Bill Text: NY S02917 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to penalties for owners of property who fail to file a proper or timely rent registration statement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO HOUSING, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT [S02917 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S02917-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2917
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 30, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sens. HOYLMAN, RIVERA -- 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 emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
          ty-four and the administrative code  of  the  city  of  New  York,  in
          relation to penalties for owners of property who fail to file a proper
          or timely rent registration statement
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of  subdivision  a  of
     2  section  12 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974 constituting
     3  the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended
     4  by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
     5    Subject to the conditions and limitations of this paragraph, any owner
     6  of housing accommodations in a city having a population of less than one
     7  million or a town or village as to which an emergency has been  declared
     8  pursuant  to  section  three,  who, upon complaint of a tenant or of the
     9  state division of housing and community renewal, is found by  the  state
    10  division  of  housing and community renewal, after a reasonable opportu-
    11  nity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent author-
    12  ized for a housing accommodation subject to this act shall be liable  to
    13  the  tenant  for a penalty equal to three times the amount of such over-
    14  charge.   [In no event shall such] A  treble  damage  penalty  shall  be
    15  assessed against an owner based solely on said owner's failure to file a
    16  proper  or  timely initial or annual rent registration statement. If the
    17  owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge
    18  was neither willful nor attributable to his negligence, the state  divi-
    19  sion of housing and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the
    20  amount  of  the overcharge plus interest at the rate of interest payable
    21  on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil  prac-
    22  tice law and rules. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02463-01-9
        S. 2917                             2
     1  (ii)  of this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of deter-
     2  mining an overcharge, shall be deemed to be the rent  indicated  in  the
     3  most recent annual registration statement filed [four years prior to the
     4  most  recent  registration  statement,  (or, if more recently filed, the
     5  initial registration statement)],  plus  in  each  case  any  subsequent
     6  lawful increases and adjustments. [Where the amount of rent set forth in
     7  the  annual  rent  registration  statement filed four years prior to the
     8  most recent registration statement is not challenged within  four  years
     9  of  its  filing, neither such rent nor service of any registration shall
    10  be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.] (ii) As  to  complaints
    11  filed within ninety days of the initial registration of a housing accom-
    12  modation,  the legal regulated rent for purposes of determining an over-
    13  charge shall be deemed to be the rent charged on  the  date  four  years
    14  prior  to  the  date of the initial registration of the housing accommo-
    15  dation (or, if the housing accommodation was subject  to  this  act  for
    16  less  than  four  years,  the initial legal regulated rent) plus in each
    17  case, any lawful increases and adjustments. Where the  rent  charged  on
    18  the date four years prior to the date of the initial registration of the
    19  accommodation  cannot  be established, such rent shall be established by
    20  the division. [Where the amount of rent set forth  in  the  annual  rent
    21  registration  statement filed four years prior to the most recent regis-
    22  tration statement is not challenged within four  years  of  its  filing,
    23  neither  such  rent  nor service of any registration shall be subject to
    24  challenge at any time thereafter.] (iii) Failure to file an annual  rent
    25  registration  statement, shall result in a fine of two thousand dollars,
    26  per unregistered housing accommodation made payable to the  state  divi-
    27  sion of housing and community renewal.
    28    §  2.  The opening paragraph of subdivision a of section 26-516 of the
    29  administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by  chapter  116
    30  of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
    31    Subject  to  the  conditions  and limitations of this subdivision, any
    32  owner of housing accommodations who, upon complaint of a tenant,  or  of
    33  the  state  division  of  housing and community renewal, is found by the
    34  state division of housing and  community  renewal,  after  a  reasonable
    35  opportunity  to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent
    36  authorized for a housing accommodation subject to this chapter shall  be
    37  liable  to  the  tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of
    38  such overcharge. [In no event shall such] A treble damage penalty  shall
    39  be  assessed  against  an  owner based solely on said owner's failure to
    40  file a timely or proper initial or annual rent  registration  statement.
    41  If  the  owner  establishes  by a preponderance of the evidence that the
    42  overcharge was not willful, the state division of housing and  community
    43  renewal shall establish the penalty as the amount of the overcharge plus
    44  interest.  (i)  Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of
    45  this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of determining  an
    46  overcharge, shall be the rent indicated in the most recent annual regis-
    47  tration  statement  filed [four years prior to the most recent registra-
    48  tion statement, (or, if more recently filed,  the  initial  registration
    49  statement)],  plus  in  each  case  any  subsequent lawful increases and
    50  adjustments. [Where the amount of rent set  forth  in  the  annual  rent
    51  registration  statement filed four years prior to the most recent regis-
    52  tration statement is not challenged within four  years  of  its  filing,
    53  neither  such  rent  nor service of any registration shall be subject to
    54  challenge at any time thereafter.] (ii) As to  complaints  filed  within
    55  ninety  days of the initial registration of a housing accommodation, the
    56  legal regulated rent shall be deemed to be the rent charged on the  date
        S. 2917                             3
     1  four  years prior to the date of the initial registration of the housing
     2  accommodation (or, if the housing  accommodation  was  subject  to  this
     3  chapter for less than four years, the initial legal regulated rent) plus
     4  in  each  case,  any  lawful  increases  and adjustments. Where the rent
     5  charged on the date four years prior to the date of the  initial  regis-
     6  tration  of  the accommodation cannot be established, such rent shall be
     7  established by the division.   (iii) Failure  to  file  an  annual  rent
     8  registration  statement, shall result in a fine of two thousand dollars,
     9  per unregistered housing accommodation made payable to the  state  divi-
    10  sion of housing and community renewal.
    11    §  3.  This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
    12  the amendments to the opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of subdivision  a
    13  of  section  12  of  section 4 of the emergency tenant protection act of
    14  nineteen seventy-four made by section one of this act  shall  expire  on
    15  the same date as such act expires and shall not affect the expiration of
    16  such  act  as provided in section 17 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974,
    17  and that the amendments to the opening paragraph  of  subdivision  a  of
    18  section  26-516  of  chapter 4 of title 26 of the administrative code of
    19  the city of New York made by section two of this act shall expire on the
    20  same date as such law expires and shall not  affect  the  expiration  of
    21  such law as provided under section 26-520 of such law.