Bill Text: NY A09783 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Relates to the determination of the status of an interim multiple dwelling unit as a protected occupant's primary residence by the loft board or a court of competent jurisdiction, or by registration of with the loft board; provides factors for consideration for such findings; restores certain landlord-tenant relationships severed prior to the effective date.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-21 - reported referred to codes [A09783 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A09783-Amended.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         9783--A

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      April 9, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. GLICK -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Housing -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
          amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the multiple dwelling law, in relation to the status  of
          an  interim  multiple  dwelling unit as a protected occupant's primary
          residence

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

     1    Section  1.  Legislative  findings.  The  legislature hereby finds and
     2  declares that the findings in section 280 of the multiple  dwelling  law
     3  are  reaffirmed;  that  the  decision from the Appellate Division, First
     4  Department, in One Double Nine Dashing LLC v New York City Loft Board et
     5  al. (2022) misinterpreted  the  relationship  of  primary  residence  to
     6  continued  occupancy  of potential protected occupants under article 7-C
     7  of the multiple dwelling law; that the unique  illegal  living  arrange-
     8  ments of potential protected occupants prior to loft law coverage, with-
     9  out rent and eviction protections and without the applicability of mini-
    10  mum  housing  maintenance  standards, necessitates a regulatory approach
    11  which is not always the same as for other rent-regulated  tenants;  that
    12  the loft board properly concluded that the primary residence requirement
    13  in the statute is prospective from an application for protected occupan-
    14  cy  or  from registration of the unit with the loft board; that the loft
    15  board properly considered all relevant evidence and rejected a  position
    16  that  statements on tax returns alone are determinative in making deter-
    17  minations regarding primary residence;  that  prior  to  Dashing  (2022)
    18  neither  the  courts nor the loft board has looked at statements made on
    19  tax returns as controlling when evaluating issues of  primary  residence
    20  for  loft  tenants;  that  most  loft  tenants use for business purposes
    21  significant portions of their lofts, which the  loft  law  envisions  as
    22  being  legalized  and  covered as joint live/work spaces; and that it is
    23  necessary for the legislature to correct the misinterpretation in  Dash-
    24  ing  (2022) and to clarify, and to codify in the law, what has been loft
    25  board policy and precedent based on the current law, loft  board  rules,
    26  and  the  loft  board's delegated expertise for evaluating primary resi-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14985-02-4
        A. 9783--A                          2

     1  dence of potential protected  occupants  in  possible  interim  multiple
     2  dwelling units.
     3    §  2.  Paragraph  (i)  of subdivision 2 of section 286 of the multiple
     4  dwelling law, as amended by chapter 4 of the laws of  2013,  is  amended
     5  and a new subdivision 14 is added to read as follows:
     6    (i)  Prior  to compliance with safety and fire protection standards of
     7  article seven-B of this chapter,  residential  occupants  qualified  for
     8  protection pursuant to this article shall be entitled to continued occu-
     9  pancy,  provided that, subsequent to the application for protected occu-
    10  pancy with the loft board or a court of competent jurisdiction or regis-
    11  tration with the loft board of the  occupant's  unit  pursuant  to  this
    12  article,  the  unit  is  their primary residence, and shall pay the same
    13  rent, including escalations, specified in their lease or  rental  agree-
    14  ment  to  the  extent to which such lease or rental agreement remains in
    15  effect or, in the absence of a lease or rental agreement, the same  rent
    16  most  recently  paid  and accepted by the owner; if there is no lease or
    17  other rental agreement in effect,  rent  adjustments  prior  to  article
    18  seven-B  compliance  shall be in conformity with guidelines to be set by
    19  the loft board for such residential occupants within six months from the
    20  effective date of this article.
    21    14. In determining whether a unit qualifies for coverage  pursuant  to
    22  this  article,  whether  an occupant qualifies for protection under this
    23  article, or whether a registered interim multiple  dwelling  unit  is  a
    24  protected occupant's primary residence for all purposes under this arti-
    25  cle,  no single factor shall be solely determinative, including, without
    26  limitation, statements made or actions taken  in  relation  to  federal,
    27  state  or  city  tax  returns.    Evidence which may be considered shall
    28  include, but not be limited to,  specification  by  an  occupant  of  an
    29  address  other than such unit as a place of residence on any tax return,
    30  motor vehicle registration, driver's license  or  other  document  filed
    31  with  a  government agency.   No waiver of rights otherwise protected by
    32  this subdivision, made prior to the effective date of this  subdivision,
    33  shall be accorded any force or effect.  Any landlord-tenant relationship
    34  severed contrary to this subdivision prior to the effective date of this
    35  subdivision  shall  be  restored to a tenant still in possession on such
    36  effective date.
    37    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall  apply  to  all
    38  pending actions or proceedings, including appeals.