Senate Bill S8559

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8559

SPONSOR: KAVANAGH
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to the aggravated harassment
of a rent regulated tenant; and repealing certain provisions of such law
relating thereto

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would strengthen protections for rent regulated tenants by
creating enhanced criminal penalties for landlords who engage in system-
atic harassment across multiple buildings, as well as repeat offenders
who violate existing anti-harassment laws.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill repeals subdivision 3 of Penal Law Section 241.05,
which provides for a Class E felony charge for repeat offenders
convicted of harassment of a rent regulated tenant. The repealed
provisions are replaced by a new Penal Law Section 241.07 as added under
              

section 2 of the bill.

Section 2 of the bill amends Penal Law Article 241 by adding a new

Section 241.07 to create a new Class D felony offense of aggravated
harassment of a rent regulated tenant. An owner is guilty of aggravated
harassment of a rent regulated tenant when:

- Under subdivision 1 of new Section 241.07, the owner, with intent to
induce two or more rent regulated tenants occupying apartments in two or
more residential buildings to vacate their units, engages in a systemat-
ic ongoing course of conduct that impairs habitability; creates or main-
tains a condition that endangers the safety or health of one or more of
the tenants; or interferes with or disturbs the comfort, repose, peace
or quiet of one or more of the tenants in their use and occupancy of
their apartment, including the interruption or discontinuance of essen-
tial services. The course of conduct described here is similar to the
existing provisions of subdivision 2 of Penal Law Section 241.05, which
generally applies to tenants living in the same building.

- Under subdivision 2 of new Section 241.07, the owner has been
convicted of the crime of harassment of a rent regulated tenant in the
first degree as defined in Penal Law Section 241.05 within the past five
years.

Subdivision 2 of new Section 241.07 also states that the good faith
commencement and pursuit of a lawful eviction does not by itself consti-
tute a systemic ongoing course of conduct of tenant harassment.

Section 3 of the bill sets forth the effective date. JUSTIFICATION:
Rent and tenant protection laws ensure that millions of New Yorkers have
access to stable, affordable apartments. Yet some unscrupulous landlords
harass tenants with the intent to force people out of their homes.
Existing legal recourse includes misdemeanor and felony charges geared
towards protecting tenants and holding offending landlords accountable.


However, current laws do not address the full scope of how certain prop-
erty owners operate to drive out lawful tenants. Harassment of a Rent
Regulated Tenant in the First Degree is a class E felony that addresses
landlords who engage in illegal behavior to get two or more tenants in
the same building to vacate their homes. But when landlords own multiple
buildings and engage in the same conduct with respect to multiple
tenants across various properties, they only face misdemeanor charges or
civil penalties.

Creating a new class D felony, Aggravated Harassment of a Rent Regulated
Tenant, to recognize this type of behavior will not only allow harassed
tenants to get real justice, but will also act as a meaningful deterrent
to landlords who may otherwise have acted in this manner. It will also
create a harsher penalty for landlords who engage in repeated behavior
within individual buildings, by creating an enhanced penalty for indi-
viduals who stand accused of Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in
the First Degree after having previously been convicted for the same
charge.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.