Bill Text: NY A08287 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires a landlord to pay a fee to a tenant equivalent to one month's rent if they evict such tenant without cause.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to housing [A08287 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A08287-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8287

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    November 27, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. BURKE -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Housing

        AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation  to  requiring  land-
          lords to pay a fee if they evict a tenant without good cause

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The real property law is amended by adding  a  new  section
     2  238-b to read as follows:
     3    §  238-b.  No  cause eviction fee. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of
     4  this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a) "Landlord" shall mean any owner, lessor, sublessor,  assignor,  or
     6  other  person receiving or entitled to receive rent for the occupancy of
     7  any housing accommodation, or an agent of any of the foregoing.
     8    (b) "Tenant" shall mean a tenant, subtenant, lessee, sublessee, assig-
     9  nee, manufactured home tenant, as defined in paragraph one  of  subdivi-
    10  sion  a of section two hundred thirty-three of this article, an occupant
    11  of a rooming house or hotel, as defined in section seven hundred  eleven
    12  of  the  real  property actions and proceedings law, or any other person
    13  entitled to the possession, use, or occupancy of  any  housing  accommo-
    14  dation.
    15    (c)  "No  cause  eviction"  shall  mean eviction except for any of the
    16  following grounds:
    17    (i) The tenant has failed to pay rent due and owing; provided,  howev-
    18  er,  that  the  rent  due and owing, or any part thereof, did not result
    19  from a rent increase which is unreasonable or imposed for the purpose of
    20  circumventing the intent of this section. In determining whether all  or
    21  part  of  the  rent  due and owing is the result of an unreasonable rent
    22  increase, it shall be a rebuttable  presumption  that  the  rent  for  a
    23  dwelling  not  protected by rent regulation is unreasonable if said rent
    24  has been increased in any calendar year by a percentage exceeding either
    25  three percent, or one and one-half times the annual percentage change in
    26  the consumer price index for the region in which  the  housing  accommo-
    27  dation is located, as established the August preceding the calendar year
    28  in question, whichever is greater;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13012-01-3
        A. 8287                             2

     1    (ii)  The  tenant  is violating a substantial obligation of his or her
     2  tenancy, other than the obligation  to  surrender  possession,  and  has
     3  failed  to  cure  such violation after written notice that the violation
     4  cease within ten days of receipt of such written notice; provided howev-
     5  er,  that  the  obligation of tenancy for which violation is claimed was
     6  not imposed for the purpose of circumventing the intent of this section;
     7    (iii) The tenant is committing or permitting a nuisance in such  hous-
     8  ing accommodation, or is maliciously or by reason of negligence damaging
     9  the  housing accommodation, or the tenant's conduct is such as to inter-
    10  fere with the comfort of the landlord or other tenants or  occupants  of
    11  the same or adjacent buildings or structures;
    12    (iv)  Occupancy  of  the  housing  accommodation  by  the tenant is in
    13  violation of or causes a violation of law and the landlord is subject to
    14  civil or criminal penalties therefor; provided, however, that an  agency
    15  of  the  state  or  municipality having jurisdiction has issued an order
    16  requiring the tenant to vacate the housing accommodation;
    17    (v) The tenant is using or permitting the housing accommodation to  be
    18  used for an illegal purpose;
    19    (vi)  The  tenant  has unreasonably refused the landlord access to the
    20  housing accommodation for the purpose of  making  necessary  repairs  or
    21  improvements  required by law, or for the purpose of showing the housing
    22  accommodation to a prospective purchaser,  mortgagee,  or  other  person
    23  having a legitimate interest therein;
    24    (vii)  The  landlord  seeks  in  good faith to recover possession of a
    25  housing accommodation located in a building containing fewer than twelve
    26  units because of immediate and compelling necessity for his or  her  own
    27  personal  use  and  occupancy  as his or her principal residence, or the
    28  personal use and occupancy as principal residence of his or her  spouse,
    29  parent,  child, stepchild, father-in-law or mother-in-law, when no other
    30  suitable housing accommodation in such building is available. This para-
    31  graph shall permit recovery of only one housing accommodation; or
    32    (viii) The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession  of  any
    33  or  all housing accommodations located in a building with less than five
    34  units to personally occupy such housing accommodations  as  his  or  her
    35  principal residence.
    36    2.  Applicability.  This  article  shall apply to all housing accommo-
    37  dations except:
    38    (a) Owner-occupied premises with less than four units;
    39    (b) Premises sublet pursuant to section two  hundred  twenty-six-b  of
    40  this  article,  or otherwise, where the sublessor seeks in good faith to
    41  recover possession of such housing accommodation  for  his  or  her  own
    42  personal use and occupancy;
    43    (c) Premises the possession, use or occupancy of which is solely inci-
    44  dent to employment and such employment is being lawfully terminated; and
    45    (d)  Premises  otherwise  subject  to regulation of rents or evictions
    46  pursuant to state or federal law to the extent that such state or feder-
    47  al law requires "good cause" for  termination  or  non-renewal  of  such
    48  tenancies.
    49    3.  No cause eviction fee. A no cause eviction shall require the land-
    50  lord to pay a fee to the evicted tenant  equal  to  the  amount  of  one
    51  month's  rent.  Such  amount  shall  not include any portion of a safety
    52  deposit return.
    53    § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    54  have become a law.