STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         5251--A
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 8, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. DINOWITZ, REYES, TAYLOR, COLTON, JAFFEE, GOTT-
          FRIED, EPSTEIN, SIMON, D'URSO, ARROYO, BLAKE, DE LA ROSA, NIOU, GLICK,
          CRUZ, BARNWELL, M. G. MILLER, HUNTER, MOSLEY, PICHARDO, DAVILA,  RICH-
          ARDSON,  L. ROSENTHAL,  FERNANDEZ,  FRONTUS, BICHOTTE, CARROLL, ORTIZ,
          BARRON, WILLIAMS, PERRY, SEAWRIGHT -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.  of  A.
          COOK,  NOLAN  -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted to said committee
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the administrative code of the city of New York, the
          emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four and the civil
          practice law and rules, in relation to  investigation  of  rent  over-
          charge 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

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06209-08-9

        A. 5251--A                          2

     1  proper or timely initial or annual rent registration statement.] If  the
     2  owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge
     3  was  neither willful nor attributable to his negligence, the state divi-
     4  sion of housing and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the
     5  amount  of  the overcharge plus interest at the rate of interest payable
     6  on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil  prac-
     7  tice  law and rules. After a complaint of rent overcharge has been filed
     8  and served on an owner, the voluntary adjustment of the rent and/or  the
     9  voluntary tender of a refund of rent overcharges shall not be considered
    10  by the division of housing and community renewal or a court of competent
    11  jurisdiction as evidence that the overcharge was not willful. (i) Except
    12  as  to  complaints  filed pursuant to clause (ii) of this paragraph, the
    13  legal regulated rent for purposes of determining an overcharge, shall be
    14  deemed to be the rent indicated  in  the  most  recent  reliable  annual
    15  registration  statement  for  a  rent stabilized tenant filed [four] and
    16  served upon the tenant six or more years prior to the most recent regis-
    17  tration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration
    18  statement) plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases and adjust-
    19  ments. [Where the amount of rent set forth in the annual rent  registra-
    20  tion  statement  filed  four years prior to the most recent registration
    21  statement is not challenged within four years  of  its  filing,  neither
    22  such  rent nor service of any registration shall be subject to challenge
    23  at any time thereafter.] The division of housing and  community  renewal
    24  or  a  court  of  competent jurisdiction, in investigating complaints of
    25  overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent, shall  consider  all
    26  available rent history which is reasonably necessary to make such deter-
    27  minations. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety days of the initial
    28  registration  of  a  housing accommodation, the legal regulated rent for
    29  purposes of determining an overcharge shall be deemed  to  be  the  rent
    30  charged  on  the  date [four] six years prior to the date of the initial
    31  registration of the housing accommodation (or, if the  housing  accommo-
    32  dation  was  subject  to  this  act  for less than [four] six years, the
    33  initial legal regulated rent) plus in each case,  any  lawful  increases
    34  and  adjustments.  Where  the  rent charged on the date [four] six years
    35  prior to the date of  the  initial  registration  of  the  accommodation
    36  cannot  be  established, such rent shall be established by the division.
    37  [Where the amount of rent set forth  in  the  annual  rent  registration
    38  statement  filed four years prior to the most recent registration state-
    39  ment is not challenged within four years of  its  filing,  neither  such
    40  rent  nor  service  of any registration shall be subject to challenge at
    41  any time thereafter.]
    42    (a) The order of the state division of housing and  community  renewal
    43  shall  apportion  the  owner's  liability  between  or among two or more
    44  tenants found to have  been  overcharged  by  such  owner  during  their
    45  particular tenancy of a unit.
    46    (b)  (i)  Except  as  provided  under  clauses  (ii) and (iii) of this
    47  subparagraph, a complaint under this subdivision [shall]  may  be  filed
    48  with  the  state  division of housing and community renewal [within four
    49  years of the first overcharge alleged and no determination of  an  over-
    50  charge and no award or calculation of an award of the amount of an over-
    51  charge  may  be  based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four
    52  years before the complaint is filed. This paragraph shall preclude exam-
    53  ination of the rental history of the housing accommodation prior to  the
    54  four-year  period  preceding  the filing of a complaint pursuant to this
    55  subdivision] in a court of competent jurisdiction at any  time,  however

