Bill Text: NY A02365 | 2009-2010 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Provides that victims of domestic violence who are forced to flee rent regulated units due to domestic violence shall be deemed to be occupying such rent regulated units as their primary residence and shall not be evicted for failure to temporarily occupy such units if they assert an intent to return.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-1)
Status: (Passed) 2010-08-30 - signed chap.422 [A02365 Detail]
Download: New_York-2009-A02365-Amended.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
2365--A
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 15, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL, WEINSTEIN, KAVANAGH, ROSENTHAL, KELL-
NER -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ALFANO, GLICK, PHEFFER, SCHIMEL
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing -- recommitted
to the Committee on Housing in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, the
emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, the emergen-
cy housing rent control law and the local emergency housing rent
control act, in relation to establishing primary residency for victims
of domestic violence
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Clause 10 of subparagraph (i) of paragraph 2 of subdivision
2 e of section 26-403 of the administrative code of the city of New York
3 is amended to read as follows:
4 (10) Housing accommodations not occupied by the tenant, not including
5 subtenants or occupants, as his or her primary residence, as determined
6 by a court of competent jurisdiction. FOR THE PURPOSES OF DETERMINING
7 PRIMARY RESIDENCY, A TENANT WHO IS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AS
8 DEFINED IN SECTION FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE-A OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW,
9 WHO HAS LEFT THE UNIT BECAUSE OF SUCH VIOLENCE, AND WHO ASSERTS AN
10 INTENT TO RETURN TO THE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE
11 OCCUPYING THE UNIT AS HIS OR HER PRIMARY RESIDENCE. No action or
12 proceeding shall be commenced seeking to recover possession on the
13 ground that a housing accommodation is not occupied by the tenant as his
14 or her primary residence unless the owner or lessor shall have given
15 thirty days notice to the tenant of his or her intention to commence
16 such action or proceeding on such grounds.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00076-02-0
A. 2365--A 2
1 S 2. Subparagraph (f) of paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section
2 26-504 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 (f) not occupied by the tenant, not including subtenants or occupants,
5 as his OR HER primary residence, as determined by a court of competent
6 jurisdiction, provided, however that no action or proceeding shall be
7 commenced seeking to recover possession on the ground that a housing
8 accommodation is not occupied by the tenant as his or her primary resi-
9 dence unless the owner or lessor shall have given thirty days notice to
10 the tenant of his or her intention to commence such action or proceeding
11 on such grounds. FOR THE PURPOSES OF DETERMINING PRIMARY RESIDENCY, A
12 TENANT WHO IS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AS DEFINED IN SECTION FOUR
13 HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE-A OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW, WHO HAS LEFT THE UNIT
