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
                                ___________
 
 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.