Bill Text: NY A09721 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

---

Bill Title: Establishes certain duties of a board of directors of a limited-profit housing company, including requiring such board to hold six meetings of its members annually, make votes of the board public information, distribute certain communications to all shareholders of the company and investigate any substantive allegation that a tenant is not occupying his or her dwelling unit as his or her primary residence.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-21 - print number 9721a [A09721 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A09721-Amended.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         9721--A

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 6, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  L. ROSENTHAL, PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Housing  --  committee  discharged,  bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee

        AN ACT to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to  certain
          duties of a board of directors of a limited-profit housing company

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

     1    Section 1. Section 17 of the private housing finance law is amended by
     2  adding two new subdivisions 4 and 5 to read as follows:
     3    4. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, general  or  special,  a
     4  board  of  directors  of a company created pursuant to the provisions of
     5  this article shall:
     6    (a) Hold at least six meetings of its members annually. Such  meetings
     7  shall  be  open  to the shareholders and residents, except that they may
     8  include executive sessions open only to directors for the  sole  purpose
     9  of  discussing  confidential  personnel issues, legal advice and counsel
    10  from an attorney to whom the housing company is a client,  or  confiden-
    11  tial  issues affecting individual shareholders or residents, or contract
    12  negotiation.
    13    (b) File with the commissioner or the supervising agency, as the  case
    14  may  be,  a  record of any vote on a resolution of such board, including
    15  specification of how each director voted. Such record shall be a  matter
    16  of public record.
    17    (c) Promptly give notice of and make available to all shareholders any
    18  communication to the housing company from the commissioner or the super-
    19  vising  agency, as the case may be, or the office of the attorney gener-
    20  al, regarding regulations, changes in regulations,  taxation,  finances,
    21  refinancing, or, in the event of a proposed dissolution and reincorpora-
    22  tion, the review of any version of an offering plan.
    23    (d)  Investigate any substantive allegation that a tenant is not occu-
    24  pying his or her dwelling unit as his or her primary residence.
    25    5. (a) No housing company shall interfere with the right of  a  share-
    26  holder  or  tenant to form, join or participate in the lawful activities

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14552-02-0
        A. 9721--A                          2

     1  of any group, committee or other  organization  formed  to  protect  the
     2  rights  of  shareholders  and  tenants;  nor  shall  any housing company
     3  harass, punish, penalize, diminish, or withhold any  right,  benefit  or
     4  privilege  of  a  shareholder or tenant under their proprietary lease or
     5  tenancy for exercising such right.
     6    (b) Shareholder and/or tenants' groups, committees or other sharehold-
     7  er and/or tenants' organizations shall have the right  to  meet  without
     8  being  required to pay a fee in any location on the premises including a
     9  community or social room where use is normally subject to a fee which is
    10  devoted to the common use of all shareholders and/or tenants in a peace-
    11  ful manner, at reasonable hours and without obstructing  access  to  the
    12  premises or facilities. No housing company shall deny such right.
    13    (c)  The  board  of directors shall take all necessary and appropriate
    14  actions to ensure that  a  manager  or  agent  of  the  housing  company
    15  complies with the requirements in this subdivision.
    16    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
    17  have become a law.