14 BECAUSE OF SUCH VIOLENCE, AND WHO ASSERTS AN INTENT TO RETURN TO THE
15 HOUSING ACCOMMODATION SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE OCCUPYING THE UNIT AS HIS OR
16 HER PRIMARY RESIDENCE. For the purposes of this subparagraph where a
17 housing accommodation is rented to a not-for-profit hospital for resi-
18 dential use, affiliated subtenants authorized to use such accommodations
19 by such hospital shall be deemed to be tenants, or
20 S 3. Paragraph 11 of subdivision a of section 5 of section 4 of chap-
21 ter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant
22 protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 940 of
23 the laws of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
24 (11) housing accommodations which are not occupied by the tenant, not
25 including subtenants or occupants, as his OR HER primary residence, as
26 determined by a court of competent jurisdiction. FOR THE PURPOSES OF
27 DETERMINING PRIMARY RESIDENCY, A TENANT WHO IS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC
28 VIOLENCE, AS DEFINED IN SECTION FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE-A OF THE SOCIAL
29 SERVICES LAW, WHO HAS LEFT THE UNIT BECAUSE OF SUCH VIOLENCE, AND WHO
30 ASSERTS AN INTENT TO RETURN TO THE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION SHALL BE DEEMED
31 TO BE OCCUPYING THE UNIT AS HIS OR HER PRIMARY RESIDENCE. For the
32 purposes of this paragraph, where a housing accommodation is rented to a
33 not-for-profit hospital for residential use, affiliated subtenants
34 authorized to use such accommodations by such hospital shall be deemed
35 to be tenants. No action or proceeding shall be commenced seeking to
36 recover possession on the ground that a housing accommodation is not
37 occupied by the tenant as his OR HER primary residence unless the owner
38 or lessor shall have given thirty days notice to the tenant of his OR
39 HER intention to commence such action or proceeding on such grounds.
40 S 4. Paragraph (l) of subdivision 2 of section 2 of chapter 274 of the
41 laws of 1946, constituting the emergency housing rent control law, as
42 added by chapter 373 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
43 (l) housing accommodations which are not occupied by the tenant in
44 possession as his OR HER primary residence provided, however, that any
45 such housing accommodation shall continue to be subject to rent control
46 as provided herein unless the commission issues an order decontrolling
47 such accommodation which the commission shall do upon application by the
48 landlord, whenever it is established by any facts and circumstances
49 which, in the judgment of the commission, may have a bearing upon the
50 question of residence, that the tenant maintains his OR HER primary
51 residence at some place other than at such housing accommodation. FOR
52 THE PURPOSES OF DETERMINING PRIMARY RESIDENCY, A TENANT WHO IS A VICTIM
53 OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AS DEFINED IN SECTION FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE-A OF
54 THE SOCIAL SERVICES LAW, WHO HAS LEFT THE UNIT BECAUSE OF SUCH VIOLENCE,
55 AND WHO ASSERTS AN INTENT TO RETURN TO THE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION SHALL
56 BE DEEMED TO BE OCCUPYING THE UNIT AS HIS OR HER PRIMARY RESIDENCE.
A. 2365--A 3
1 S 5. The closing paragraph of subdivision 5 of section 1 of chapter 21
2 of the laws of 1962, constituting the local emergency housing rent
3 control act, as amended by chapter 82 of the laws of 2003, is amended to
4 read as follows:
5 Notwithstanding the foregoing, no local law or ordinance shall subject
6 to such regulation and control any housing accommodation which is not
7 occupied by the tenant in possession as his OR HER primary residence;
8 provided, however, that such housing accommodation not occupied by the
9 tenant in possession as his OR HER primary residence shall continue to
10 be subject to regulation and control as provided for herein unless the
11 city housing rent agency issues an order decontrolling such accommo-
12 dation, which the agency shall do upon application by the landlord when-
13 ever it is established by any facts and circumstances which, in the
14 judgment of the agency, may have a bearing upon the question of resi-
15 dence, that the tenant maintains his OR HER primary residence at some
16 place other than at such housing accommodation. FOR THE PURPOSES OF
17 DETERMINING PRIMARY RESIDENCY, A TENANT WHO IS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC
18 VIOLENCE, AS DEFINED IN SECTION FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE-A OF THE SOCIAL
19 SERVICES LAW, WHO HAS LEFT THE UNIT BECAUSE OF SUCH VIOLENCE, AND WHO
20 ASSERTS AN INTENT TO RETURN TO THE HOUSING ACCOMMODATION SHALL BE DEEMED
21 TO BE OCCUPYING THE UNIT AS HIS OR HER PRIMARY RESIDENCE.
22 S 6. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that:
23 (a) the amendments to section 26-403 of the city rent and rehabili-
24 tation law made by section one of this act shall remain in full force
25 and effect only as long as the public emergency requiring the regulation
26 and control of residential rents and evictions continues, as provided in
27 subdivision 3 of section 1 of the local emergency housing rent control
28 act;
29 (b) the amendments to section 26-504 of the administrative code of the
30 city of New York made by section two of this act shall not affect the
31 expiration of such section and shall be deemed to expire therewith;
32 (c) the amendment to section 5 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws
33 of 1974 made by section three of this act, constituting the emergency
34 tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, shall expire on the same
35 date as such act expires and shall not affect the expiration of such act
36 as provided in section 17 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, as
37 amended; and
38 (d) the amendments to paragraph (l) of subdivision 2 of section 2 of
39 the emergency housing rent control law made by section four of this act
40 shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect
41 the expiration of such law as provided in subdivision 2 of section 1 of
42 chapter 274 of the laws of 1946, as amended.
