S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                 1763--A

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 12, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on  Housing  --  recommitted to the Committee on Housing in accordance
  with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee  discharged,  bill  amended,
  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

AN  ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the
  emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, in  relation
  to  inspection  of major capital improvements for which rent increases
  are requested and in relation to extending the provisions of the  rent
  stabilization law

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

  Section 1. Subparagraph (g) of paragraph 1 of subdivision g of section
26-405 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by
section 31 of part A of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015,  is  amended  to
read as follows:
  (g) There has been since July first, nineteen hundred seventy, a major
capital  improvement required for the operation, preservation or mainte-
nance of the structure. An adjustment under this subparagraph [(g)]  for
any  order  of  the  commissioner issued after the effective date of the
rent act of 2015 shall be in an amount sufficient to amortize  the  cost
of  the  improvements pursuant to this subparagraph [(g)] over an eight-
year period for buildings with thirty-five or fewer units or a nine year
period for buildings with more  than  [thiry-five]  THIRTY-FIVE  units[,
or].   NO LANDLORD SHALL DENY ACCESS TO A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER LICENSED
TO PRACTICE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK OR A REGISTERED ARCHITECT  LICENSED
TO  PRACTICE  IN  THE  STATE OF NEW YORK HIRED BY ANY TENANT, TENANTS OR
TENANT ASSOCIATION REPRESENTING TENANTS OF A MULTIPLE  DWELLING  OF  SIX
UNITS  OR  MORE  FOR  THE PURPOSE OF CONDUCTING AN INSPECTION OF A MAJOR
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FOR WHICH AN APPLICATION FOR ADJUSTMENT  OF  MAXIMUM
RENT  HAS BEEN FILED. SUCH INSPECTION SHALL BE CONDUCTED AFTER NOTICE TO
THE LANDLORD AND DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS. SUCH TENANT MAY FILE  THE

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05008-03-6
              

A. 1763--A                          2

REPORT  OF THE INSPECTION WITH THE CITY RENT AGENCY FOR CONSIDERATION IN
THE DETERMINATION OF SUCH APPLICATION; OR
  S 2. Paragraph 6 of subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administra-
tive code of the city of New York, as amended by section 29 of part A of
chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
  (6)  provides  criteria whereby the commissioner may act upon applica-
tions by owners for increases in  excess  of  the  level  of  fair  rent
increase  established under this law provided, however, that such crite-
ria shall provide (a) as to hardship applications, for  a  finding  that
the level of fair rent increase is not sufficient to enable the owner to
maintain  approximately  the same average annual net income (which shall
be computed without regard to debt service, financing costs  or  manage-
ment  fees)  for the three year period ending on or within six months of
the date of an application pursuant to such criteria  as  compared  with
annual  net income, which prevailed on the average over the period nine-
teen hundred sixty-eight through nineteen hundred seventy,  or  for  the
first three years of operation if the building was completed since nine-
teen  hundred  sixty-eight  or  for the first three fiscal years after a
transfer of title to a new owner provided the new owner can establish to
the satisfaction of the commissioner that he or she  acquired  title  to
the  building as a result of a bona fide sale of the entire building and
that the new owner is unable to obtain requisite records for the  fiscal
years  nineteen  hundred  sixty-eight  through  nineteen hundred seventy
despite diligent efforts to obtain same from predecessors in  title  and
further  provided that the new owner can provide financial data covering
a minimum of six years under his or  her  continuous  and  uninterrupted
operation  of  the building to meet the three year to three year compar-
ative test periods herein provided; and (b) as  to  completed  building-
wide  major  capital  improvements, for a finding that such improvements
are deemed depreciable under the Internal Revenue Code and that the cost
is to be amortized over an eight-year period for a building  with  thir-
ty-five  or  fewer  housing  accommodations, or a nine-year period for a
building with more than  thirty-five  housing  accommodations,  for  any
determination  issued  by  the division of housing and community renewal
after the effective date of the  rent  act  of  2015,  based  upon  cash
purchase  price  exclusive  of interest or service charges.  NO LANDLORD
SHALL DENY ACCESS TO A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER LICENSED TO PRACTICE IN THE
STATE OF NEW YORK OR A REGISTERED ARCHITECT LICENSED TO PRACTICE IN  THE
STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  HIRED BY ANY TENANT, TENANTS OR TENANT ASSOCIATION
REPRESENTING TENANTS OF A MULTIPLE DWELLING OF SIX UNITS OR MORE FOR THE
PURPOSE OF CONDUCTING AN INSPECTION OF A MAJOR CAPITAL  IMPROVEMENT  FOR
WHICH AN APPLICATION FOR ADJUSTMENT OF MAXIMUM RENT HAS BEEN FILED. SUCH
INSPECTION  SHALL  BE  CONDUCTED AFTER NOTICE TO THE LANDLORD AND DURING
NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS. SUCH TENANT MAY FILE THE REPORT OF THE INSPECTION
WITH THE CITY RENT AGENCY FOR CONSIDERATION IN THE DETERMINATION OF SUCH
APPLICATION. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained  herein,
no  hardship  increase  granted  pursuant  to this paragraph shall, when
added to the annual gross rents,  as  determined  by  the  commissioner,
exceed  the sum of, (i) the annual operating expenses, (ii) an allowance
for management services as determined by the commissioner, (iii)  actual
annual  mortgage debt service (interest and amortization) on its indebt-
edness to a lending institution, an insurance company, a retirement fund
or welfare fund which is operated under the supervision of  the  banking
or  insurance  laws  of  the state of New York or the United States, and
(iv) eight and one-half percent of that portion of the fair market value
of the property which exceeds the unpaid principal amount of  the  mort-

