Senate Bill S7581

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to requiring additional training for real estate brokers and real estate salespeople to prevent discrimination in the real estate industry

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 28, 2020	referred to investigations and government operations

co-Sponsors

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9751
Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Real Property Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §441, RP L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: A1760

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires additional training for real estate brokers and real estate salespeople to prevent discrimination in the real estate industry.

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7581

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the real property law, in relation to increasing
required training for real estate brokers and real estate salespeople to
prevent discrimination

 
PURPOSE:

This bill aims to prevent unequal treatment and discrimination and
promote fair housing by expanding the instructional training required
for renewing real estate licenses to include courses on the legacy of
segregation, unequal treatment, the historic lack of access to housing
opportunity experienced by disadvantaged groups, and other related
topics.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends real property law section 441 to provide that no

renewal license shall be issued unless such licensee shall within the
two year period immediately preceding such renewal attended at least
twenty-five and one-half hours which shall include at least six hours of
instruction pertaining to fair housing and/or discrimination in the sale
or rental of real property or an interest in real property.

Section 2: Amends real property law section 441 to provide that no
renewal license shall be issued unless such licensee shall within the
two year period immediately preceding such renewal attended at least
twenty-five and one-half hours which shall include at least six hours of
instruction pertaining to fair housing and/or discrimination in the sale
or rental of real property or an interest in real property.

Section 3: Amends real property law section 441 to provide that the

Secretary of State shall promulgate rules establishing the content of
the instruction pertaining to fair housing and/or discrimination in the
sale or rental of real property or an interest in real property.

Section 4: Effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

On November 17, 2019, Newsday, a news organization in Long Island and
New York City, published a three-year investigation of discrimination by
real estate agents, revealing evidence of widespread separate and
unequal treatment of minority potential homebuyers and minority communi-
ties on Long Island. Additionally, the investigation revealed that Long
Island's dominant residential brokering firms appeared to be helping to
solidify racial separations.

Newsday conducted 86 matching tests in areas stretching from the New
York City line to the Hamptons and from Long Island Sound to the South
Shore. In forty percent of the tests, evidence suggested that brokers
subjected minority testers to disparate treatment when compared with
white testers, with inequalities rising to almost fifty percent for
black potential buyers.

This bill is designed to prevent the unequal treatment of potential
minority homebuyers by increasing overall instructional training as well
as increasing instructional training pertaining to fair housing and
discrimination in the sale or rental of real property or an interest in
real property.

This bill also attempts to prevent discriminatory tactics in the real
estate industry by expanding the content of instruction to include
courses on (1) the legacy of segregation, unequal treatment, and histor-
ic lack of access to opportunity in housing, (2) unequal access to amen-
ities and resources on the basis of race, disability and other protected
characteristics, (3) federal, state, and local fair housing laws, and
(4) anti-bias training.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
on which it shall have become a law, provided, however, that if chapter
392 of the laws of 2019, shall not have taken effect on or before such
date then section two of this act shall take effect on the same date and
in the same manner as such chapter of the laws of 2019, takes effect.

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7581
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 28, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend  the  real  property  law,  in  relation  to  increasing
   required  training for real estate brokers and real estate salespeople
   to prevent discrimination

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 441 of the real
 property law, as amended by chapter 320 of the laws of 2016, is  amended
 as follows:
   (a) No renewal license shall be issued any licensee under this article
 for any license period commencing November first, nineteen hundred nine-
 ty-five unless such licensee shall have within the two year period imme-
 diately  preceding  such  renewal attended at least [twenty-two] TWENTY-
 FIVE and one-half hours which shall include at least [three]  SIX  hours
 of  instruction  pertaining to fair housing and/or discrimination in the
 sale or rental of real property or an  interest  in  real  property,  at
 least  one hour of instruction pertaining to the law of agency except in
 the case of the initial two-year licensing term for real  estate  sales-
 persons,  two hours of agency related instruction must be completed, and
 successfully completed a continuing  education  real  estate  course  or
 courses  approved  by  the  secretary of state as to method, content and
 supervision, which approval may be withdrawn if in the  opinion  of  the
 secretary  of state such course or courses are not being conducted prop-
 erly as to  method,  content  and  supervision.  For  those  individuals
 licensed pursuant to subdivision six of section four hundred forty-two-g
 of  this  article,  in  the  individual's initial license term, at least
 eleven hours of the required [twenty-two] TWENTY-FIVE and one-half hours
 of continuing education shall be completed during the first year of  the
 term. Of those eleven hours, three hours shall pertain to applicable New
 York  state  statutes  and  regulations  governing  the practice of real
 estate brokers  and  salespersons.  To  establish  compliance  with  the
 continuing  education  requirements  imposed  by this section, licensees
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14776-01-0