        A. 5251--A                          3
     1  any  recovery  of overcharge penalties shall be limited to the six years
     2  preceding the complaint.
     3    (ii)  [No]  A penalty of three times the overcharge [may be based upon
     4  an overcharge having occurred more than two years before  the  complaint
     5  is  filed  or  upon  an  overcharge which occurred prior to April first,
     6  nineteen hundred eighty-four]shall  be  assessed  upon  all  overcharges
     7  willfully collected by the owner starting six years before the complaint
     8  is filed.
     9    (iii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to the date
    10  of  filing of the initial rent registration as provided in subdivision b
    11  of section twelve-a of this act shall be filed within ninety days of the
    12  mailing of notice to the tenant of such registration.
    13    (c) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an  opportunity
    14  to  join  in  any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state
    15  division of housing and community renewal.
    16    (d) An owner found  to  have  overcharged  shall,  in  all  cases,  be
    17  assessed the reasonable costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding, and
    18  interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
    19  on  a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
    20  tice law and rules.
    21    (e) The order of the state division of housing and  community  renewal
    22  awarding  penalties  may, upon the expiration of the period in which the
    23  owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to  article  seventy-eight  of
    24  the  civil  practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in
    25  the same manner as a judgment or, in the alternative, not in  excess  of
    26  twenty  percent  thereof per month may be offset against any rent there-
    27  after due the owner.
    28    (f) Unless a tenant shall have filed a complaint  of  overcharge  with
    29  the  division  which complaint has not been withdrawn, nothing contained
    30  in this section shall be deemed to prevent a tenant or tenants, claiming
    31  to have been overcharged, from commencing an  action  or  interposing  a
    32  counterclaim  in  a court of competent jurisdiction for damages equal to
    33  the overcharge and the penalty provided for in this  section,  including
    34  interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
    35  on  a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
    36  tice law and rules, plus the statutory costs and allowable disbursements
    37  in connection with the proceeding. [Such action  must  be  commenced  or
    38  counterclaim  interposed  within  four  years of the date of the alleged
    39  overcharge but no recovery of three times the amount of  the  overcharge
    40  may  be  awarded  with respect to any overcharge which had occurred more
    41  than two years before the action is commenced or counterclaim is  inter-
    42  posed.]  The courts and the division shall have concurrent jurisdiction,
    43  subject to the tenant's choice of forum.
    44    § 2. Paragraph 8 of subdivision a of section 12 of section 4 of  chap-
    45  ter  576  of  the  laws  of  1974,  constituting  the  emergency  tenant
    46  protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by  chapter  403  of
    47  the  laws  of 1983, is amended and a new paragraph 9 is added to read as
    48  follows:
    49    (8) [Any] Except where a specific provision of this law  requires  the
    50  maintenance  of  rent  records for a longer period, including records of
    51  the useful life of improvements made to any housing accommodation or any
    52  building, any owner who has  duly  registered  a  housing  accommodation
    53  pursuant  to section twelve-a of this act shall not be required to main-
    54  tain or produce any records relating to rentals  of  such  accommodation
    55  more  than  four  years  prior to the most recent registration or annual
    56  statement for such accommodation.  However, an owner's election  not  to