A. 1763--A                          3

gage  indebtedness  referred to in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph.
Fair market value for the purposes of this paragraph shall be six  times
the  annual gross rent. The collection of any increase in the stabilized
rent  for  any apartment pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed six
percent in any year from the effective date of the  order  granting  the
increase  over  the  rent set forth in the schedule of gross rents, with
collectability of any dollar excess above said sum to be spread  forward
in similar increments and added to the stabilized rent as established or
set in future years;
  S 3. Paragraph 3 of subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of chapter
576  of  the  laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection
act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by section  30  of  part  A  of
chapter 20 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
  (3)  there has been since January first, nineteen hundred seventy-four
a major capital improvement required for the operation, preservation  or
maintenance  of  the structure. An adjustment under this paragraph shall
be in an amount sufficient to amortize  the  cost  of  the  improvements
pursuant to this paragraph over an eight-year period for a building with
thirty-five or fewer housing accommodations, or a nine-year period for a
building  with  more  than  thirty-five  housing accommodations, for any
determination issued by the division of housing  and  community  renewal
after  the  effective  date  of the rent act of 2015[, or].  NO LANDLORD
SHALL DENY ACCESS TO A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER LICENSED TO PRACTICE IN THE
STATE OF NEW YORK OR A REGISTERED ARCHITECT LICENSED TO PRACTICE IN  THE
STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  HIRED BY ANY TENANT, TENANTS OR TENANT ASSOCIATION
REPRESENTING TENANTS OF A MULTIPLE DWELLING OF SIX UNITS OR MORE FOR THE
PURPOSE OF CONDUCTING AN INSPECTION OF A MAJOR CAPITAL  IMPROVEMENT  FOR
WHICH AN APPLICATION FOR ADJUSTMENT OF MAXIMUM RENT HAS BEEN FILED. SUCH
INSPECTION  SHALL  BE  CONDUCTED AFTER NOTICE TO THE LANDLORD AND DURING
NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS. SUCH TENANT MAY FILE THE REPORT OF THE INSPECTION
WITH THE CITY RENT AGENCY FOR CONSIDERATION IN THE DETERMINATION OF SUCH
APPLICATION, OR
  S 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
it shall have become a law, except that any rules and regulations neces-
sary for the timely implementation of this act  on  its  effective  date
shall be promulgated on or before such date; provided that the amendment
to  section  26-405  of  the  city  rent  and rehabilitation law 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 and
provided further that the  amendment  to  section  26-511  of  the  rent
stabilization  law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine made by section two of
this act shall expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not
affect the expiration of such law as provided under  section  26-520  of
such  law  and  provided  further that the amendment to section 6 of the
emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by section
three of this act shall expire on the same date as such act expires  and
shall not affect the expiration of such act as provided in section 17 of
chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, as amended.