Bill Text: NY A01669 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relates to the installation of radiator covers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to housing [A01669 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A01669-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1669

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 11, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  L. ROSENTHAL,  FAHY,  PERRY -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Housing

        AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to  the  installation
          of radiator covers

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

     1    Section 1. Section 235-b of the real property law, as added by chapter
     2  597 of the laws of 1975, subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 403 of  the
     3  laws  of 1983, paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 as added by chapter 116 of
     4  the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
     5    § 235-b. Warranty of habitability. 1. In every written or  oral  lease
     6  or  rental  agreement  for  residential  premises the landlord or lessor
     7  shall be deemed to covenant and warrant that the premises so  leased  or
     8  rented  and  all areas used in connection therewith in common with other
     9  tenants or residents are fit for  human  habitation  and  for  the  uses
    10  reasonably  intended by the parties and that the occupants of such prem-
    11  ises shall not be subjected to any conditions which would be  dangerous,
    12  hazardous  or detrimental to their life, health or safety. When any such
    13  condition has been caused by the misconduct of the tenant or  lessee  or
    14  persons under his direction or control, it shall not constitute a breach
    15  of such covenants and warranties.
    16    2.  (a)  If a child of age twelve or younger resides within a tenant's
    17  dwelling a landlord shall, at the written  request  of  the  tenant,  be
    18  responsible  for  the  installation of a radiator cover on any uncovered
    19  radiator that: carries steam, water, or  other  fluids  at  temperatures
    20  exceeding  one  hundred sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit; are not currently
    21  covered in a manner that ensures  that  the  temperature  of  the  outer
    22  surface  does  not  exceed  one hundred nine degrees Fahrenheit; and are
    23  located in the tenant's dwelling. The landlord shall  have  ninety  days
    24  after  receipt of such written request to complete the installation of a
    25  radiator cover or covers.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00671-01-1
        A. 1669                             2

     1    (b) Any failure of the landlord to install a radiator cover,  pursuant
     2  to  paragraph  (a)  of  this subdivision, shall be deemed to subject the
     3  occupants of the dwelling to conditions dangerous, hazardous, or  detri-
     4  mental  to  their life, health, or safety. In any case in which a tenant
     5  shall  make  a payment in order to install a requested radiator cover or
     6  covers, following the failure of the landlord  to  install  such  covers
     7  within  ninety days of receiving a written request pursuant to paragraph
     8  (a) of this subdivision, the tenant may deduct from the rent the reason-
     9  able cost for the installation and shall not be liable for  eviction  on
    10  the ground of that deduction.
    11    3.  Any agreement by a lessee or tenant of a dwelling waiving or modi-
    12  fying his rights as set forth in this section shall be void as  contrary
    13  to public policy.
    14    [3]  4.  In determining the amount of damages sustained by a tenant as
    15  a result of a breach of the warranty  set  forth  in  the  section,  the
    16  court[;]:
    17    (a) need not require any expert testimony; [and]
    18    (b)  shall,  to the extent the warranty is breached or cannot be cured
    19  by reason of a strike or other labor dispute which is not caused  prima-
    20  rily by the individual landlord or lessor and such damages are attribut-
    21  able  to  such  strike,  exclude  recovery to such extent, except to the
    22  extent of the net savings, if any, to the landlord or lessor  by  reason
    23  of  such  strike  or  labor  dispute allocable to the tenant's premises,
    24  provided, however, that the landlord or [lesser] lessor has made a  good
    25  faith attempt, where practicable, to cure the breach[.]; and
    26    (c)  where the premises is subject to regulation pursuant to the local
    27  emergency housing rent control law, the emergency tenant protection  act
    28  of nineteen seventy-four, the rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred
    29  sixty-nine  or  the  city rent and rehabilitation law, reduce the amount
    30  awarded hereunder by the total amount of any rent reduction  ordered  by
    31  the  state  division  of  housing and community renewal pursuant to such
    32  laws or act, awarded to the tenant, from the effective date of such rent
    33  reduction order, that relates to one or more matters for which relief is
    34  awarded hereunder.
    35    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    36  have become a law.