        A. 5251--A                          4
     1  maintain  records shall not limit the authority of the division of hous-
     2  ing and community renewal and the courts to examine the  rental  history
     3  and determine legal regulated rents pursuant to this subdivision.
     4    (9)  The  division of housing and community renewal and the courts, in
     5  investigating complaints of overcharge and in  determining  legal  regu-
     6  lated  rents, shall consider all available rent history which is reason-
     7  ably necessary to make such determinations, including but not limited to
     8  (a) any rent registration or other records filed with the state division
     9  of housing and community renewal,  or  any  other  state,  municipal  or
    10  federal  agency, regardless of the date to which the information on such
    11  registration refers; (b) any order issued by  any  state,  municipal  or
    12  federal  agency; (c) any records maintained by the owner or tenants; and
    13  (d) any public record kept in the regular  course  of  business  by  any
    14  state,  municipal or federal agency. Nothing contained in this paragraph
    15  shall limit the examination of rent history relevant to a  determination
    16  as to:
    17    (i)  whether  the legality of a rental amount charged or registered is
    18  reliable in light of all available evidence including, but  not  limited
    19  to, whether an unexplained increase in the registered or lease rents, or
    20  a  fraudulent  scheme to destabilize the housing accommodation, rendered
    21  such rent or registration unreliable;
    22    (ii) whether an accommodation  is  subject  to  the  emergency  tenant
    23  protection act;
    24    (iii) whether an order issued by the division of housing and community
    25  renewal or a court of competent jurisdiction, including, but not limited
    26  to an order issued pursuant to section 26-514 of the administrative code
    27  of  the  city of New York, or any regulatory agreement or other contract
    28  with any governmental agency, and remaining in effect within  six  years
    29  of the filing of a complaint pursuant to this section, affects or limits
    30  the amount of rent that may be charged or collected;
    31    (iv) whether an overcharge was or was not willful;
    32    (v)  whether a rent adjustment that requires information regarding the
    33  length of occupancy by a present or prior tenant was lawful;
    34    (vi) the existence or terms and conditions of a preferential rent,  or
    35  the  propriety  of  a  legal  registered  rent  during a period when the
    36  tenants were charged a preferential rent;
    37    (vii) the legality of a rent charged or registered  immediately  prior
    38  to the registration of a preferential rent; or
    39    (viii)  the amount of the legal regulated rent where the apartment was
    40  vacant or temporarily exempt on the date six years prior to  a  tenant's
    41  complaint.
    42    §  3.  Subdivision  b of section 12 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the
    43  laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of  nine-
    44  teen  seventy-four,  as  amended  by chapter 403 of the laws of 1983, is
    45  amended to read as follows:
    46    b. Within a city having a population of one million or more, the state
    47  division of housing and community renewal  shall  have  such  powers  to
    48  enforce this act as shall be provided in the New York city rent stabili-
    49  zation  law  of  nineteen  hundred  sixty-nine,  as amended, or as shall
    50  otherwise be provided by law.   Unless  a  tenant  shall  have  filed  a
    51  complaint  of  overcharge with the division which complaint has not been
    52  withdrawn, nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to  prevent
    53  a  tenant or tenants, claiming to have been overcharged, from commencing
    54  an action or interposing a counterclaim in a court of  competent  juris-
    55  diction for damages equal to the overcharge and the penalty provided for
    56  in  this  section, including interest from the date of the overcharge at

        A. 5251--A                          5
     1  the rate of interest payable on a  judgment  pursuant  to  section  five
     2  thousand  four  of  the civil practice law and rules, plus the statutory
     3  costs and allowable disbursements in connection with the proceeding. The
     4  courts  and  the division shall have concurrent jurisdiction, subject to
     5  the tenant's choice of forum.
     6    § 4. Subdivision a of section 26-516 of the administrative code of the
     7  city of New York, as amended by chapter 116 of  the  laws  of  1997,  is
     8  amended to read as follows:
     9    a.  Subject to the conditions and limitations of this subdivision, any
    10  owner of housing accommodations who, upon complaint of a tenant,  or  of
    11  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 chapter 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  timely  or proper initial or annual rent registration statement.] If the
    19  owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge
    20  was not willful, the state division of  housing  and  community  renewal
    21  shall  establish the penalty as the amount of the overcharge plus inter-
    22  est.  After a complaint of rent overcharge has been filed and served  on
    23  an  owner,  the  voluntary  adjustment  of the rent and/or the voluntary
    24  tender of a refund of rent overcharges shall not be  considered  by  the
    25  division of housing and community renewal or a court of competent juris-
    26  diction  as  evidence that the overcharge was not willful. (i) Except as
    27  to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of this paragraph, the legal
    28  regulated rent for purposes of determining an overcharge, shall  be  the
    29  rent indicated in the most recent reliable annual registration statement
    30  filed  [four]  and served upon the tenant six or more years prior to the
    31  most recent registration statement, (or, if  more  recently  filed,  the
    32  initial  registration statement) plus in each case any subsequent lawful
    33  increases and adjustments. [Where the amount of rent set  forth  in  the
    34  annual  rent  registration  statement filed four years prior to the most
    35  recent registration statement is not challenged within four years of its
    36  filing, neither such rent nor  service  of  any  registration  shall  be
    37  subject  to  challenge  at any time thereafter.] The division of housing
    38  and community renewal or a court of competent jurisdiction, in  investi-
    39  gating complaints of overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent,
    40  shall  consider all available rent history which is reasonably necessary
    41  to make such determinations. (ii) As to complaints filed  within  ninety
    42  days  of  the initial registration of a housing accommodation, the legal
    43  regulated rent shall be deemed to be the rent charged on the date [four]
    44  six years prior to the date of the initial registration of  the  housing
    45  accommodation  (or,  if  the  housing  accommodation was subject to this
    46  chapter for less than [four] six  years,  the  initial  legal  regulated
    47  rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and adjustments. Where the
    48  rent  charged  on  the  date  [four]  six years prior to the date of the
    49  initial registration of the accommodation cannot  be  established,  such
    50  rent shall be established by the division.
    51    Where the prior rent charged [on the date four years prior to the date
    52  of  initial  registration  of]  for  the housing accommodation cannot be
    53  established, such rent shall be established  by  the  division  provided
    54  that  where  a rent is established based on rentals determined under the
    55  provisions of the local emergency housing rent  control  act  such  rent
    56  must be adjusted to account for no less than the minimum increases which

