Senate Bill S732

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S732

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to suspending evictions for tenants who are forced to
spend time away from their rent regulated residences and cannot meet
certain occupancy requirements

 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to suspending evictions for tenants who are forced to
spend time away from their rent regulated residences and cannot meet
certain occupancy requirements

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill establishes that time spent out of a rent regu-
lated residence during the COVID-19 declared state of emergency shall
not be counted toward any rent regulation occupancy time requirement or
become grounds for eviction.
              

Section 2 of the bill provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In order to continue to be protected under New York City's rent stabili-
zation and rent control laws and retain the right to lease renewal,
tenants must maintain their housing accommodation as their "primary
residence," which according to established case law means they must
occupy the residence for more than half of the calendar year. In normal
times, this law provides an important guarantee that New York's afforda-
ble housing stock is reserved for full-time residents of the City.

However, as New York continues to be the hardest-hit city in the country
during the COVID-19 pandemic, some tenants have chosen to temporarily
seek shelter with friends or family in locations outside of the City in
order to minimize their exposure to the virus and protect their health.
If these tenants are away from their units for an extended period of
time, this reasonable step could result in their landlord bringing a
civil action to evict the tenant on the basis of non-primary residence
at the termination of their lease, once eviction proceedings are allowed
to resume.

Current law also requires that tenants' family members who desire to
succeed to the rights of tenant once the current tenant vacates the
apartment must fulfill certain minimum periods of required residency in
order to be eligible to do so. If these family members were to relocate
during the pandemic, these required time periods could be deemed to be
interrupted.

Tenants and their families who temporarily relocate to ensure they can
stay safe during this difficult, frightening time period should not have
to fear that doing so might lead to the loss of their affordable housing
unit, especially when so many New Yorkers are currently faced with
crushing economic hardship.

This bill would provide that during the current declared state disaster
emergency, such tenants would be deemed to be occupying their units as
their primary residence, and any of their family members who relocate
would not be deemed to have interrupted their minimum residency require-
ments.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.8310-A of 2020 (Hoylman): Died in Housing, Construction and Community
Development

A.10381 of 2020 (Rosenthal L): Died in Housing

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.