Bill Text: NY S03874 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Provides that no landlord shall deny access to a licensed professional engineer or licensed registered architect hired by any tenant or tenant association representing tenants of a multiple dwelling of six units or more for the purpose of conducting an inspection of a major capital improvement for which an application for a maximum rent adjustment has been filed by the landlord; provides that such inspection shall be conducted after notice to the landlord and during normal business hours; provides for the filing of such inspection report by such tenants with the New York city rent agency for consideration in such application's determination.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-04-23 - PRINT NUMBER 3874A [S03874 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S03874-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         3874--A
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 27, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by Sen. ALCANTARA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed  to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and
          Community Development -- recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Housing,
          Construction  and Community Development in accordance with Senate Rule
          6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted  as
          amended and recommitted to said committee
        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  inspection  of major capital improvements for which rent increases
          are requested and in relation to extending the provisions of the  rent
          stabilization law
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subparagraph (g) of paragraph 1 of subdivision g of section
     2  26-405 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by
     3  section 31 of part A of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015,  is  amended  to
     4  read as follows:
     5    (g) There has been since July first, nineteen hundred seventy, a major
     6  capital  improvement required for the operation, preservation or mainte-
     7  nance of the structure. An adjustment under this subparagraph [(g)]  for
     8  any  order  of  the  commissioner issued after the effective date of the
     9  rent act of 2015 shall be in an amount sufficient to amortize  the  cost
    10  of  the  improvements pursuant to this subparagraph [(g)] over an eight-
    11  year period for buildings with thirty-five or fewer units or a nine year
    12  period for buildings with more than [thiry-five] thirty-five  units.  No
    13  landlord  shall deny access to a professional engineer licensed to prac-
    14  tice in the state of New York or  a  registered  architect  licensed  to
    15  practice in the state of New York hired by any tenant, tenants or tenant
    16  association  representing tenants of a multiple dwelling of six units or
    17  more for the purpose of conducting an  inspection  of  a  major  capital
    18  improvement  for which an application for adjustment of maximum rent has
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05901-03-8
        S. 3874--A                          2
     1  been filed. Such inspection shall be conducted after notice to the land-
     2  lord and during normal business hours. Such tenant may file  the  report
     3  of  the  inspection  with  the city rent agency for consideration in the
     4  determination of such application, or
     5    § 2. Paragraph 6 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administra-
     6  tive code of the city of New York, as amended by section 29 of part A of
     7  chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
     8    (6)  provides  criteria whereby the commissioner may act upon applica-
     9  tions by owners for increases in  excess  of  the  level  of  fair  rent
    10  increase  established under this law provided, however, that such crite-
    11  ria shall provide (a) as to hardship applications, for  a  finding  that
    12  the level of fair rent increase is not sufficient to enable the owner to
    13  maintain  approximately  the same average annual net income (which shall
    14  be computed without regard to debt service, financing costs  or  manage-
    15  ment  fees)  for the three year period ending on or within six months of
    16  the date of an application pursuant to such criteria  as  compared  with
    17  annual  net income, which prevailed on the average over the period nine-
    18  teen hundred sixty-eight through nineteen hundred seventy,  or  for  the
    19  first three years of operation if the building was completed since nine-
    20  teen  hundred  sixty-eight  or  for the first three fiscal years after a
    21  transfer of title to a new owner provided the new owner can establish to
    22  the satisfaction of the commissioner that he or she  acquired  title  to
    23  the  building as a result of a bona fide sale of the entire building and
    24  that the new owner is unable to obtain requisite records for the  fiscal
    25  years  nineteen  hundred  sixty-eight  through  nineteen hundred seventy
    26  despite diligent efforts to obtain same from predecessors in  title  and
    27  further  provided that the new owner can provide financial data covering
    28  a minimum of six years under his or  her  continuous  and  uninterrupted
    29  operation  of  the building to meet the three year to three year compar-
    30  ative test periods herein provided; and (b) as  to  completed  building-
    31  wide  major  capital  improvements, for a finding that such improvements
    32  are deemed depreciable under the Internal Revenue Code and that the cost
    33  is to be amortized over an eight-year period for a building  with  thir-
    34  ty-five  or  fewer  housing  accommodations, or a nine-year period for a
    35  building with more than  thirty-five  housing  accommodations,  for  any
    36  determination  issued  by  the division of housing and community renewal
    37  after the effective date of the  rent  act  of  2015,  based  upon  cash