        A. 5251--A                          6
     1  would  be  permitted if the housing accommodation were covered under the
     2  provisions of this chapter, less any appropriate penalties.  [Where  the
     3  amount of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement filed
     4  four  years prior to the most recent registration statement is not chal-
     5  lenged within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of
     6  any registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]
     7    (1) The order of the state division of housing and  community  renewal
     8  shall  apportion  the  owner's  liability  between  or among two or more
     9  tenants found to have  been  overcharged  by  such  owner  during  their
    10  particular tenancy of a unit.
    11    (2) Except as provided under clauses (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, a
    12  complaint  under  this  subdivision  [shall] may be filed with the state
    13  division of housing and community renewal  [within  four  years  of  the
    14  first  overcharge  alleged  and no determination of an overcharge and no
    15  award or calculation of an award of the amount of an overcharge  may  be
    16  based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four years before the
    17  complaint  is  filed]  in a court of competent jurisdiction at any time,
    18  however any recovery of overcharge penalties shall be limited to the six
    19  years preceding the complaint .  (i) [No] A penalty of three  times  the
    20  overcharge  [may  be  based upon an overcharge having occurred more than
    21  two years] shall be assessed upon all overcharges willfully collected by
    22  the owner starting six years before the complaint is filed [or  upon  an
    23  overcharge  which occurred prior to April first, nineteen hundred eight-
    24  y-four. (ii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to the
    25  date of filing of the initial rent registration as provided  in  section
    26  26-517  of this chapter shall be filed within ninety days of the mailing
    27  of notice to the tenant  of  such  registration.  This  paragraph  shall
    28  preclude  examination of the rental history of the housing accommodation
    29  prior to the four-year period preceding the filing of a complaint pursu-
    30  ant to this subdivision].
    31    (3) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an  opportunity
    32  to  join  in  any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state
    33  division of housing and community renewal.
    34    (4) An owner found to have overcharged may be assessed the  reasonable
    35  costs  and  attorney's fees of the proceeding and interest from the date
    36  of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant
    37  to section five thousand four of the civil practice law and rules.
    38    (5) The order of the state division of housing and  community  renewal
    39  awarding  penalties  may, upon the expiration of the period in which the
    40  owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to  article  seventy-eight  of
    41  the  civil  practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in
    42  the same manner as a judgment or not in excess of twenty percent thereof
    43  per month may be offset against any rent thereafter due the owner.
    44    § 5. Subdivision g of section 26-516 of the administrative code of the
    45  city of New York is amended, subdivision h is relettered  subdivision  i
    46  and a new subdivision h is added to read as follows:
    47    g.  [Any]  Except  where a specific provision of this law requires the
    48  maintenance of rent records for a longer period,  including  records  of
    49  the useful life of improvements made to any housing accommodation or any
    50  building,  any  owner  who  has  duly registered a housing accommodation
    51  pursuant to section 26-517 of this chapter  shall  not  be  required  to
    52  maintain  or  produce  any  records relating to rentals of such accommo-
    53  dation for more than [four] six years prior to the most recent registra-
    54  tion or annual statement for such  accommodation.  However,  an  owner's
    55  election  not  to  maintain records shall not limit the authority of the
    56  division of housing and community renewal and the courts to examine  the

        A. 5251--A                          7
     1  rental  history  and  determine  legal  regulated rents pursuant to this
     2  section.
     3    h.  The  division of housing and community renewal, and the courts, in
     4  investigating complaints of overcharge and in  determining  legal  regu-
     5  lated  rents, shall consider all available rent history which is reason-
     6  ably necessary to make such determinations, including but not limited to
     7  (i) any rent registration or other records filed with the state division
     8  of housing and community renewal,  or  any  other  state,  municipal  or
     9  federal  agency, regardless of the date to which the information on such
    10  registration refers; (ii) any order issued by any  state,  municipal  or
    11  federal  agency;  (iii)  any records maintained by the owner or tenants;
    12  and (iv) any public record kept in the regular course of business by any
    13  state, municipal or federal agency. Nothing contained in  this  subdivi-
    14  sion  shall limit the examination of rent history relevant to a determi-
    15  nation as to:
    16    (i) whether the legality of a rental amount charged or  registered  is
    17  reliable in light of all available evidence including but not limited to
    18  whether  an  unexplained increase in the registered or lease rents, or a
    19  fraudulent scheme to destabilize  the  housing  accommodation,  rendered
    20  such rent or registration unreliable;
    21    (ii)  whether  an  accommodation  is  subject  to the emergency tenant
    22  protection act or the rent stabilization law;
    23    (iii) whether an order issued by the division of housing and community
    24  renewal or by a court, including, but not limited  to  an  order  issued
    25  pursuant  to section 26-514 of this chapter, or any regulatory agreement
    26  or other contract with any governmental agency, and remaining in  effect
    27  within  six years of the filing of a complaint pursuant to this section,
    28  affects or limits the amount of rent that may be charged or collected;
    29    (iv) whether an overcharge was or was not willful;
    30    (v) whether a rent adjustment that requires information regarding  the
    31  length of occupancy by a present or prior tenant was lawful;
    32    (vi)  the existence or terms and conditions of a preferential rent, or
    33  the propriety of a legal  registered  rent  during  a  period  when  the
    34  tenants were charged a preferential rent;
    35    (vii)  the  legality of a rent charged or registered immediately prior
    36  to the registration of a preferential rent; or
    37    (viii) the amount of the legal regulated rent where the apartment  was
    38  vacant  or  temporarily exempt on the date six years prior to a tenant's
    39  complaint.
    40    § 6. Section 213-a of the civil practice law and rules, as amended  by
    41  chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
    42    §  213-a.  [Actions  to  be  commenced within four years; residential]
    43  Residential rent overcharge. [An action on a residential rent overcharge
    44  shall be commenced within four years of the first overcharge alleged and
    45  no determination of an overcharge and no  award  or  calculation  of  an
    46  award  of  the  amount of any overcharge may be based upon an overcharge
    47  having occurred more than four years before  the  action  is  commenced.
    48  This  section  shall  preclude  examination of the rental history of the
    49  housing accommodation prior to the four-year period immediately  preced-
    50  ing  the commencement of the action.] No overcharge penalties or damages
    51  may be awarded for a period more than six years  before  the  action  is
    52  commenced  or  complaint  is  filed, however, an overcharge claim may be
    53  filed at any time, and the calculation and determination  of  the  legal
    54  rent  and  the amount of the overcharge shall be made in accordance with
    55  the provisions of law governing the  determination  and  calculation  of
    56  overcharges.

        A. 5251--A                          8
     1    §  7.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any
     2  claims pending or filed on and after such date; provided that:
     3    a. the amendments to section 12 of the emergency tenant protection act
     4  of nineteen seventy-four made by sections one, two and three of this act
     5  shall  expire  on the same date as such act expires and shall not affect
     6  the expiration of such act as provided in section 17 of chapter  567  of
     7  the laws of 1974; and
     8    b.  the  amendments  to section 26-516 of chapter 4 of title 26 of the
     9  administrative code of the city of New York made by  sections  four  and
    10  five  of  this act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and
    11  shall not affect the expiration of such law as  provided  under  section
    12  26-520 of such law.