NY State Senate Bill 2023-S9095

Senate Bill S9095

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Relates to the use of certain residential dwellings by tenants who left the dwelling temporarily due to the health impacts of COVID-19

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Housing, Construction And Community Development 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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 22, 2024	referred to housing, construction and community development

2023-S9095 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10028
Current Committee:: Senate Housing, Construction And Community Development
Law Section:: Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974
Laws Affected:: Amd §5, Emerg Ten Prot Act of 1974

2023-S9095 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that a tenant who has left a residential dwelling unit between the dates of March 12, 2020 and January 1, 2022 due to the health impacts of COVID-19 in the city of New York, who is a senior citizen or disabled person, and who asserts an intent to return to the housing accommodation shall be deemed to be occupying the unit as such tenant's residence.

2023-S9095 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9095

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
ty-four, in relation to the use of certain residential dwellings by
tenants who left the dwelling temporarily due to the health impacts of
COVID-19

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Establishes that senior citizens or disabled people who left their rent-
regulated unit in New York City between the dates of March 12, 2020 and
January 1, 2022 due to the health impacts of COVID-19 in the City of New
York shall be deemed to be occupying the unit as their primary resi-
dence.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 to specify that senior
citizens or disabled persons who left their unit between the dates of

March 12, 2020 and January 1, 2022 due to the health impacts of COVID-19
in New York City shall be deemed to be occupying the unit as their
primary residence.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Owners of rent-regulated apartments may refuse to renew a lease or
discontinue a tenancy without DHCR approval in cases in which a tenant
is not using the unit as a primary residence (DHCR). Evidence that may
be used in making this determination may include a) occupancy of an
accommodation for less than 183 days, b) use of an address other than
the accommodation as a voting address, and c) use of an address other
than the accommodation for official government documents. During the
first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, many residents of New York
City temporarily moved out of the city to avoid infection. Many older
and disabled adults were among those who left the city-- and justifiably
so, given that 81% of COVID-19 deaths in 2020 occurred among those aged
65 and over (CDC). This phenomenon was especially pronounced among rent-
stabilized tenants, given that in 2021, approximately a third of rent-
stabilized apartments had one or more older adults - close to double the
number for private, unregulated apartments (HPD). This bill would ensure
that older and disabled rent-stabilized tenants won't be evicted for
their justified and temporary departure from New York City during the
first two years of the pandemic.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to actions and
proceedings pending on and after such date.

2023-S9095 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9095
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 22, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction
   and Community Development
 
 AN ACT to amend the emergency tenant protection act of  nineteen  seven-
   ty-four,  in  relation  to the use of certain residential dwellings by
   tenants who left the dwelling temporarily due to the health impacts of
   COVID-19

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Paragraph 11 of subdivision a of section 5 of section 4 of
 chapter 576 of the laws  of  1974,  constituting  the  emergency  tenant
 protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by section 1 of part
 J of chapter 36 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   (11)  housing accommodations which are not occupied by the tenant, not
 including subtenants or occupants, as [his or her] SUCH TENANT'S primary
 residence, as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.  For  the
 purposes  of  determining primary residency, a tenant who is a victim of
 domestic violence, as defined in section four  hundred  fifty-nine-a  of
 the social services law, who has left the unit because of such violence,
 and  who  asserts an intent to return to the housing accommodation shall
 be deemed to be occupying the unit as [his or her] SUCH TENANT'S primary
 residence. FOR THE PURPOSES OF DETERMINING PRIMARY RESIDENCY,  A  TENANT
 WHO HAS LEFT THE UNIT BETWEEN THE DATES OF MARCH 12, 2020 AND JANUARY 1,
 2022  DUE  TO THE HEALTH IMPACTS OF COVID-19 IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK AND
 IS A SENIOR CITIZEN OR IS A  DISABLED  PERSON  AS  DEFINED  IN  9  NYCRR
 2520.6, AND WHO ASSERTS AN INTENT TO RETURN TO THE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION
 SHALL  BE DEEMED TO BE OCCUPYING THE UNIT AS SUCH TENANT'S PRIMARY RESI-
 DENCE. For the purposes of this paragraph, where a housing accommodation
 is rented to a not-for-profit hospital for residential  use,  affiliated
 subtenants  authorized to use such accommodations by such hospital shall
 be deemed to be tenants.  For the purposes of this  paragraph,  where  a
 housing accommodation is rented to a not-for-profit for providing, as of
 and  after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand
 nineteen that amended this paragraph, permanent housing  to  individuals
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD15016-01-4
 S. 9095                             2
 
 who  are or were homeless or at risk of homelessness, affiliated subten-
 ants authorized to use such accommodations by such not-for-profit  shall
 be  deemed  to  be  tenants.  No action or proceeding shall be commenced
 seeking to recover possession on the ground that a housing accommodation
 is  not  occupied  by  the  tenant as [his or her] SUCH TENANT'S primary
 residence unless the owner or lessor shall have given thirty days notice
 to the tenant of [his or her] SUCH  OWNER'S  OR  LESSOR'S  intention  to
 commence such action or proceeding on such grounds.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.