Assembly Bill A6842

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Provides for enhanced enforcement of the warranty of habitability for housing accommodations

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

Do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.
Actions

multi-Sponsors

2013-A6842 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:
S5474
Law Section:
Real Property Law
Laws Affected:
Amd ยง235-b, RP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2015-2016: A6750, S2758
2017-2018: A6256, S3618
2019-2020: A6266, S4794
2021-2022: A5546, S5070
2023-2024: A2042, S6010

2013-A6842 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for enhanced enforcement of the warranty of habitability for housing accommodations; provides court may award punitive damages to a tenant upon finding the landlord's breach of warranty was intentional and malicious.

2013-A6842 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  6842

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             April 19, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by M. of A. BOYLAND -- read once and referred to the Commit-
  tee on Housing

AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to enforcement of the
  warranty of habitability

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Legislative  findings and purpose. The legislature hereby
finds that the rental housing market in the state of New York remains in
a state of crisis, due not only to severe shortages in the stock of safe
and affordable housing but also to the state  of  disrepair  and  blight
that  afflicts rental housing opportunities available to people of lower
incomes throughout the state. The legislature  further  finds  that  the
warranty of habitability set forth in section 235-b of the real property
law  represents a critical safeguard of the health and safety of tenants
across the state of New York by requiring that all rental housing accom-
modations be maintained  in  a  safe  and  sanitary  condition  for  the
tenants; that enforcement efforts by the several agencies of the city of
New  York  and the state of New York, although often successful, are not
always sufficient to deter such breaches of the warranty by such  owners
and  landlords,  so  that  in  spite of the protections provided by law,
every year many tenants in the state of New  York  must  endure  housing
conditions  that  fail to meet the basic standards of safety required by
law. In light of the foregoing, the legislature hereby  finds  that  the
state of New York must adopt additional measures to deter the most egre-
gious  breaches  of  the  warranty  of habitability set forth in section
235-b of the real property law, and that the codification of law  award-
ing  punitive  damages to tenants who suffer intentional breaches of the
warranty is an appropriate method to realize such a purpose. The  legis-
lature therefore enacts the following law granting the courts discretion
to  award  punitive  damages in cases where the warranty of habitability
set forth in section 235-b of the real property law is  breached  inten-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD10352-01-3
              

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.