Senate Bill S3318A

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S3318

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

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 prohibiting surcharges
for the installation or use of air conditioner units in housing accommo-
dations subject to rent regulation

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would prohibit a landlord from imposing a surcharge on a
tenant for the use of a tenant-installed air conditioning unit if the
tenant pays for the electric utility service.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the administrative code of the City of New York by
adding a new section 26416 that would prohibit a landlord of any housing
              

accommodation subject to rent regulation laws from imposing a surcharge
for the us6 of a tenant-installed air conditioning unit, provided that
the tenant pays for the electrical utility service.

Section 2 amends section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, consti-
tuting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, by
adding a new subdivision that would prohibit a landlord of any housing
accommodation subject to rent regulation laws from imposing a surcharge
for the use of a tenant-installed air conditioning unit, provided that
the tenant pays for the electrical utility service.

Section 3 amends Section 26-512 of the administrative code of the City
of New York by adding a new subdivision that would prohibit a landlord
of any housing accommodation subject to such regulation laws from impos-
ing a surcharge for the use of a tenant-installed air conditioning unit,
provided that the tenant pays for the electrical utility service.

Section 4 amends subdivision 4 of section 4 of chapter 274 of the laws
of 1946, constituting the emergency housing rent control law, by adding
a new paragraph that would prohibit a landlord of any housing accommo-
dation subject to rent regulation laws from imposing a surcharge for the
use of a tenant-installed air conditioning unit, provided that the
tenant pays for the electrical utility service.

Section 5 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Nearly half of all New Yorkers live below or close to the poverty line.
Accordingly, it is critical that New York City has protections in place
to safeguard its residents' basic necessities, one of the most important
of which is housing. With an average rent of over $1,000 in the City of
New York, programs that reduce the rent burden are essential. One impor-
tant example is New York City's system of rent stabilization, which
provides a variety of tenant protections to over 2 million people.

Despite the high need for these tenant protections, many landlords are
increasing the cost of housing by imposing non-rent fees on rent stabi-
lized tenants. One major example, and the focus of this bill, is a
surcharge for air conditioner units that tenants install in their apart-
ments. While this type of surcharge is sometimes allowed in accordance
with the operational bulletin 84-4 and Operational Bulletin 2005-01
issued by the NYS Division of Homes and Community Renewal, many land-
lords do not follow the regulations set forth in the Operational Bulle-
tin for when the surcharges can be applied.  Also, the purported ration-
ale was to take into account the increased wear on plumbing and
electrical systems and the increased utility costs paid by landlords but
these costs are already taken into account when calculating rent
increases each year.

Most of the time, landlords add these surcharges without meeting any of
the conditions set forth in Operational Bulletin, 2005-01. A recent
survey of rent stabilized tenants indicates that 68t were charged a
surcharge for their air conditioner or washing machine in the last year.
These surcharges can add hundreds of dollars to a tenant's rent, making
rent controlled and rent stabilized apartments unaffordable for low-in-
come New Yorkers. Because these costs are already accounted for in the
rent itself and to end the landlord's abuse of this system of appliance
'surcharges, this bill is necessary to protect low-income tenants in the
City of New York and ensure that they are not being charged more than
they legally owe for rent. This extra cost raises rents and makes rent
controlled and rent stabilized apartments unaffordable for many New
Yorkers.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-2018: S.2367 - Referred to Housing, Construction and Community
Development/A.1368 Referred to Housing
2015-2016: S.3565 - Referred to Housing, Construction and Community
Development/A.416 Referred to Housing
2013-2014: S.6110 - Referred to Housing, Construction and Community
Development/A.8290 Referred to Housing

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided that: (a) section
26-416 of the city rent and rehabilitation law as added 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 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 constituting the emergency
tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section two 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; and (c) the amendments to section 26512 of
chapter 4 of title 26 of the administrative code of the City of New
York, made by section three 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; 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.