Bill Text: NY S03818 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Sets up rules and regulations for the operation of lease-hold retirement communities to provide adequate housing for senior citizens wishing to retire and locate in a lease-hold retirement community; grants owners of homes in lease-hold retirement communities the right to sell their homes by methods common to sales of residential property; requires that owners of lease-hold retirement communities offer owners of homes the option to sign a long-term ninety-nine year lease.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-05-04 - PRINT NUMBER 3818A [S03818 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S03818-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ S. 3818--A A. 3145--A 2017-2018 Regular Sessions SENATE - ASSEMBLY January 27, 2017 ___________ IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered print- ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary -- recommitted to the Committee on Judiciary in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Aging -- recommitted to the Committee on Aging in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to lease-hold retire- ment communities 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 2 238-a to read as follows: 3 § 238-a. Lease-hold retirement community. 1. Definitions. As used in 4 this section: 5 (a) A "lease-hold retirement community" shall mean a contiguous parcel 6 of privately owned real property containing two hundred or more lots 7 which are leased to owners of year-round homes erected thereon and 8 affixed thereto wherein the occupation is restricted to individuals 9 based on age pursuant to paragraph (h) of subdivision three of this 10 section. 11 A "lease-hold retirement community" shall not include a mobile home 12 park, or condominium, as defined in this chapter, a continuing care 13 retirement community authorized under article forty-six or forty-six-a 14 of the public health law, or a cooperative housing corporation created 15 pursuant to the business corporation law. 16 (b) "Home owner" shall mean one who holds title to a home. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04080-02-8S. 3818--A 2 A. 3145--A 1 (c) "Tenant" shall mean one who occupies a home in a lease-hold 2 retirement community for thirty days or more, and whose occupation of 3 the home in the lease-hold retirement community is known to the lease- 4 hold retirement community owner or operator. 5 2. Leases. (a) Any lease-hold retirement community owner or operator 6 shall offer every home owner the opportunity to sign a long term lease 7 for ninety-nine years, with an option of the home owner to cancel said 8 lease on ninety days written notice to said owner or operator. 9 (b) A copy of such lease-hold retirement community's rules and regu- 10 lations, if any, shall be attached to and become a part of the lease 11 provided for by this section, as if fully set forth therein. 12 (c) No rules or regulations shall be inconsistent with the lease 13 provisions in effect at the commencement of such lease. 14 (d) A copy of the lease shall be delivered by such lease-hold retire- 15 ment community owner or operator to all home owners or tenants at the 16 time of the first deposit made payable to said lease-hold retirement 17 community owner or operator. 18 3. Rules and regulations. (a) The lease-hold retirement community 19 owner or operator may promulgate rules or regulations governing the rent 20 and use or occupation of the home lot, provided that such rules or regu- 21 lations shall not be unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious. 22 (b) A copy of all rules and regulations shall be delivered by the 23 lease-hold retirement community owner or operator to all home owners or 24 tenants at the time of the first deposit made payable to said lease-hold 25 retirement community owner or operator. 26 (c) A copy of all rules and regulations shall be posted in a conspicu- 27 ous public location upon the grounds of the lease-hold retirement commu- 28 nity. 29 (d) If a rule or regulation is not applied uniformly to all home 30 owners or tenants, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such 31 rule or regulation is unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious. 32 (e) Any rule or regulation which does not conform to the requirements 33 of this section or which has not been supplied or posted as required by 34 this section, shall not be enforceable. 35 (f) No rule or regulation may be added, amended, repealed or changed 36 by the lease-hold retirement community owner or operator without the 37 written consent of sixty percent of the home owners. 38 (g) Rules and regulations shall not take effect until supplied and 39 posted pursuant to this subdivision. 40 (h) Such rules and regulations may establish a minimum age for indi- 41 viduals to occupy a home within the lease-hold retirement community 42 subject to any applicable law. 43 4. Fees. (a) No lease-hold retirement community home owner or tenant 44 shall be charged a fee, charge, or assessment that is not already speci- 45 fied in their current lease agreement, except for rent, utilities, and 46 fees for services necessary for the operation of the lease-hold retire- 47 ment community, unless agreed to by sixty percent of all of the home 48 owners, such as for facilities available to the homeowners and tenants. 49 (b) All such charges for rent, utilities, services necessary for the 50 operation of the lease-hold retirement community, and facilities avail- 51 able to the homeowners and tenants must be reasonably related to the 52 value of the facility available or the services actually rendered. 53 (c) A lease-hold retirement community owner or operator must fully 54 disclose all charges for rent, utilities, services necessary for the 55 operation of the lease-hold retirement community, and facilities avail- 56 able to the homeowners and tenants to all home owners at the time of theS. 3818--A 3 A. 3145--A 1 first deposit made payable to said community owner or operator. A new 2 fee, charge, or assessment that is not specified in a homeowner's lease 3 agreement shall not be collectable until the lease-hold retirement 4 community owner or operator provides the homeowner with a written copy 5 detailing such fee, charge, or assessment. 6 (d) Failure on the part of the lease-hold retirement community owner 7 or operator to fully disclose all charges for rent, utilities, services 8 necessary for the operation of the lease-hold retirement community, and 9 facilities available to the homeowners and tenants pursuant to paragraph 10 (c) of this subdivision shall prevent the said community owner or opera- 11 tor from collecting such charges. 12 5. Prohibition. No lease-hold retirement community owner or operator 13 shall: 14 (a) Restrict the purchase and/or installation of any commodities, 15 goods or services by the home owner or agent thereof to specific 16 vendors, including, but not limited to, employees, agents or other 17 persons acting for or on behalf of the lease-hold retirement community 18 owner or operator. 