Bill Text: NY A05251 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Permits the division of housing and community renewal to investigate rent overcharge complaints in rent regulated housing accommodations by reviewing all rent history beyond four years' prior records as needed.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 50-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to housing [A05251 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A05251-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Permits the division of housing and community renewal to investigate rent overcharge complaints in rent regulated housing accommodations by reviewing all rent history beyond four years' prior records as needed.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 50-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to housing [A05251 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A05251-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5251 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 8, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Housing AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, in relation to investigation of rent overcharge complaints The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 12 of section 4 of 2 chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant 3 protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 403 of 4 the laws of 1983, the opening paragraph and clause (i) of subparagraph 5 (b) as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as 6 follows: 7 (1) Subject to the conditions and limitations of this paragraph, any 8 owner of housing accommodations in a city having a population of less 9 than one million or a town or village as to which an emergency has been 10 declared pursuant to section three, who, upon complaint of a tenant or 11 of the state division of housing and community renewal, is found by the 12 state division of housing and community renewal, after a reasonable 13 opportunity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent 14 authorized for a housing accommodation subject to this act shall be 15 liable to the tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of 16 such overcharge. In no event shall such treble damage penalty be 17 assessed against an owner based solely on said owner's failure to file a 18 proper or timely initial or annual rent registration statement. If the 19 owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge 20 was neither willful nor attributable to his negligence, the state divi- 21 sion of housing and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the 22 amount of the overcharge plus interest at the rate of interest payable 23 on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac- 24 tice law and rules. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06209-01-9A. 5251 2 1 (ii) of this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of deter- 2 mining an overcharge, shall be deemed to be the rent indicated in [the] 3 prior annual registration [statement filed four years prior to the most4recent registration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial5registration statement)] statements plus in each case any subsequent 6 lawful increases and adjustments, less any appropriate penalties. [Where7the amount of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement8filed four years prior to the most recent registration statement is not9challenged within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor10service of any registration shall be subject to challenge at any time11thereafter.] The division of housing and community renewal, in investi- 12 gating complaints of overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent, 13 shall consider all available rent history which is reasonably necessary 14 to make such determinations. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety 15 days of the initial registration of a housing accommodation, the legal 16 regulated rent for purposes of determining an overcharge shall be deemed 17 to be the rent charged [on the date four years prior to] as of the date 18 of the initial registration of the housing accommodation (or, if the 19 housing accommodation was not previously subject to this act [for less20than four years], the initial legal regulated rent) plus in each case, 21 any lawful increases and adjustments, less any appropriate penalties. 22 Where the rent charged [on the date four years] prior to the date of the 23 initial registration of the accommodation cannot be established, such 24 rent shall be established by the division. [Where the amount of rent set25forth in the annual rent registration statement filed four years prior26to the most recent registration statement is not challenged within four27years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of any registration28shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.] 29 (a) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal 30 shall apportion the owner's liability between or among two or more 31 tenants found to have been overcharged by such owner during their 32 particular tenancy of a unit. 33 (b) (i) Except as provided under clauses (ii) and (iii) of this 34 subparagraph, a complaint under this subdivision [shall] may be filed 35 with the state division of housing and community renewal [within four36years of the first overcharge alleged and no determination of an over-37charge and no award or calculation of an award of the amount of an over-38charge may be based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four39years before the complaint is filed. This paragraph shall preclude exam-40ination of the rental history of the housing accommodation prior to the41four-year period preceding the filing of a complaint pursuant to this42subdivision] at any time. 43 (ii) [No] A penalty of three times the overcharge may be based upon an 44 overcharge having occurred [more than two years] at any time before the 45 complaint is filed [or upon an overcharge which occurred prior to April46first, nineteen hundred eighty-four.47(iii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to the date48of filing of the initial rent registration as provided in subdivision b49of section twelve-a of this act shall be filed within ninety days of the50mailing of notice to the tenant of such registration]. 51 (c) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an opportunity 52 to join in any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state 53 division of housing and community renewal. 54 (d) An owner found to have overcharged shall, in all cases, be 55 assessed the reasonable costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding, and 56 interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payableA. 5251 3 1 on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac- 2 tice law and rules. 3 (e) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal 4 awarding penalties may, upon the expiration of the period in which the 5 owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of 6 the civil practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in 7 the same manner as a judgment or, in the alternative, not in excess of 8 twenty percent thereof per month may be offset against any rent there- 9 after due the owner. 