Bill Text: NY A01086 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Establishes additional causes of action under harassment of a rent regulated tenant; creates harassment of a rent regulated tenant in the second degree; creates quality affordable housing preservation fund.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-21 - print number 1086a [A01086 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A01086-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1086--A 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 10, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes -- recommitted to the Committee on Codes in accord- ance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to harassment of a rent regu- lated tenant in the first and second degree; to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the "quality affordable hous- ing preservation fund"; and to amend the rent regulation reform act of 1997, in relation to making certain provisions permanent The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 241.05 of the penal law, as added by chapter 116 of 2 the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 241.05 Harassment of a rent regulated tenant in the first degree. 4 An owner is guilty of harassment of a rent regulated tenant in the 5 first degree when with intent to cause a rent regulated tenant to vacate 6 a housing accommodation, such owner or his or her representative: 7 1. With intent to cause physical injury to such tenant or intimidate 8 such tenant, causes [such] injury to such tenant or to a third person; 9 [or] 10 2. Recklessly causes physical injury to such tenant or to a third 11 person[.]; 12 3. Engages in conduct that violates the provisions of section 241.10 13 of this article and the health or safety of an individual or a consider- 14 able number of persons have been compromised as a result of the owner or 15 his or her representative's failure to remediate improper conditions 16 after receiving three or more complaints from a tenant or tenants rela- 17 tive to those conditions; or 18 4. Conducts or maintains any premises, housing units, place or common 19 areas where persons gather for purposes of engaging in unlawful conduct. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04945-03-8A. 1086--A 2 1 Harassment of a rent regulated tenant in the first degree is a class E 2 felony. 3 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 241.10 to read 4 as follows: 5 § 241.10 Harassment of a rent regulated tenant in the second degree. 6 1. An owner is guilty of harassment of a rent regulated tenant in the 7 second degree when with intent to cause a rent regulated tenant to 8 vacate a housing accommodation, such owner or his or her representative 9 engages in conduct either unlawful or unreasonable under the circum- 10 stances, knowingly or recklessly creates or maintains a condition or 11 conditions which endanger or endangers the safety or health of an indi- 12 vidual or a considerable number of persons and the tenant or tenants 13 have notified the landlord on three successive occasions and such owner 14 or representative ignores complaints relative to those conditions. 15 2. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be 16 guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall pay a fine of 17 three thousand dollars for each offense. Notwithstanding any other 18 provision of law to the contrary, fines collected pursuant to this 19 section shall be deposited into the quality affordable housing preserva- 20 tion fund established pursuant to section ninety-nine-bb of the state 21 finance law for the investigation and prosecution of crimes under this 22 article. 23 Harassment of a rent regulated tenant in the second degree is a misde- 24 meanor. 25 § 3. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-bb to 26 read as follows: 27 § 99-bb. Quality affordable housing preservation fund. 1. There is 28 hereby established in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the 29 commissioner of housing and community renewal a fund to be known as the 30 "quality affordable housing preservation fund". 31 2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys collected pursuant to the 32 provisions of section 241.05 of the penal law and all other moneys 33 appropriated, credited, or transferred thereto from any other fund or 34 source pursuant to law. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent 35 the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of 36 the fund as defined in this section and depositing them into the fund 37 according to law. Any interest received by the comptroller on moneys on 38 deposit in such fund shall be retained in and become part of such fund. 39 3. Moneys of this account shall be available to the division of hous- 40 ing and community renewal to pay for the costs of investigating and 41 prosecuting violations of article two hundred forty-one of the penal 42 law. 43 4. All payments from the fund shall be made on the audit and warrant 44 of the comptroller. 45 § 4. Subdivision 6 of section 46 of chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, 46 constituting the rent regulation reform act of 1997, as amended by 47 section 6 of part A of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to 48 read as follows: 49 6. sections [twenty-eight,] twenty-eight-a, twenty-eight-b and twen- 50 ty-eight-c of this act shall expire and be deemed repealed after June 51 15, 2019; 52 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, 53 sections one, two and three of this act shall take effect on the nineti- 54 eth day after it shall have become a law.
