increases which
 would  be  permitted if the housing accommodation were covered under the
 provisions of this chapter, LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES.  [Where  the
 amount of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement filed
 four  years prior to the most recent registration statement is not chal-

 A. 7221                             5

 lenged within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of
 any registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]
   (1)  The  order of the state division of housing and community renewal
 shall apportion the owner's liability  between  or  among  two  or  more
 tenants  found  to  have  been  overcharged  by  such owner during their
 particular tenancy of a unit.
   (2) Except as provided under clauses (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, a
 complaint under this subdivision [shall] MAY be  filed  with  the  state
 division  of  housing  and  community  renewal [within four years of the
 first overcharge alleged and no determination of an  overcharge  and  no
 award  or  calculation of an award of the amount of an overcharge may be
 based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four years before the
 complaint is filed] AT ANY TIME. (i) [No] A penalty of three  times  the
 overcharge  may  be  based upon an overcharge having occurred [more than
 two years] AT ANY TIME before the complaint is filed [or upon  an  over-
 charge  which  occurred  prior  to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-
 four. (ii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior  to  the
 date  of  filing of the initial rent registration as provided in section
 26-517 of this chapter shall be filed within ninety days of the  mailing
 of  notice  to  the  tenant  of  such registration. This paragraph shall
 preclude examination of the rental history of the housing  accommodation
 prior to the four-year period preceding the filing of a complaint pursu-
 ant to this subdivision].
   (3)  Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an opportunity
 to join in any complaint filed by an officer or employee  of  the  state
 division of housing and community renewal.
   (4)  An owner found to have overcharged may be assessed the reasonable
 costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding and interest from  the  date
 of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant
 to section five thousand four of the civil practice law and rules.
   (5)  The  order of the state division of housing and community renewal
 awarding penalties may, upon the expiration of the period in  which  the
 owner  may  institute  a proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of
 the civil practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a  tenant  in
 the same manner as a judgment or not in excess of twenty percent thereof
 per month may be offset against any rent thereafter due the owner.
   I.  A  PENALTY  SHALL BE ASSESSED AGAINST AN OWNER WHO FAILS TO FILE A
 TIMELY OR PROPER  INITIAL,  ANNUAL  OR  SUPPLEMENTAL  RENT  REGISTRATION
 STATEMENT  OR FAILS TO SUPPLY THE UNIT'S RENT HISTORY WITH A LEASE UNDER
 SECTION 26-517 OF THIS CHAPTER OF TWO  THOUSAND  DOLLARS  PER  UNIT  FOR
 BUILDINGS  WITH LESS THAN FIFTEEN UNITS AND OF FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER
 UNIT FOR BUILDINGS WITH FIFTEEN UNITS OR MORE.  SUCH  PENALTY  SHALL  BE
 PAID TO THE TENANT OF THE UNIT, EITHER AS CASH, CHECK OR A CREDIT TOWARD
 THEIR  MONTHLY RENT.  SHOULD THE TENANT'S LEASE EXPIRE BEFORE THE CREDIT
 TOWARD THEIR MONTHLY RENT IS PAID, THEN THE REMAINDER OF THE CREDIT WILL
 BE PAID OUT AS A CASH AWARD. THE CHOICE OF CASH, CHECK, OR  RENT  CREDIT
 SHALL BE DETERMINED BY THE TENANT.
   § 6. Section 26-517 of the administrative code of the city of New York
 is amended by adding two new subdivisions h and i to read as follows:
   H. A SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT SHALL BE FILED CONTAINING THE CURRENT RENT
 FOR  EACH  UNIT AND SUCH OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED IN SUBDIVISION A OF
 THIS SECTION AS SHALL BE REQUIRED BY THE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND  COMMU-
 NITY  RENEWAL WITHIN NINETY DAYS OF THE RENT ON A UNIT BEING RAISED. THE
 OWNER SHALL PROVIDE EACH TENANT THEN IN OCCUPANCY WITH A  COPY  OF  THAT
 PORTION OF SUCH STATEMENT AS PERTAINS TO THE TENANT'S UNIT.

 A. 7221                             6
 
   I.  THE  OWNER  SHALL  SUPPLY  WITH  EACH LEASE (1) LITERATURE ON RENT
 HISTORY PRODUCED BY THE STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY  RENEWAL
 AND (2) A COPY OF SUCH UNIT'S ENTIRE RENT HISTORY.
   § 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that:
   a.  the  amendments  to  section  12 and section 12-a of the emergency
 tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made  by  sections  three
 and  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 567 of the laws of 1974; and
   b.  the amendments to sections 26-516 and 26-517 of chapter 4 of title
 26 of the administrative code of the city of New York made  by  sections
 five  and  six  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.