Bill Text: NY S01796 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to the appointment and qualifications of members of rent boards.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-10 - REFERRED TO HOUSING, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT [S01796 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S01796-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1796 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 10, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sens. SQUADRON, AVELLA, HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, in relation to the establishment of rent boards The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision a of section 26-510 of the administrative code 2 of the city of New York is amended to read as follows: 3 a. There shall be a rent guidelines board to consist of nine members, 4 appointed by the mayor upon the advice and consent of the city council. 5 Two members shall be representative of tenants, two shall be represen- 6 tative of owners of property, and five shall be public members [each of7whom]. Each of the public members shall have had at least five years 8 experience in [either] public service, social services, urban planning, 9 social sciences, finance, economics or housing. One public member shall 10 be designated by the mayor upon the advice and consent of the city coun- 11 cil to serve as [chairman] chair and shall hold no other public office. 12 No member, officer or employee of any municipal rent regulation agency 13 or the state division of housing and community renewal and no person who 14 owns or manages real estate covered by this law or who [is] receives 15 compensation as an officer of any owner or tenant organization shall 16 serve on a rent guidelines board. One public member, one member repre- 17 sentative of tenants and one member representative of owners shall serve 18 for a term ending two years from January first next succeeding the date 19 of their appointment; one public member, one member representative of 20 tenants and one member representative of owners shall serve for terms 21 ending three years from the January first next succeeding the date of 22 their appointment and two public members shall serve for terms ending 23 four years from January first next succeeding the dates of their EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01118-01-7S. 1796 2 1 appointment. [The chairman shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor.] 2 Thereafter, all members shall continue in office until their successors 3 have been appointed and qualified. The mayor upon the advice and consent 4 of the city council shall fill any vacancy which may occur by reason of 5 death, resignation or otherwise in a manner consistent with the 6 [original appointment] provisions of this subdivision. A member may be 7 removed by the mayor or city council for cause, but not without an 8 opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel, in his or her defense, 9 upon not less than ten days notice. A successor to such member shall be 10 appointed in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision to serve 11 the balance of the term of the member who was removed. 12 § 2. Subdivision a of section 4 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the 13 laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nine- 14 teen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 349 of the laws of 1979, is 15 amended to read as follows: 16 a. In each county wherein any city having a population of less than 17 one million or any town or village has determined the existence of an 18 emergency pursuant to section three of this act, there shall be created 19 a rent guidelines board to consist of nine members appointed by the 20 commissioner of housing and community renewal upon recommendation of the 21 county legislature which recommendation shall be made within thirty days 22 after the first local declaration of an emergency in such county; two 23 such members shall be representative of tenants, two shall be represen- 24 tative of owners of property, and five shall be public members [each of25whom]. Each of the public members shall have had at least five years 26 experience in [either] public service, social services, urban planning, 27 social sciences, finance, economics or housing. One public member shall 28 be designated by the commissioner to serve as [chairman] chair and shall 29 hold no other public office. No member, officer or employee of any 30 municipal rent regulation agency or the state division of housing and 31 community renewal and no person who owns or manages real estate covered 32 by this law or who is an officer of any owner or tenant organization 33 shall serve on a rent guidelines board. One public member, one member 34 representative of tenants and one member representative of owners shall 35 serve for a term ending two years from January first next succeeding the 36 date of their appointment; one public member, one member representative 37 of tenants and one member representative of owners shall serve for terms 38 ending three years from the January first next succeeding the date of 39 their appointment and three public members shall serve for terms ending 40 four years from January first next succeeding the dates of their 41 appointment. Thereafter, all members shall serve for terms of four 42 years each. Members shall continue in office until their successors 43 have been appointed and qualified. The commissioner shall fill any 44 vacancy which may occur by reason of death, resignation or otherwise in 45 a manner consistent with the [original appointment] provisions of this 46 subdivision. A member may be removed by the commissioner for cause, but 47 not without an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel, in his 48 defense, upon not less than ten days notice. A successor to such member 49 shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision 50 to serve the balance of the term of the member who was removed. Compen- 51 sation for the members of the board shall be at the rate of one hundred 52 dollars per day, for no more than twenty days a year, except that the 53 [chairman] chair shall be compensated at the rate of one hundred twen- 54 ty-five dollars a day for no more than thirty days a year. The board 55 shall be provided staff assistance by the division of housing and commu- 56 nity renewal. The compensation of such members and the costs of staffS. 1796 3 1 assistance shall be paid by the division of housing and community 2 renewal which shall be reimbursed in the manner prescribed in section 3 four of this act. The local legislative body of each city having a popu- 4 lation of less than one million and each town and village in which an 5 emergency has been determined to exist as herein provided shall be 6 authorized to designate one person who shall be representative of 7 tenants and one person who shall be representative of owners of property 8 to serve at its pleasure and without compensation to advise and assist 9 the county rent guidelines board in matters affecting the adjustment of 10 rents for housing accommodations in such city, town or village as the 11 case may be. 12 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 13 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law; provided that: 14 (a) the amendments to section 26-510 of the rent stabilization law of 15 nineteen hundred sixty-nine made by section one of this act shall expire 16 on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the expiration 17 of such law as provided under section 26-520 of such law; 18 (b) the amendments to section 4 of the emergency tenant protection act 19 of nineteen seventy-four made by section two of this act shall expire on 20 the same date as such act expires and shall not affect the expiration of 21 such act as provided in section 17 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974; 22 (c) the rent boards as reconstituted pursuant to this act shall be 23 appointed and confirmed within forty-five days after the effective date 24 of this act; and 25 (d) upon the appointment of a rent board pursuant to the provisions of 26 this act, any existing predecessor rent board shall be dissolved and 27 such predecessor rent board shall have no further authority.