S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
738
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
(PREFILED)
January 9, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
ty-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 opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of subdivision a of
section 12 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting
the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended
by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
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 opportu-
nity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent author-
ized for a housing accommodation subject to this act shall be liable to
the tenant for a penalty equal to [three] AT LEAST THREE TIMES THE
AMOUNT, NOT TO EXCEED FIVE times the amount of such overcharge. In no
event shall such [treble damage] A 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 division of housing and
community renewal shall establish the penalty as the amount of the over-
charge plus interest at the rate of interest payable on a judgment
pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil practice law and
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00529-01-9
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rules. (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 deemed to be the rent indicated in the annual registra-
tion statement filed four years prior to the most recent registration
statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration state-
ment) plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases and adjustments.
Where the amount of rent set forth in the annual rent registration
statement filed four years prior to the most recent registration state-
ment 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. (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 the date of the initial
registration of the housing accommodation (or, if the housing accommo-
dation was subject to this act for less than four years, the initial
legal regulated rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and
adjustments. Where the rent charged on the date four years prior to the
date of the initial registration of the accommodation cannot be estab-
lished, 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.
§ 2. The opening paragraph of 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 to read as follows:
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] AT LEAST THREE TIMES
THE AMOUNT, NOT TO EXCEED FIVE times the amount of such overcharge. In
no event shall such [treble damage] A 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 interest. (i) Except as to
complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of this paragraph, the legal
regulated rent for purposes of determining an overcharge, shall be the
rent indicated in the annual registration statement filed four years
prior to the most recent registration statement, (or, if more recently
filed, the initial registration statement) plus in each case any subse-
quent lawful increases and adjustments. 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. (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 the date of the initial
registration of the housing accommodation (or, if the housing accommo-
dation was subject to this chapter for less than four years, the initial
A. 738 3
legal regulated rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and
adjustments. Where the rent charged on the date four years prior to the
date of the initial registration of the accommodation cannot be estab-
lished, such rent shall be established by the division.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that
a. the amendments to the opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of subdivi-
sion a of section 12 of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen
seventy-four made by section one 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 section 26-516 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.