STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2949 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 31, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to requiring land- lords to mitigate damages if a tenant vacates a premises in violation of the terms of the lease The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The real property law is amended by adding a new section 2 227-e to read as follows: 3 § 227-e. Landlord duty to mitigate damages. In any lease or rental 4 agreement covering premises occupied for dwelling purposes, if a tenant 5 vacates a premises in violation of the terms of the lease, the landlord 6 shall, in good faith, take reasonable and customary actions to rent the 7 premises at fair market value. If the landlord rents the premises at 8 fair market value, the new tenant's lease shall, once in effect, termi- 9 nate the previous tenant's lease and mitigate damages otherwise recover- 10 able against the previous tenant because of such tenant's vacating the 11 premises. The burden of proof shall be on the party seeking to recover 12 damages. Any provision in a lease that exempts a landlord's duty to 13 mitigate damages under this section shall be void as contrary to public 14 policy. 15 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06169-01-9