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

                                  8393

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 13, 2014
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Housing

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  local  emergency  housing  rent control act, in
  relation to rent regulation laws

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

  Section  1.  Subdivision  5  of section 1 of chapter 21 of the laws of
1962, constituting the local emergency  housing  rent  control  act,  as
amended  by  chapter 82 of the laws of 2003 and the closing paragraph as
amended by chapter 422 of the laws  of  2010,  is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  5.  Authority  for local rent control legislation.  Each city having a
population of one million or more, acting through its local  legislative
body,  may  adopt  and  amend local laws or ordinances in respect of the
establishment or designation of a city  housing  rent  agency.  When  it
deems such action to be desirable or necessitated by local conditions in
order  to  carry  out the purposes of this section, such city, except as
hereinafter provided, acting through its local legislative body and  not
otherwise,  may  adopt  and amend local laws or ordinances in respect of
the regulation and control  of  residential  rents,  including  but  not
limited  to  provision  for  the establishment and adjustment of maximum
rents, the classification of housing accommodations, the  regulation  of
evictions,  and  the  enforcement  of such local laws or ordinances. The
validity of any such local laws or ordinances, and the  rules  or  regu-
lations  promulgated  in  accordance therewith, shall not be affected by
and need not be consistent with the state emergency housing rent control
law or with rules and regulations of the state division of  housing  and
community renewal.
  Notwithstanding  any  local  law  or ordinance, housing accommodations
which became vacant on or after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-one
or which hereafter become vacant shall be subject to the  provisions  of
the  emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, provided,
however, that this provision shall not apply or  become  effective  with
respect  to housing accommodations which, by local law or ordinance, are

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

A                                                          LBD04729-01-3

A. 8393                             2

made directly subject to regulation and control by a city  housing  rent
agency  and  such  agency  determines or finds that the housing accommo-
dations became vacant because the landlord or any person acting  on  his
behalf, with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, engaged in any course
of conduct (including but not limited to, interruption or discontinuance
of  essential  services)  which  interfered  with  or  disturbed  or was
intended to interfere with or disturb  the  comfort,  repose,  peace  or
quiet  of  the  tenant  in  his use or occupancy of the housing accommo-
dations. The removal of any housing accommodation  from  regulation  and
control  of rents pursuant to the vacancy exemption provided for in this
paragraph shall not constitute or operate as a ground for the subjection
to more stringent regulation and control of any housing accommodation in
such property or in any other  property  owned  by  the  same  landlord,
notwithstanding any prior agreement to the contrary by the landlord. The
vacancy  exemption  provided  for in this paragraph shall not arise with
respect to any rented plot or parcel of land otherwise  subject  to  the
provisions  of this act, by reason of a transfer of title and possession
occurring on or after July first,  nineteen  hundred  seventy-one  of  a
dwelling  located  on  such plot or parcel and owned by the tenant where
such transfer of title and  possession  is  made  to  a  member  of  the
tenant's immediate family provided that the member of the tenant's imme-
diate family occupies the dwelling with the tenant prior to the transfer
of title and possession for a continuous period of two years.
  The term "immediate family" shall include a husband, wife, son, daugh-
ter,  stepson, stepdaughter, father, mother, father-in-law or mother-in-
law.
  [Notwithstanding the foregoing, no local law or ordinance shall  here-
after  provide  for  the regulation and control of residential rents and
eviction in respect of any housing accommodations which are (1) present-
ly exempt from such regulation and control or (2) hereafter decontrolled
either by operation of law or by a city housing rent agency, by order or
otherwise. No housing accommodations presently subject to regulation and
control pursuant to local laws or ordinances adopted  or  amended  under
authority  of  this subdivision shall hereafter be by local law or ordi-
nance or by rule or regulation which has not been  theretofore  approved
by  the state commissioner of housing and community renewal subjected to
more stringent or restrictive provisions of regulation and control  than
those presently in effect.
  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on and after the effective
date  of  this  paragraph,  a city having a population of one million or
more shall not, either through its local legislative body or  otherwise,
adopt  or  amend local laws or ordinances with respect to the regulation
and control of residential rents and eviction, including but not limited
to provision for the establishment and adjustment of rents, the  classi-
fication of housing accommodations, the regulation of evictions, and the
enforcement of such local laws or ordinances, or otherwise adopt laws or
ordinances  pursuant to the provisions of this act, the emergency tenant
protection act of nineteen seventy-four, the  New  York  city  rent  and
rehabilitation  law  or the New York city rent stabilization law, except
to the extent that such city for the purpose of reviewing the  continued
need  for the existing regulation and control of residential rents or to
remove a classification of housing accommodation  from  such  regulation
and control adopts or amends local laws or ordinances pursuant to subdi-
vision  three of section one of this act, section three of the emergency
tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, section  26-415  of  the
New  York  city  rent  and  rehabilitation  law, and sections 26-502 and

A. 8393                             3

26-520 of the New York city rent stabilization law of  nineteen  hundred
sixty-nine.]
  Notwithstanding  any  provision of this act to the contrary, any local
law adopted pursuant to this act shall provide that notwithstanding  any
provision  of such local law in the case where all tenants occupying the
housing accommodation on the  effective  date  of  this  paragraph  have
vacated  the  housing accommodation and a family member of such vacating
tenant or tenants is entitled to and continues  to  occupy  the  housing
accommodation  subject  to the protections of such act, if such accommo-
dation continues to be subject to such  act  after  such  family  member
vacates,  on the occurrence of such vacancy the maximum collectable rent
shall be increased by a sum equal to the allowance then  in  effect  for
vacancy leases for housing accommodations covered by the rent stabiliza-
tion law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine, including the amount allowed by
paragraph  (5-a)  of  subdivision  c of section 26-511 of such law. This
increase shall be in addition to any other  increases  provided  for  in
this  act  and  shall be applicable in like manner to each second subse-
quent succession.
  Notwithstanding the foregoing, no local law or ordinance shall subject
to such regulation and control any housing accommodation  which  is  not
occupied  by  the  tenant in possession as his or her primary residence;
provided, however, that such housing accommodation not occupied  by  the
tenant  in  possession as his or her primary residence shall continue to
be subject to regulation and control as provided for herein  unless  the
city  housing  rent  agency  issues an order decontrolling such accommo-
dation, which the agency shall do upon application by the landlord when-
ever it is established by any facts  and  circumstances  which,  in  the
judgment  of  the  agency, may have a bearing upon the question of resi-
dence, that the tenant maintains his or her primary  residence  at  some
place  other  than  at such housing accommodation.   For the purposes of
determining primary residency, a tenant who  is  a  victim  of  domestic
violence,  as defined in section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social
services law, who has left the unit because of such  violence,  and  who
asserts an intent to return to the housing accommodation shall be deemed
to be occupying the unit as his or her primary residence.
  S  2.  This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
the amendments to subdivision 5 of section 1 of chapter 21 of  the  laws
of  1962  made by section one of this act shall remain in full force and
effect only so long as the public emergency requiring the regulation and
control of residential rents and evictions  continues,  as  provided  in
subdivision  3  of section 1 of the local emergency housing rent control
act; provided further, however, that the amendment to the second  undes-
ignated  paragraph  of  subdivision  5 of section 1 of chapter 21 of the
laws of 1962 made by section one of this act shall not affect the  expi-
ration of such paragraph and shall be deemed to expire therewith.