S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7369
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
April 26, 2019
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Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee 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 the time frame for
tenant responses to applications for a major capital improvement rent
increase
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision g of section 26-405 of the
administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new
subparagraph (g-1) to read as follows:
(G-1) WHERE AN APPLICATION FOR A MAJOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT RENT
INCREASE HAS BEEN FILED, A TENANT SHALL HAVE SIXTY DAYS FROM THE DATE OF
MAILING OF A NOTICE OF SUCH APPLICATION IN WHICH TO RESPOND. THE CITY
RENT AGENCY SHALL PROVIDE SUCH NOTICE BY MAIL OR, AT A TENANT'S REQUEST,
BY ELECTRONIC MAIL. THE CITY RENT AGENCY MAY GRANT SUCH TENANT A SIXTY
DAY EXTENSION TO MAKE AN ANSWER TO THE APPLICATION IN RESPONSE TO A
WRITTEN REQUEST BY SUCH TENANT WHICH SHALL INCLUDE A STATEMENT OF GOOD
CAUSE; OR
§ 2. Paragraph 6 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administra-
tive code of the city of New York, as amended by section 29 of part A of
chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
(6) provides criteria whereby the commissioner may act upon applica-
tions by owners for increases in excess of the level of fair rent
increase established under this law provided, however, that such crite-
ria shall provide (a) as to hardship applications, for a finding that
the level of fair rent increase is not sufficient to enable the owner to
maintain approximately the same average annual net income (which shall
be computed without regard to debt service, financing costs or manage-
ment fees) for the three year period ending on or within six months of
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11101-01-9
A. 7369 2
the date of an application pursuant to such criteria as compared with
annual net income, which prevailed on the average over the period nine-
teen hundred sixty-eight through nineteen hundred seventy, or for the
first three years of operation if the building was completed since nine-
teen hundred sixty-eight or for the first three fiscal years after a
transfer of title to a new owner provided the new owner can establish to
the satisfaction of the commissioner that he or she acquired title to
the building as a result of a bona fide sale of the entire building and
that the new owner is unable to obtain requisite records for the fiscal
years nineteen hundred sixty-eight through nineteen hundred seventy
despite diligent efforts to obtain same from predecessors in title and
further provided that the new owner can provide financial data covering
a minimum of six years under his or her continuous and uninterrupted
operation of the building to meet the three year to three year compar-
ative test periods herein provided; and (b) as to completed building-
wide major capital improvements, for a finding that such improvements
are deemed depreciable under the Internal Revenue Code and that the cost
is to be amortized over an eight-year period for a building with thir-
ty-five or fewer housing accommodations, or a nine-year period for a
building with more than thirty-five housing accommodations, for any
determination issued by the division of housing and community renewal
after the effective date of the rent act of 2015, based upon cash
purchase price exclusive of interest or service charges. WHERE AN
APPLICATION FOR A MAJOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT RENT INCREASE HAS BEEN
FILED, A TENANT SHALL HAVE SIXTY DAYS FROM THE DATE OF MAILING OF A
NOTICE OF SUCH APPLICATION IN WHICH TO RESPOND. THE STATE DIVISION OF
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL SHALL PROVIDE SUCH NOTICE BY MAIL OR, AT A
TENANT'S REQUEST, BY ELECTRONIC MAIL. THE STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND
COMMUNITY RENEWAL MAY GRANT SUCH TENANT A SIXTY DAY EXTENSION TO MAKE AN
ANSWER TO THE APPLICATION IN RESPONSE TO A WRITTEN REQUEST BY SUCH
TENANT WHICH SHALL INCLUDE A STATEMENT OF GOOD CAUSE. Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained herein, no hardship increase granted
pursuant to this paragraph shall, when added to the annual gross rents,
as determined by the commissioner, exceed the sum of, (i) the annual
operating expenses, (ii) an allowance for management services as deter-
mined by the commissioner, (iii) actual annual mortgage debt service
(interest and amortization) on its indebtedness to a lending institu-
tion, an insurance company, a retirement fund or welfare fund which is
operated under the supervision of the banking or insurance laws of the
state of New York or the United States, and (iv) eight and one-half
percent of that portion of the fair market value of the property which
exceeds the unpaid principal amount of the mortgage indebtedness
referred to in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph. Fair market value
for the purposes of this paragraph shall be six times the annual gross
rent. The collection of any increase in the stabilized rent for any
apartment pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed six percent in any
year from the effective date of the order granting the increase over the
rent set forth in the schedule of gross rents, with collectability of
any dollar excess above said sum to be spread forward in similar incre-
ments and added to the stabilized rent as established or set in future
years;
§ 3. Subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the
laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nine-
teen seventy-four, is amended by adding a new paragraph (3-a) to read as
follows:
A. 7369 3
(3-A) AN APPLICATION FOR A MAJOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT RENT INCREASE HAS
BEEN FILED, A TENANT SHALL HAVE SIXTY DAYS FROM THE DATE OF MAILING OF A
NOTICE OF SUCH APPLICATION IN WHICH TO RESPOND. THE STATE DIVISION OF
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL SHALL PROVIDE SUCH NOTICE BY MAIL, OR AT A
TENANT'S REQUEST, BY ELECTRONIC MAIL. THE STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND
COMMUNITY RENEWAL MAY GRANT SUCH TENANT A SIXTY DAY EXTENSION TO MAKE AN
ANSWER TO THE APPLICATION IN RESPONSE TO A WRITTEN REQUEST BY SUCH
TENANT WHICH SHALL INCLUDE A STATEMENT OF GOOD CAUSE; OR
§ 4. Subparagraph 7 of the second undesignated paragraph of paragraph
(a) of subdivision 4 of section 4 of chapter 274 of the laws of 1946,
constituting the emergency housing rent control law, as amended by
section 32 of part A of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to
read as follows:
(7) there has been since March first, nineteen hundred fifty, a major
capital improvement required for the operation, preservation or mainte-
nance of the structure; which for any order of the commissioner issued
after the effective date of the rent act of 2015 the cost of such
improvement shall be amortized over an eight-year period for buildings
with thirty-five or fewer units or a nine year period for buildings with
more than thirty-five units, PROVIDED, HOWEVER, WHERE AN APPLICATION FOR
A MAJOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT RENT INCREASE HAS BEEN FILED, A TENANT SHALL
HAVE SIXTY DAYS FROM THE DATE OF MAILING OF A NOTICE OF SUCH APPLICATION
IN WHICH TO RESPOND. THE STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL
SHALL PROVIDE SUCH NOTICE BY MAIL, OR AT A TENANT'S REQUEST, BY ELEC-
TRONIC MAIL. THE STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL MAY
GRANT SUCH TENANT A SIXTY DAY EXTENSION TO MAKE AN ANSWER TO THE APPLI-
CATION IN RESPONSE TO A WRITTEN REQUEST BY SUCH TENANT WHICH SHALL
INCLUDE A STATEMENT OF GOOD CAUSE; or
§ 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that:
(a) the amendments to section 26-405 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 chapter 4 of title 26 of the
administrative code of the city of New York 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 section 6 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, as amended; and
(d) the amendments to section 4 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.