10 (f) Unless a tenant shall have filed a complaint of overcharge with 11 the division which complaint has not been withdrawn, nothing contained 12 in this section shall be deemed to prevent a tenant or tenants, claiming 13 to have been overcharged, from commencing an action or interposing a 14 counterclaim in a court of competent jurisdiction for damages equal to 15 the overcharge and the penalty provided for in this section, including 16 interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable 17 on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac- 18 tice law and rules, plus the statutory costs and allowable disbursements 19 in connection with the proceeding. [Such action must be commenced or20counterclaim interposed within four years of the date of the alleged21overcharge but no recovery of three times the amount of the overcharge22may be awarded with respect to any overcharge which had occurred more23than two years before the action is commenced or counterclaim is inter-24posed.] 25 § 2. Subdivision a of section 26-516 of the administrative code of the 26 city of New York, as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is 27 amended to read as follows: 28 a. Subject to the conditions and limitations of this subdivision, any 29 owner of housing accommodations who, upon complaint of a tenant, or of 30 the state division of housing and community renewal, is found by the 31 state division of housing and community renewal, after a reasonable 32 opportunity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent 33 authorized for a housing accommodation subject to this chapter shall be 34 liable to the tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of 35 such overcharge. In no event shall such treble damage penalty be 36 assessed against an owner based solely on said owner's failure to file a 37 timely or proper initial or annual rent registration statement. If the 38 owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge 39 was not willful, the state division of housing and community renewal 40 shall establish the penalty as the amount of the overcharge plus inter- 41 est. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of this 42 paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of determining an over- 43 charge, shall be the amount of rent indicated in [the] prior annual 44 registration [statement filed four years prior to the most recent regis-45tration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration46statement)] statements plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases 47 and adjustments, less any appropriate penalties. [Where the amount of48rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement filed four49years prior to the most recent registration statement is not challenged50within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of any51registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.] The 52 division of housing and community renewal, in investigating complaints 53 of overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent, shall consider 54 all available rent history which is reasonably necessary to make such 55 determinations. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety days of the 56 initial registration of a housing accommodation, the legal regulatedA. 5251 4 1 rent shall be deemed to be the rent charged [on the date four years2prior to] as of the date of the initial registration of the housing 3 accommodation (or, if the housing accommodation was not previously 4 subject to this chapter [for less than four years], the initial legal 5 regulated rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and adjustments, 6 less any appropriate penalties. Where the rent charged [on the date four7years prior to] as of the date of the initial registration of the accom- 8 modation cannot be established, such rent shall be established by the 9 division. 10 Where the prior rent charged [on the date four years prior to the date11of initial registration of] for the housing accommodation cannot be 12 established, such rent shall be established by the division provided 13 that where a rent is established based on rentals determined under the 14 provisions of the local emergency housing rent control act such rent 15 must be adjusted to account for no less than the minimum increases which 16 would be permitted if the housing accommodation were covered under the 17 provisions of this chapter, less any appropriate penalties. [Where the18amount of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement filed19four years prior to the most recent registration statement is not chal-20lenged within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of21any registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.] 22 (1) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal 23 shall apportion the owner's liability between or among two or more 24 tenants found to have been overcharged by such owner during their 25 particular tenancy of a unit. 26 (2) Except as provided under clauses (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, a 27 complaint under this subdivision [shall] may be filed with the state 28 division of housing and community renewal [within four years of the29first overcharge alleged and no determination of an overcharge and no30award or calculation of an award of the amount of an overcharge may be31based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four years before the32complaint is filed] at any time. (i) [No] A penalty of three times the 33 overcharge may be based upon an overcharge having occurred [more than34two years] at any time before the complaint is filed [or upon an over-35charge which occurred prior to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-36four. (ii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to the37date of filing of the initial rent registration as provided in section3826-517 of this chapter shall be filed within ninety days of the mailing39of notice to the tenant of such registration. This paragraph shall40preclude examination of the rental history of the housing accommodation41prior to the four-year period preceding the filing of a complaint pursu-42ant to this subdivision]. 43 (3) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an opportunity 44 to join in any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state 45 division of housing and community renewal. 46 (4) An owner found to have overcharged may be assessed the reasonable 47 costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding and interest from the date 48 of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant 49 to section five thousand four of the civil practice law and rules. 50 (5) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal 51 awarding penalties may, upon the expiration of the period in which the 52 owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of 53 the civil practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in 54 the same manner as a judgment or not in excess of twenty percent thereof 55 per month may be offset against any rent thereafter due the owner. 56 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that:A. 5251 5 1 a. the amendments to paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 12 of the 2 emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section 3 one of this act shall expire on the same date as such act expires and 4 shall not affect the expiration of such act as provided in section 17 of 5 chapter 567 of the laws of 1974; and 6 b. the amendments to section 26-516 of chapter 4 of title 26 of the 7 administrative code of the city of New York made by section two of this 8 act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not 9 affect the expiration of such law as provided under section 26-520 of 10 such law.