Bill Text: NY S08518 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Enacts the electric vehicle rights act; provides that a homeowners' association may not adopt or enforce any rules or regulations that would effectively prohibit, or impose unreasonable limitations on, the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-25 - SUBSTITUTED BY A6165A [S08518 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S08518-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8518--A

                    IN SENATE

                                      March 8, 2022
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee  on  Judiciary  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to enacting the elec-
          tric vehicle rights act

          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  article
     2  9-D to read as follows:
     3                                 ARTICLE 9-D
     4                         ELECTRIC VEHICLE RIGHTS ACT
     5  Section 343. Certain covenants, conditions, and restrictions of homeown-
     6                 ers' associations prohibited.
     7    §  343. Certain covenants, conditions, and restrictions of homeowners'
     8  associations prohibited.  1.  Definitions.  For  the  purposes  of  this
     9  section:
    10    (a)  "restriction  on  use"  shall  mean any covenant, restriction, or
    11  condition contained in:
    12    (i) a deed;
    13    (ii) a contract;
    14    (iii) the by-laws of a homeowners' association;
    15    (iv) any rules or regulations adopted by a homeowners' association;
    16    (v) a security agreement; or
    17    (vi) any other instrument affecting the transfer or sale  of,  or  any
    18  interest in, real property.
    19    (b) "electric vehicle charging station" shall have the same meaning as
    20  such  term  is  defined  in section three hundred thirty-nine-ll of this
    21  chapter.
    22    2. A homeowners' association may not adopt or  enforce  any  rules  or
    23  regulations  that  would  effectively  prohibit,  or impose unreasonable
    24  limitations on, the installation or use of an electric vehicle  charging
    25  station.  A restriction on use which effectively prohibits the installa-
    26  tion or use of an electric vehicle charging station is unenforceable and

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10014-03-2
        S. 8518--A                          2

     1  shall  be  void  as  contrary to public policy. For the purposes of this
     2  subdivision, an unreasonable limitation includes, but is not limited to,
     3  any restriction on use that:
     4    (a) inhibits the electric vehicle charging station from functioning at
     5  its intended maximum efficiency; or
     6    (b)  increases the electric vehicle charging station's installation or
     7  maintenance costs by an amount which is estimated to be greater than ten
     8  percent of the total cost of the initial installation  of  the  electric
     9  vehicle charging station, including the costs of labor and equipment.
    10    3.  Notwithstanding  subdivision  two  of  this section, a homeowners'
    11  association may adopt or enforce a restriction on use  to  prohibit  the
    12  installation  of an electric vehicle charging station that is located on
    13  property owned by the homeowners' association  or  that  is  located  on
    14  property owned in common by the members of the homeowners' association.
    15    4.    If  approval  for the installation or use of an electric vehicle
    16  charging station is required by a homeowners' association, the  applica-
    17  tion  for approval shall be processed and approved by the association in
    18  a manner prescribed by  the  association  and  shall  not  be  willfully
    19  avoided or delayed. The approval or denial of an application shall be in
    20  writing.    Any  denial  of  a  homeowner's  application shall include a
    21  detailed description of the exact basis for the denial and shall include
    22  specific examples of the homeowners' association's concerns, if applica-
    23  ble.  If an application is not denied in writing within sixty days  from
    24  the  date of receipt of the application, the application shall be deemed
    25  approved, unless that delay is the result of a  reasonable  request  for
    26  additional information.
    27    5.  An  electric  vehicle charging station shall meet the requirements
    28  established by any local, state or federal law, rule  or  regulation  on
    29  health  and safety standards and those requirements imposed by state and
    30  local permitting authorities.
    31    6. In any action by a homeowner requesting to have an electric vehicle
    32  charging station installed and seeking to enforce compliance  with  this
    33  section, the homeowner shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees if he
    34  or she prevails.
    35    §  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    36  have become a law.