BILL NUMBER:S4033

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the administrative code of the city of
New York, in relation to possession of a housing accommodation subject
to  the  city rent and rehabilitation law by an owner for personal use
and occupancy

PURPOSE:

This bill amends the rent control laws to address the situation  where
property  owners  seek  to obtain possession of apartments occupied by
rent controlled tenants. The bill  deletes  the  requirement  that  an
owner  prove  an  "immediate and compelling necessity" prior to taking
occupancy of an apartment occupied by a rent  controlled  tenant.  The
bill  also  deletes  the  provision of existing law which prohibits an
owner from taking occupancy of a rent controlled apartment  where  the
tenant was residing in the apartment form more than twenty years.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill makes the owner occupancy provisions of the rent control law
more  similar  to  the  requirements  that  are  contained in the rent
stabilization law. Under both the rent control and rent  stabilization
laws,  an  owner  is  authorized  to  take  occupancy  of an apartment
occupied by a rent regulated tenant where the owner intends to use the
apartment for themselves or for their  immediate  family.  Unlike  the
              

rent   stabilization  law,  however,  the  rent  control  law  imposes
additional, burdensome requirements. First, the owner  must  establish
an  "immediate and compelling necessity," for taking possession of the
apartment, a virtually insurmountable standard and one  which  is  far
more  difficult  to  meet  than  the  standard  that exists under rent
stabilization. The rent controlled standard  imposes  an  unreasonable
obstacle to an owner's ability to use their own property for their own
purposes.

JUSTIFICATION:

This bill makes the owner occupancy provisions of the rent control law
more  similar  to  the  requirements  that  are  contained in the rent
stabilization law. Under both the rent control and rent  stabilization
laws,  an  owner  is  authorized  to  take  occupancy  of an apartment
occupied by a rent regulated tenant where the owner intends to use the
apartment for themselves or for their  immediate  family.  Unlike  the
rent   stabilization  law,  however,  the  rent  control  law  imposes
additional, burdensome requirements. First, the owner  must  establish
an  "immediate and compelling necessity," for taking possession of the
apartment, a virtually insurmountable standard and one  which  is  far
more  difficult  to  meet  than  the  standard  that exists under rent
stabilization. The rent controlled standard  imposes  an  unreasonable
obstacle to an owner's ability to use their own property for their own
purposes.

Second, also unlike the rent stabilization law, an owner is prohibited
from  taking occupancy of a rent controlled apartment where the tenant
has been in occupancy  for  twenty  or  more  years.  Rent  controlled
tenants who are 62 years of age or older or who suffer from any one of
a  number of disabilities have been and would continue to be protected


under the rent control law. However, there is no sound  public  policy
justification  for  protecting  other  rent  controlled tenants merely
because they happen to live  in  their  apartments  for  a  particular
length of time.

This  bill  is  consistent with the requirements contained in the rent
stabilization law, removes unreasonable obstacles for property  owners
who  seek  to use their own property for themselves or their immediate
family, and continues the protections afforded under existing  law  to
tenants who are 62 years of age or older or who are disabled.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S. 5152 /2012 Passed Senate

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.