 S. 7581                             2
 
 shall provide an affidavit, in a form acceptable to  the  department  of
 state,  establishing the nature of the continuing education acquired and
 shall provide such further proof as required by the department of state.
 The  provisions  of  this paragraph shall not apply to any licensed real
 estate broker who is engaged full time in the real estate  business  and
 who  has been licensed under this article prior to July first, two thou-
 sand eight for at least fifteen consecutive years immediately  preceding
 such renewal.
   § 2. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 441 of the real proper-
 ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 392 of the laws of 2019, is amended as
 follows:
   (a) No renewal license shall be issued any licensee under this article
 for any license period commencing November first, nineteen hundred nine-
 ty-five unless such licensee shall have within the two year period imme-
 diately preceding such renewal attended at  least  [twenty-two]  TWENTY-
 FIVE  and  one-half hours which shall include at least [three] SIX hours
 of instruction pertaining to fair housing and/or discrimination  in  the
 sale  or  rental  of  real  property or an interest in real property, at
 least two and one-half hours of instruction pertaining to ethical  busi-
 ness  practices,  at  least one hour of instruction pertaining to recent
 legal matters governing the practice of real estate brokers  and  sales-
 persons  in  New  York  which  may  include statutes, laws, regulations,
 rules, codes, department of state  opinions  and  decisions,  and  court
 decisions  and at least one hour of instruction pertaining to the law of
 agency except in the case of the initial  two-year  licensing  term  for
 real  estate  salespersons, two hours of agency related instruction must
 be completed, and successfully completed  a  continuing  education  real
 estate  course or courses approved by the secretary of state as to meth-
 od, content and supervision, which approval may be withdrawn if  in  the
 opinion  of  the secretary of state such course or courses are not being
 conducted properly as to method,  content  and  supervision.  For  those
 individuals licensed pursuant to subdivision six of section four hundred
 forty-two-g  of  this article, in the individual's initial license term,
 at least eleven hours of the required [twenty-two] TWENTY-FIVE and  one-
 half  hours  of continuing education shall be completed during the first
 year of the term. Of those eleven hours, three hours  shall  pertain  to
 applicable  New  York state statutes and regulations governing the prac-
 tice of real estate brokers and salespersons.  To  establish  compliance
 with  the  continuing  education  requirements  imposed by this section,
 licensees shall provide an  affidavit,  in  a  form  acceptable  to  the
 department of state, establishing the nature of the continuing education
 acquired and shall provide such further proof as required by the depart-
 ment of state.
   §  3. Subdivision 3 of section 441 of the real property law is amended
 by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
   (E) THE SECRETARY OF STATE SHALL  PROMULGATE  RULES  ESTABLISHING  THE
 CONTENT  OF  THE INSTRUCTION PERTAINING TO FAIR HOUSING AND/OR DISCRIMI-
 NATION IN THE SALE OR RENTAL OF REAL PROPERTY OR  AN  INTEREST  IN  REAL
 PROPERTY REQUIRED BY PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS SUBDIVISION. SUCH INSTRUCTION
 SHALL  INCLUDE,  BUT  NOT  BE  LIMITED TO, COURSES ON: (1) THE LEGACY OF
 SEGREGATION, UNEQUAL TREATMENT, AND HISTORIC LACK OF ACCESS TO  OPPORTU-
 NITY  IN  HOUSING;  (2) UNEQUAL ACCESS TO AMENITIES AND RESOURCES ON THE
 BASIS OF RACE, DISABILITY,  AND  OTHER  PROTECTED  CHARACTERISTICS;  (3)
 FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL FAIR HOUSING LAWS; AND (4) ANTI-BIAS TRAINING.
   §  4.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law, provided, however, that if

 S. 7581                             3
 
 chapter 392 of the laws of 2019, shall  not  have  taken  effect  on  or
 before  such  date then section two of this act shall take effect on the
 same date and in the same manner as such chapter of the  laws  of  2019,
 takes effect.

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Senate Bill S7581

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Actions

co-Sponsors

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

James Skoufis

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Actions

co-Sponsors

Todd Kaminsky

Anna M. Kaplan

Brian Kavanagh

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Details

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S7581 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments