Bill Text: NY A07221 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to rent history and rent registration; removes the statute of limitations on certain rent regulation violations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to housing [A07221 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A07221-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          7221
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     April 12, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. BARNWELL -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Housing
        AN  ACT to amend the public housing law, the emergency tenant protection
          act of nineteen seventy-four and the administrative code of  the  city
          of  New York, in relation to penalties for owners of property who fail
          to file a proper or timely rent registration statement
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  The  commissioner  of housing and community renewal shall
     2  distribute to each unit rent controlled or rent stabilized at any  point
     3  since 1971 a copy of such unit's rent history, regardless of the current
     4  rent regulation status of the unit, as well as literature describing how
     5  a tenant can identify a possible rent overcharge.
     6    §  2.  Section 14 of the public housing law is amended by adding a new
     7  subdivision 8 to read as follows:
     8    8. The commissioner shall generate and distribute literature  explain-
     9  ing  how  to identify a possible rent overcharge. The commissioner shall
    10  conduct geographic language studies to ensure that  such  literature  is
    11  available to all residents, not just those who speak and read English.
    12    §  3. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 12 of section 4 of chap-
    13  ter  576  of  the  laws  of  1974,  constituting  the  emergency  tenant
    14  protection  act  of  nineteen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 403 of
    15  the laws of 1983, the opening paragraph and clause (i)  of  subparagraph
    16  (b)  as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended and a new
    17  paragraph 9 is added to read as follows:
    18    (1) Subject to the conditions and limitations of this  paragraph,  any
    19  owner  of  housing  accommodations in a city having a population of less
    20  than one million or a town or village as to which an emergency has  been
    21  declared  pursuant  to section three, who, upon complaint of a tenant or
    22  of the state division of housing and community renewal, is found by  the
    23  state  division  of  housing  and  community renewal, after a reasonable
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10737-04-9
        A. 7221                             2
     1  opportunity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the  rent
     2  authorized  for  a  housing  accommodation  subject to this act shall be
     3  liable to the tenant for a penalty equal to three times  the  amount  of
     4  such  overcharge.  [In  no  event  shall  such  treble damage penalty be
     5  assessed against an owner based solely on said owner's failure to file a
     6  proper or timely initial or annual rent registration statement.] If  the
     7  owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge
     8  was  neither willful nor attributable to his negligence, the state divi-
     9  sion of housing and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the
    10  amount of the overcharge plus interest at the rate of  interest  payable
    11  on  a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
    12  tice law and rules. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause
    13  (ii) of this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of  deter-
    14  mining  an overcharge, shall be deemed to be the rent indicated in [the]
    15  prior annual registration [statement filed four years prior to the  most
    16  recent  registration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial
    17  registration statement)] statements plus in  each  case  any  subsequent
    18  lawful increases and adjustments, less any appropriate penalties. [Where
    19  the  amount  of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement
    20  filed four years prior to the most recent registration statement is  not
    21  challenged  within  four  years  of  its  filing,  neither such rent nor
    22  service of any registration shall be subject to challenge  at  any  time
    23  thereafter.]  The division of housing and community renewal, in investi-
    24  gating complaints of overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent,
    25  shall consider all available rent history which is reasonably  necessary
    26  to  make  such determinations. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety
    27  days of the initial registration of a housing accommodation,  the  legal
    28  regulated rent for purposes of determining an overcharge shall be deemed
    29  to  be the rent charged [on the date four years prior to] as of the date
    30  of the initial registration of the housing  accommodation  (or,  if  the
    31  housing  accommodation  was not previously subject to this act [for less
    32  than four years], the initial legal regulated rent) plus in  each  case,
    33  any  lawful  increases  and adjustments, less any appropriate penalties.
    34  Where the rent charged [on the date four years] prior to the date of the
    35  initial registration of the accommodation cannot  be  established,  such
    36  rent shall be established by the division. [Where the amount of rent set
    37  forth  in  the annual rent registration statement filed four years prior
    38  to the most recent registration statement is not challenged within  four
    39  years  of  its filing, neither such rent nor service of any registration
    40  shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]
    41    (a) The order of the state division of housing and  community  renewal
    42  shall  apportion  the  owner's  liability  between  or among two or more
    43  tenants found to have  been  overcharged  by  such  owner  during  their
    44  particular tenancy of a unit.
    45    (b)  (i)  Except  as  provided  under  clauses  (ii) and (iii) of this
    46  subparagraph, a complaint under this subdivision [shall]  may  be  filed
    47  with  the  state  division of housing and community renewal [within four
    48  years of the first overcharge alleged and no determination of  an  over-
    49  charge and no award or calculation of an award of the amount of an over-
    50  charge  may  be  based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four
    51  years before the complaint is filed. This paragraph shall preclude exam-
    52  ination of the rental history of the housing accommodation prior to  the
    53  four-year  period  preceding  the filing of a complaint pursuant to this
    54  subdivision] at any time.
    55    (ii) [No] A penalty of three times the overcharge may be based upon an
    56  overcharge having occurred [more than two years] at any time before  the
        A. 7221                             3
     1  complaint  is filed [or upon an overcharge which occurred prior to April
     2  first, nineteen hundred eighty-four.
     3    (iii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to the date
     4  of  filing of the initial rent registration as provided in subdivision b
     5  of section twelve-a of this act shall be filed within ninety days of the
     6  mailing of notice to the tenant of such registration].
     7    (c) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an  opportunity
     8  to  join  in  any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state
     9  division of housing and community renewal.
    10    (d) An owner found  to  have  overcharged  shall,  in  all  cases,  be
    11  assessed the reasonable costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding, and
    12  interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
    13  on  a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
    14  tice law and rules.
    15    (e) The order of the state division of housing and  community  renewal
    16  awarding  penalties  may, upon the expiration of the period in which the
    17  owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to  article  seventy-eight  of
    18  the  civil  practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in
    19  the same manner as a judgment or, in the alternative, not in  excess  of
    20  twenty  percent  thereof per month may be offset against any rent there-
    21  after due the owner.
    22    (f) Unless a tenant shall have filed a complaint  of  overcharge  with
    23  the  division  which complaint has not been withdrawn, nothing contained
    24  in this section shall be deemed to prevent a tenant or tenants, claiming
    25  to have been overcharged, from commencing an  action  or  interposing  a
    26  counterclaim  in  a court of competent jurisdiction for damages equal to
    27  the overcharge and the penalty provided for in this  section,  including
    28  interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
    29  on  a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
    30  tice law and rules, plus the statutory costs and allowable disbursements
    31  in connection with the proceeding. [Such action  must  be  commenced  or
    32  counterclaim  interposed  within  four  years of the date of the alleged
    33  overcharge but no recovery of three times the amount of  the  overcharge
    34  may  be  awarded  with respect to any overcharge which had occurred more
    35  than two years before the action is commenced or counterclaim is  inter-
    36  posed.]
    37    (9)  A  penalty shall be assessed against an owner who fails to file a
    38  timely or proper  initial,  annual  or  supplemental  rent  registration
    39  statement  or fails to supply the unit's rent history with a lease under
    40  section 12-a of this act of two thousand dollars per unit for  buildings
    41  with  less  than fifteen units and of five thousand dollars per unit for
    42  buildings with fifteen units or more. Such penalty shall be paid to  the
    43  tenant  of  the  unit,  either  as  cash, check or a credit toward their
    44  monthly rent.  Should the tenant's lease expire before the credit toward
    45  their monthly rent is paid, then the remainder of  the  credit  will  be
    46  paid  out  as  a  cash  award. The choice of cash, check, or rent credit
    47  shall be determined by the tenant.
    48    § 4. Section 12-a of section 4 of chapter 576 of  the  laws  of  1974,
    49  constituting  the  emergency  tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-
    50  four, is amended by adding two new subdivisions  i  and  j  to  read  as
    51  follows:
    52    i. A supplemental statement shall be filed containing the current rent
    53  for  each  unit and such other information contained in subdivision a of
    54  this section as shall be required by the division of housing and  commu-
    55  nity  renewal within ninety days of the rent on a unit being raised. The
        A. 7221                             4
     1  owner shall provide each tenant then in occupancy with a  copy  of  that
     2  portion of such statement as pertains to the tenant's unit.
     3    j.  The  owner  shall  supply  with  each lease (1) literature on rent
     4  history produced by the division of housing and  community  renewal  and
     5  (2) a copy of such unit's entire rent history.
     6    §  5.    Subdivision a of section 26-516 of the administrative code of
     7  the city of New York, as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997,  is
     8  amended and a new subdivision i is added 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. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii)  of  this
    23  paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of determining an over-
    24  charge,  shall  be  the  amount  of rent indicated in [the] prior annual
    25  registration [statement filed four years prior to the most recent regis-
    26  tration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration
    27  statement)] statements plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases
    28  and adjustments, less any appropriate penalties. [Where  the  amount  of
    29  rent  set  forth  in  the  annual rent registration statement filed four
    30  years prior to the most recent registration statement is not  challenged
    31  within  four  years  of its filing, neither such rent nor service of any
    32  registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]  The
    33  division  of  housing and community renewal, in investigating complaints
    34  of overcharge and in determining legal regulated  rent,  shall  consider
    35  all  available  rent  history which is reasonably necessary to make such
    36  determinations. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety  days  of  the
    37  initial  registration  of  a  housing accommodation, the legal regulated
    38  rent shall be deemed to be the rent charged  [on  the  date  four  years
    39  prior  to]  as  of  the  date of the initial registration of the housing
    40  accommodation (or, if  the  housing  accommodation  was  not  previously
    41  subject  to  this  chapter [for less than four years], the initial legal
    42  regulated rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and adjustments,
    43  less any appropriate penalties. Where the rent charged [on the date four
    44  years prior to] as of the date of the initial registration of the accom-
    45  modation cannot be established, such rent shall be  established  by  the
    46  division.