19 (b) Restrict the improvement, including but not limited to, the 20 installation of appliances, to any property of the homeowner or tenant, 21 so long as such improvement is in compliance with applicable building 22 codes, other provisions of law, and the rules and regulations of the 23 lease-hold retirement community. 24 (c) Restrict the installation, maintenance or repair of any property 25 of the home owner or tenant to specific vendors including, but not 26 limited to, employees, agents or other persons acting for or on behalf 27 of the lease-hold retirement community owner or operator. 28 (d) Charge a fee or impose other charges on a home owner or tenant who 29 chooses to install appliances and/or fixtures. This shall not restrict 30 the ability of the lease-hold retirement community owner or operator to 31 collect increased utility charges resulting from the installation of any 32 appliance or fixture. 33 (e) Impose any charge for or restrict the ingress or egress to the 34 lease-hold retirement community of, any person employed, retained, or 35 invited by the home owner or tenant. 36 6. Sale of homes. (a) A lease-hold retirement community owner or oper- 37 ator shall not place restrictions on the sale of a home in the lease- 38 hold retirement community. 39 (b) The right to sell a lease-hold retirement community home includes 40 the incidental right to use any and all methods common to sales of resi- 41 dential property. 42 (c) The lease-hold retirement community owner or operator shall enter 43 into a lease agreement within a reasonable time from the completion of 44 the sale pursuant to subdivision two of this section with the subsequent 45 purchaser of a home in the lease-hold retirement community. 46 (d) The lease-hold retirement community owner or operator shall not 47 exact a commission or fee with respect to the price realized by the 48 seller unless the community owner or operator has acted as agent for the 49 said home owner in the sale pursuant to a written contract. 50 7. (a) The lease-hold retirement community owner or operator may 51 reserve the right to approve any tenants who lease or sublease real 52 property and any improvements thereon from a homeowner within the lease- 53 hold retirement community. The lease-hold retirement community owner or 54 operator may only withhold approval if the proposed tenant or proposed 55 lease or sublease is not in conformity with the established rules and 56 regulations of such lease-hold retirement community.S. 3818--A 4 A. 3145--A 1 (b) If a homeowner wishes to lease or sublease real property and any 2 improvements thereon within a lease-hold retirement community: 3 (1) The homeowner must inform the lease-hold retirement community 4 owner or operator no less than thirty days prior to the proposed effec- 5 tive date of such lease or sublease. 6 (2) The lease-hold retirement community owner or operator may request 7 additional information from the homeowner within ten days. If such addi- 8 tional information is not unduly burdensome, failure to provide such 9 additional information will allow the lease-hold retirement community 10 owner or operator to withhold their approval of the proposed tenant or 11 proposed lease or sublease. 12 (3) If the lease-hold retirement community owner or operator does not 13 respond by approving or withholding approval of the proposed tenant or 14 proposed lease or sublease within thirty days of the initial request by 15 the homeowner, the proposed tenant or proposed lease or sublease shall 16 be deemed approved. 17 8. Emergencies. A lease-hold retirement community owner or operator 18 shall designate a phone number that is available on a twenty-four hour 19 basis to insure the availability of emergency response in matters 20 affecting the health, safety, well-being, and/or general welfare of 21 lease-hold retirement community tenants. The telephone number shall be 22 posted in a conspicuous public location in the lease-hold retirement 23 community, given in writing to each homeowner and tenant, and registered 24 with appropriate municipal law enforcement, health and fire officials. 25 9. Retaliation. No lease-hold retirement community owner or operator 26 may threaten reprisal against any of such home owners or tenants as a 27 result of their lawful pursuits and activities. 28 10. Refusal to furnish service. Any lease-hold retirement community 29 owner or operator who has agreed to provide hot or cold water, heat, 30 light, power, or any other service or facility to an occupant of the 31 lease-hold retirement community shall not willfully or intentionally 32 fail to furnish such water, heat, light, power or other service or 33 facility, or interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the leased premises. 34 11. Receipts. Upon receipt of rent, fees, charges or other assess- 35 ments, in the form of cash or any instrument other than the personal 36 check of the tenant, it shall be the duty of the lease-hold retirement 37 community owner or operator to provide the payor with a written receipt 38 containing the following: 39 (a) The date; 40 (b) The amount; 41 (c) The identity of the premises and the purpose for which paid; 42 (d) The signature and title of the person receiving payment. 43 12. Remedies. (a) Any lease-hold retirement community home owner or 44 tenant injured or damaged in whole or in part as a result of a violation 45 of any of the provisions of this section may bring an action for recov- 46 ery of actual damages plus reasonable attorney's fees or injunctive 47 relief as appropriate. The remedy shall be in addition to and shall not 48 preclude or diminish any action that an individual may have under common 49 law or any local, state or federal law or regulation. 50 (b) The county attorney may commence an action to restrain, prevent, 51 and/or enjoin a violation of this section or a continuance of such 52 violation of this section or a continuance of such violation by a lease- 53 hold retirement community owner or operator. 54 § 2. Separability. If any part or provision of this act or the appli- 55 cation thereof to a person or circumstance is adjudged invalid by any 56 court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in itsS. 3818--A 5 A. 3145--A 1 operation to the part or the provision or application directly involved 2 in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered and 3 shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this act or 4 application thereof to other persons or circumstances. 5 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of October next succeed- 6 ing the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to 7 sales, actions, or leases involving lease-hold retirement community 8 homes occurring or entered into on or after such date.
