Bill Text: NY A08347 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires cooperative housing corporations provide a prospective purchaser with a written statement of reasons when withholding consent to a purchase; voids any agreement inconsistent with such requirement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-04 - referred to governmental operations [A08347 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-A08347-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         8347
                              2011-2012 Regular Sessions
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                     June 14, 2011
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ENGLEBRIGHT -- read once and referred to the
         Committee on Governmental Operations
       AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to  discrimination  in
         the ownership of cooperative housing
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration of intent. The  legis-
    2  lature  recognizes  that cooperative ownership in multi-family dwellings
    3  is a popular form of home  ownership  in  New  York  state.  An  ongoing
    4  concern  for  consumers dealing in the cooperative housing market is the
    5  potential for the unlawful rejection by a board of directors of a buyer.
    6    The legislature finds and determines that, not infrequently,  a  co-op
    7  board  rejects  what appears to be a well-qualified customer. Often, the
    8  prospective purchaser has concerns that the rejection was in fact unlaw-
    9  ful discrimination. Both federal and state  laws  protect  our  citizens
   10  from  unfair  housing practices, which include discrimination based upon
   11  race, ethnicity, gender, age or family status.
   12    For such reasons, it is the legislature's intent to require boards  of
   13  directors of cooperative housing to disclose to proposed purchasers, the
   14  reasons for rejecting a sale.
   15    S 2.  Section 19-a of the civil rights law, as added by chapter 376 of
   16  the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
   17    S  19-a.    Prohibition  against  unreasonable withholding of consent.
   18  WHENEVER ANY CORPORATION FORMED  FOR  THE  PURPOSE  OF  THE  COOPERATIVE
   19  OWNERSHIP  OF REAL ESTATE WITHIN THE STATE WITHHOLDS CONSENT TO THE SALE
   20  OR PROPOSED SALE OF CERTIFICATES OF STOCK OR OTHER EVIDENCE OF OWNERSHIP
   21  OF AN INTEREST IN SUCH CORPORATION, SUCH CORPORATION SHALL  PROVIDE  THE
   22  PROSPECTIVE  PURCHASER WITH A WRITTEN STATEMENT OF ITS REASONS FOR WITH-
   23  HOLDING CONSENT NO LATER THAN FIVE BUSINESS DAYS AFTER ITS  DECISION  TO
   24  WITHHOLD CONSENT.
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD06151-01-1
       A. 8347                             2
    1    1.  No  SUCH  corporation  [formed  for the purpose of the cooperative
    2  ownership of real estate within the state]  shall  withhold  [its]  SUCH
    3  consent  [to the sale or proposed sale of certificates of stock or other
    4  evidence of ownership of an interest in such corporation] because of the
    5  race, creed, national origin, or sex of the purchaser.
    6    2.  For the purposes of this section a "corporation" shall include the
    7  cooperative management, cooperative tenants,  cooperative  shareholders,
    8  or any appointee or successor in interest of a corporation.
    9    3.  This section shall apply to every sale or proposed sale whether by
   10  a corporation directly, its successor  in  interest,  or  by  any  other
   11  lawfully entitled party.
   12    4.  Every  agreement, negative covenant, restrictive covenant or other
   13  provision, whether written or oral and wherever contained,  inconsistent
   14  with this section shall be void and unenforceable.
   15    S  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
   16  have become a law.