    47    Where the prior rent charged [on the date four years prior to the date
    48  of  initial  registration  of]  for  the housing accommodation cannot be
    49  established, such rent shall be established  by  the  division  provided
    50  that  where  a rent is established based on rentals determined under the
    51  provisions of the local emergency housing rent  control  act  such  rent
    52  must be adjusted to account for no less than the minimum increases which
    53  would  be  permitted if the housing accommodation were covered under the
    54  provisions of this chapter, less any appropriate penalties.  [Where  the
    55  amount of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement filed
    56  four  years prior to the most recent registration statement is not chal-
        A. 7221                             5

     1  lenged within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of
     2  any registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]
     3    (1)  The  order of the state division of housing and community renewal
     4  shall apportion the owner's liability  between  or  among  two  or  more
     5  tenants  found  to  have  been  overcharged  by  such owner during their
     6  particular tenancy of a unit.
     7    (2) Except as provided under clauses (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, a
     8  complaint under this subdivision [shall] may be  filed  with  the  state
     9  division  of  housing  and  community  renewal [within four years of the
    10  first overcharge alleged and no determination of an  overcharge  and  no
    11  award  or  calculation of an award of the amount of an overcharge may be
    12  based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four years before the
    13  complaint is filed] at any time. (i) [No] A penalty of three  times  the
    14  overcharge  may  be  based upon an overcharge having occurred [more than
    15  two years] at any time before the complaint is filed [or upon  an  over-
    16  charge  which  occurred  prior  to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-
    17  four. (ii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior  to  the
    18  date  of  filing of the initial rent registration as provided in section
    19  26-517 of this chapter shall be filed within ninety days of the  mailing
    20  of  notice  to  the  tenant  of  such registration. This paragraph shall
    21  preclude examination of the rental history of the housing  accommodation
    22  prior to the four-year period preceding the filing of a complaint pursu-
    23  ant to this subdivision].
    24    (3)  Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an opportunity
    25  to join in any complaint filed by an officer or employee  of  the  state
    26  division of housing and community renewal.
    27    (4)  An owner found to have overcharged may be assessed the reasonable
    28  costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding and interest from  the  date
    29  of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant
    30  to section five thousand four of the civil practice law and rules.
    31    (5)  The  order of the state division of housing and community renewal
    32  awarding penalties may, upon the expiration of the period in  which  the
    33  owner  may  institute  a proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of
    34  the civil practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a  tenant  in
    35  the same manner as a judgment or not in excess of twenty percent thereof
    36  per month may be offset against any rent thereafter due the owner.
    37    i.  A  penalty  shall be assessed against an owner who fails to file a
    38  timely or proper  initial,  annual  or  supplemental  rent  registration
    39  statement  or fails to supply the unit's rent history with a lease under
    40  section 26-517 of this chapter of two  thousand  dollars  per  unit  for
    41  buildings  with less than fifteen units and of five thousand dollars per
    42  unit for buildings with fifteen units or more.  Such  penalty  shall  be
    43  paid to the tenant of the unit, either as cash, check or a credit toward
    44  their  monthly rent.  Should the tenant's lease expire before the credit
    45  toward their monthly rent is paid, then the remainder of the credit will
    46  be paid out as a cash award. The choice of cash, check, or  rent  credit
    47  shall be determined by the tenant.
    48    § 6. Section 26-517 of the administrative code of the city of New York
    49  is amended by adding two new subdivisions h and i to read as follows:
    50    h. A supplemental statement shall be filed containing the current rent
    51  for  each  unit and such other information contained in subdivision a of
    52  this section as shall be required by the division of housing and  commu-
    53  nity  renewal within ninety days of the rent on a unit being raised. The
    54  owner shall provide each tenant then in occupancy with a  copy  of  that
    55  portion of such statement as pertains to the tenant's unit.
        A. 7221                             6
     1    i.  The  owner  shall  supply  with  each lease (1) literature on rent
     2  history produced by the state division of housing and community  renewal
     3  and (2) a copy of such unit's entire rent history.
     4    § 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that:
     5    a.  the  amendments  to  section  12 and section 12-a of the emergency
     6  tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made  by  sections  three
     7  and  four  of this act shall expire on the same date as such act expires
     8  and shall not affect the expiration of such act as provided  in  section
     9  17 of chapter 567 of the laws of 1974; and
    10    b.  the amendments to sections 26-516 and 26-517 of chapter 4 of title
    11  26 of the administrative code of the city of New York made  by  sections
    12  five  and  six  of  this  act  shall expire on the same date as such law
    13  expires and shall not affect the expiration  of  such  law  as  provided
    14  under section 26-520 of such law.