    38  purchase  price exclusive of interest or service charges.  Notwithstand-
    39  ing anything to the contrary  contained  herein,  no  hardship  increase
    40  granted pursuant to this paragraph shall, when added to the annual gross
    41  rents,  as  determined  by  the commissioner, exceed the sum of, (i) the
    42  annual operating expenses, (ii) an allowance for management services  as
    43  determined  by  the  commissioner,  (iii)  actual  annual  mortgage debt
    44  service (interest and amortization) on its  indebtedness  to  a  lending
    45  institution,  an  insurance  company,  a retirement fund or welfare fund
    46  which is operated under the supervision of the banking or insurance laws
    47  of the state of New York or the United States, and (iv) eight  and  one-
    48  half  percent  of  that portion of the fair market value of the property
    49  which exceeds the unpaid principal amount of the  mortgage  indebtedness
    50  referred  to  in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph. Fair market value
    51  for the purposes of this paragraph shall be six times the  annual  gross
    52  rent.  No landlord shall deny access to a professional engineer licensed
    53  to  practice in the state of New York or a registered architect licensed
    54  to practice in the state of New York hired by  any  tenant,  tenants  or
    55  tenant  association  representing  tenants of a multiple dwelling of six
    56  units or more for the purpose of conducting an  inspection  of  a  major
        S. 3874--A                          3
     1  capital  improvement  for which an application for adjustment of maximum
     2  rent has been filed. Such inspection shall be conducted after notice  to
     3  the  landlord and during normal business hours. Such tenant may file the
     4  report  of the inspection with the city rent agency for consideration in
     5  the determination of such application. The collection of any increase in
     6  the stabilized rent for any apartment pursuant to this  paragraph  shall
     7  not  exceed six percent in any year from the effective date of the order
     8  granting the increase over the rent set forth in the schedule  of  gross
     9  rents,  with  collectability  of  any dollar excess above said sum to be
    10  spread forward in similar increments and added to the stabilized rent as
    11  established or set in future years;
    12    § 3. Paragraph 3 of subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of chapter
    13  576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the  emergency  tenant  protection
    14  act  of  nineteen  seventy-four,  as  amended by section 30 of part A of
    15  chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
    16    (3) there has been since January first, nineteen hundred  seventy-four
    17  a  major capital improvement required for the operation, preservation or
    18  maintenance of the structure. An adjustment under this  paragraph  shall
    19  be  in  an  amount  sufficient  to amortize the cost of the improvements
    20  pursuant to this paragraph over an eight-year period for a building with
    21  thirty-five or fewer housing accommodations, or a nine-year period for a
    22  building with more than  thirty-five  housing  accommodations,  for  any
    23  determination  issued  by  the division of housing and community renewal
    24  after the effective date of the rent act of 2015. No landlord shall deny
    25  access to a professional engineer licensed to practice in the  state  of
    26  New  York or a registered architect licensed to practice in the state of
    27  New York hired by any tenant, tenants or tenant association representing
    28  tenants of a multiple dwelling of six units or more for the  purpose  of
    29  conducting  an  inspection  of  a major capital improvement for which an
    30  application  for  adjustment  of  maximum  rent  has  been  filed.  Such
    31  inspection  shall  be  conducted after notice to the landlord and during
    32  normal business hours. Such tenant may file the report of the inspection
    33  with the city rent agency for consideration in the determination of such
    34  application, or
    35    § 4. Section 26-520 of the administrative code  of  the  city  of  New
    36  York,  as amended by local law number 26 of the city of New York for the
    37  year 2015, is amended to read as follows:
    38    § 26-520 Expiration date. This chapter shall expire  on  April  first,
    39  two  thousand  [eighteen]  twenty-two  unless  rent control shall sooner
    40  terminate as provided in subdivision three of section one of  the  local
    41  emergency housing rent control law.
    42    § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    43  it shall have become a law, except that any rules and regulations neces-
    44  sary  for  the  timely  implementation of this act on its effective date
    45  shall be promulgated on or before such date; provided that the amendment
    46  to section 26-405 of the  city  rent  and  rehabilitation  law  made  by
    47  section  one  of  this act shall remain in full force and effect only so
    48  long as the public emergency requiring the  regulation  and  control  of
    49  residential  rents and evictions continues, as provided in subdivision 3
    50  of section 1 of  the  local  emergency  housing  rent  control  act  and
    51  provided  further  that  the  amendment  to  section  26-511 of the rent
    52  stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine made by section two  of
    53  this act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not
    54  affect  the  expiration  of such law as provided under section 26-520 of
    55  such law and provided further that the amendment to  section  6  of  the
    56  emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section
        S. 3874--A                          4
     1  three  of this act shall expire on the same date as such act expires and
     2  shall not affect the expiration of such act as provided in section 17 of
     3  chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, as amended.