Bill Text: NY S04257 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Ensures that commercial tenants receive a lease; defines terms within leases; establishes requirements for commercial lease contracts.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-03 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S04257 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S04257-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         4257--A
            Cal. No. 550

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 3, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens. RIVERA, JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to  the  Committee  on  Cities  1  --
          reported  favorably  from  said committee, ordered to first and second
          report, ordered to a third reading,  amended  and  ordered  reprinted,
          retaining its place in the order of third reading

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  administrative code of the city of New York, in
          relation to requiring contracts for a commercial lease

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Title 22 of the administrative code of the city of New York
     2  is amended by adding a new chapter 13 to read as follows:
     3                                  CHAPTER 13
     4                         COMMERCIAL LEASE CONTRACTS
     5    §  22-1301  Definitions.  As  used in this chapter the following terms
     6  have the following meanings:
     7    1. "Written contract" means  a  commercial  lease  or  lease  for  the
     8  purposes  of  renting a commercial property, that shall be provided to a
     9  commercial tenant as an official agreement on contract terms.
    10    2. "Commercial tenant" means a lessee or entity that  is  entering  an
    11  agreement to rent and lawfully occupy the commercial property.
    12    3.  "Commercial  lease"  means a written contract provided on paper or
    13  electronically.
    14    4. "Commercial property" means any non-residential real estate proper-
    15  ty that is owned or used for business purposes.
    16    5. "Property owner" means a person, landlord, owner,  or  entity  that
    17  owns or manages a commercial property.
    18    §  22-1302 Commercial lease contract requirements. 1. A landlord shall
    19  provide a written contract to a commercial tenant. Such written contract
    20  must include, but is not limited to, the:
    21    a. address of the property and a description of the space leased;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08123-03-1
        S. 4257--A                          2

     1    b. contact information for the  property  owner  or  manager  and  the
     2  primary contact of the business, all contacts preferred by those parties
     3  should  be included on the lease, which shall not be limited to only one
     4  contact;
     5    c. term of the lease, with the date of commencement and date of termi-
     6  nation of such term;
     7    d.  lease  extension  or  renewal information if any renewal option is
     8  provided with the date or dates on which such extension or  renewal  are
     9  exercisable;
    10    e. monthly rent and due date;
    11    f. any terms that may result in termination of the written contract or
    12  additional fees and charges;
    13    g.  explanation  of  any  additional  fees or charges, if any, such as
    14  contribution to property taxes, insurance, maintenance, facade or struc-
    15  tural repairs, or utilities, whether this is consecutive or  a  one-time
    16  payment; and
    17    h.  all  the  responsibilities for the commercial tenant and the land-
    18  lord, if any.
    19    2. Commercial tenants may request that the start date  of  tenancy  or
    20  other  relevant  information  to prove occupancy and duration thereof be
    21  included or excluded in a written contract.
    22    3. Commercial tenants have the right to,  upon  request,  receive  any
    23  information listed under subdivision one of this section.
    24    4.  Commercial tenants who do not receive a written contract including
    25  items required by this section shall be legally allowed to:
    26    a. continue their tenancy until the contract is provided;
    27    b. withhold rent payment after thirty days without a contract; and
    28    c. suspend payment on the sixty-first day without  a  lease.  Property
    29  owners  who  do  not  provided  a  lease  within  sixty days forfeit the
    30  payments for that time period prior and until the issuance of the lease.
    31    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.