Senate Bill S9353

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9353
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 4, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SALAZAR -- 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 multiple dwelling law, in relation to the status of
   an interim multiple dwelling unit as a  protected  occupant's  primary
   residence

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative findings.  The  legislature  hereby  finds  and
 declares  that  the findings in section 280 of the multiple dwelling law
 are reaffirmed; that the decision from  the  Appellate  Division,  First
 Department, in ONE DOUBLE NINE DASHING LLC V NEW YORK CITY LOFT BOARD ET
 AL.  (2022)  misinterpreted  the  relationship  of  primary residence to
 continued occupancy of potential protected occupants under  article  7-C
 of  the  multiple  dwelling law; that the unique illegal living arrange-
 ments of potential protected occupants prior to loft law coverage, with-
 out rent and eviction protections and without the applicability of mini-
 mum housing maintenance standards, necessitates  a  regulatory  approach
 which  is  not always the same as for other rent-regulated tenants; that
 the loft board properly concluded that the primary residence requirement
 in the statute is prospective from an application for protected occupan-
 cy or from registration of the unit with the loft board; that  the  loft
 board  properly considered all relevant evidence and rejected a position
 that statements on tax returns alone are determinative in making  deter-
 minations  regarding  primary  residence;  that  prior to DASHING (2022)
 neither the courts nor the loft board has looked at statements  made  on
 tax  returns  as controlling when evaluating issues of primary residence
 for loft tenants; that most  loft  tenants  use  for  business  purposes
 portions of their lofts, which the loft law envisions as being legalized
 and covered as joint live/work spaces, so long as the residential use is
 the  primary  use of the unit; and that it is necessary for the legisla-
 ture to correct the misinterpretation in DASHING (2022) and to  clarify,
 and  to codify in the law, what has been loft board policy and precedent
 based on the current law, loft board rules, and the loft board's  deleg-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD08702-01-5
 S. 9353                             2
 
 ated  expertise  for evaluating primary residence of potential protected
 occupants in possible interim multiple dwelling units.
   §  2.  Paragraph  (i)  of subdivision 2 of section 286 of the multiple
 dwelling law, as amended by chapter 4 of the laws of  2013,  is  amended
 and a new subdivision 14 is added to read as follows:
   (i)  Prior  to compliance with safety and fire protection standards of
 article seven-B of this chapter,  residential  occupants  qualified  for
 protection pursuant to this article shall be entitled to continued occu-
 pancy,  provided that, SUBSEQUENT TO THE APPLICATION FOR PROTECTED OCCU-
 PANCY WITH THE LOFT BOARD OR A COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION OR REGIS-
 TRATION WITH THE LOFT BOARD OF THE  OCCUPANT'S  UNIT  PURSUANT  TO  THIS
 ARTICLE,  the  unit  is  their primary residence, and shall pay the same
 rent, including escalations, specified in their lease or  rental  agree-
 ment  to  the  extent to which such lease or rental agreement remains in
 effect or, in the absence of a lease or rental agreement, the same  rent
 most  recently  paid  and accepted by the owner; if there is no lease or
 other rental agreement in effect,  rent  adjustments  prior  to  article
 seven-B  compliance  shall be in conformity with guidelines to be set by
 the loft board for such residential occupants within six months from the
 effective date of this article.
   14. IN DETERMINING WHETHER A UNIT QUALIFIES FOR COVERAGE  PURSUANT  TO
 THIS  ARTICLE,  WHETHER  AN OCCUPANT QUALIFIES FOR PROTECTION UNDER THIS
 ARTICLE, OR WHETHER A REGISTERED INTERIM MULTIPLE  DWELLING  UNIT  IS  A
 PROTECTED OCCUPANT'S PRIMARY RESIDENCE FOR ALL PURPOSES UNDER THIS ARTI-
 CLE,  NO SINGLE FACTOR SHALL BE SOLELY DETERMINATIVE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
 LIMITATION, STATEMENTS MADE OR ACTIONS TAKEN  IN  RELATION  TO  FEDERAL,
 STATE  OR  CITY  TAX  RETURNS.    EVIDENCE WHICH MAY BE CONSIDERED SHALL
 INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO,  SPECIFICATION  BY  AN  OCCUPANT  OF  AN
 ADDRESS  OTHER THAN SUCH UNIT AS A PLACE OF RESIDENCE ON ANY TAX RETURN,
 MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION, DRIVER'S LICENSE  OR  OTHER  DOCUMENT  FILED
 WITH  A  GOVERNMENT AGENCY.   NO WAIVER OF RIGHTS OTHERWISE PROTECTED BY
 THIS SUBDIVISION, MADE PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS  SUBDIVISION,
 SHALL BE ACCORDED ANY FORCE OR EFFECT.
   §  3.  This  act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to all
 pending actions or proceedings, including appeals.