S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7221
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
April 12, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARNWELL -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Housing
AN ACT to amend the public housing law, the emergency tenant protection
act of nineteen seventy-four and the administrative code of the city
of New York, in relation to penalties for owners of property who fail
to file a proper or timely rent registration statement
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The commissioner of housing and community renewal shall
distribute to each unit rent controlled or rent stabilized at any point
since 1971 a copy of such unit's rent history, regardless of the current
rent regulation status of the unit, as well as literature describing how
a tenant can identify a possible rent overcharge.
§ 2. Section 14 of the public housing law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 8 to read as follows:
8. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL GENERATE AND DISTRIBUTE LITERATURE EXPLAIN-
ING HOW TO IDENTIFY A POSSIBLE RENT OVERCHARGE. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL
CONDUCT GEOGRAPHIC LANGUAGE STUDIES TO ENSURE THAT SUCH LITERATURE IS
AVAILABLE TO ALL RESIDENTS, NOT JUST THOSE WHO SPEAK AND READ ENGLISH.
§ 3. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 12 of section 4 of chap-
ter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant
protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 403 of
the laws of 1983, the opening paragraph and clause (i) of subparagraph
(b) as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended and a new
paragraph 9 is added to read as follows:
(1) Subject to the conditions and limitations of this paragraph, any
owner of housing accommodations in a city having a population of less
than one million or a town or village as to which an emergency has been
declared pursuant to section three, who, upon complaint of a tenant or
of the state division of housing and community renewal, is found by the
state division of housing and community renewal, after a reasonable
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10737-04-9
A. 7221 2
opportunity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent
authorized for a housing accommodation subject to this act shall be
liable to the tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of
such overcharge. [In no event shall such treble damage penalty be
assessed against an owner based solely on said owner's failure to file a
proper or timely initial or annual rent registration statement.] If the
owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge
was neither willful nor attributable to his negligence, the state divi-
sion of housing and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the
amount of the overcharge plus interest at the rate of interest payable
on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
tice law and rules. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause
(ii) of this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of deter-
mining an overcharge, shall be deemed to be the rent indicated in [the]
PRIOR annual registration [statement filed four years prior to the most
recent registration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial
registration statement)] STATEMENTS plus in each case any subsequent
lawful increases and adjustments, LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES. [Where
the amount of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement
filed four years prior to the most recent registration statement is not
challenged within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor
service of any registration shall be subject to challenge at any time
thereafter.] THE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL, IN INVESTI-
GATING COMPLAINTS OF OVERCHARGE AND IN DETERMINING LEGAL REGULATED RENT,
SHALL CONSIDER ALL AVAILABLE RENT HISTORY WHICH IS REASONABLY NECESSARY
TO MAKE SUCH DETERMINATIONS. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety
days of the initial registration of a housing accommodation, the legal
regulated rent for purposes of determining an overcharge shall be deemed
to be the rent charged [on the date four years prior to] AS OF the date
of the initial registration of the housing accommodation (or, if the
housing accommodation was NOT PREVIOUSLY subject to this act [for less
than four years], the initial legal regulated rent) plus in each case,
any lawful increases and adjustments, LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES.
Where the rent charged [on the date four years] prior to the date of the
initial registration of the accommodation cannot be established, such
rent shall be established by the division. [Where the amount of rent set
forth in the annual rent registration statement filed four years prior
to the most recent registration statement is not challenged within four
years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of any registration
shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]
(a) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal
shall apportion the owner's liability between or among two or more
tenants found to have been overcharged by such owner during their
particular tenancy of a unit.
(b) (i) Except as provided under clauses (ii) and (iii) of this
subparagraph, a complaint under this subdivision [shall] MAY be filed
with the state division of housing and community renewal [within four
years of the first overcharge alleged and no determination of an over-
charge and no award or calculation of an award of the amount of an over-
charge may be based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four
years before the complaint is filed. This paragraph shall preclude exam-
ination of the rental history of the housing accommodation prior to the
four-year period preceding the filing of a complaint pursuant to this
subdivision] AT ANY TIME.
(ii) [No] A penalty of three times the overcharge may be based upon an
overcharge having occurred [more than two years] AT ANY TIME before the
A. 7221 3
complaint is filed [or upon an overcharge which occurred prior to April
first, nineteen hundred eighty-four.
(iii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to the date
of filing of the initial rent registration as provided in subdivision b
of section twelve-a of this act shall be filed within ninety days of the
mailing of notice to the tenant of such registration].
(c) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an opportunity
to join in any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state
division of housing and community renewal.
(d) An owner found to have overcharged shall, in all cases, be
assessed the reasonable costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding, and
interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
tice law and rules.
(e) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal
awarding penalties may, upon the expiration of the period in which the
owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of
the civil practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in
the same manner as a judgment or, in the alternative, not in excess of
twenty percent thereof per month may be offset against any rent there-
after due the owner.
(f) Unless a tenant shall have filed a complaint of overcharge with
the division which complaint has not been withdrawn, nothing contained
in this section shall be deemed to prevent a tenant or tenants, claiming
to have been overcharged, from commencing an action or interposing a
counterclaim in a court of competent jurisdiction for damages equal to
the overcharge and the penalty provided for in this section, including
interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable
on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil prac-
tice law and rules, plus the statutory costs and allowable disbursements
in connection with the proceeding. [Such action must be commenced or
counterclaim interposed within four years of the date of the alleged
overcharge but no recovery of three times the amount of the overcharge
may be awarded with respect to any overcharge which had occurred more
than two years before the action is commenced or counterclaim is inter-
posed.]
(9) A PENALTY SHALL BE ASSESSED AGAINST AN OWNER WHO FAILS TO FILE A
TIMELY OR PROPER INITIAL, ANNUAL OR SUPPLEMENTAL RENT REGISTRATION
STATEMENT OR FAILS TO SUPPLY THE UNIT'S RENT HISTORY WITH A LEASE UNDER
SECTION 12-A OF THIS ACT OF TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS PER UNIT FOR BUILDINGS
WITH LESS THAN FIFTEEN UNITS AND OF FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER UNIT FOR
BUILDINGS WITH FIFTEEN UNITS OR MORE. SUCH PENALTY SHALL BE PAID TO THE
TENANT OF THE UNIT, EITHER AS CASH, CHECK OR A CREDIT TOWARD THEIR
MONTHLY RENT. SHOULD THE TENANT'S LEASE EXPIRE BEFORE THE CREDIT TOWARD
THEIR MONTHLY RENT IS PAID, THEN THE REMAINDER OF THE CREDIT WILL BE
PAID OUT AS A CASH AWARD. THE CHOICE OF CASH, CHECK, OR RENT CREDIT
SHALL BE DETERMINED BY THE TENANT.
§ 4. Section 12-a of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974,
constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-
four, is amended by adding two new subdivisions i and j to read as
follows:
I. A SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT SHALL BE FILED CONTAINING THE CURRENT RENT
FOR EACH UNIT AND SUCH OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED IN SUBDIVISION A OF
THIS SECTION AS SHALL BE REQUIRED BY THE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMU-
NITY RENEWAL WITHIN NINETY DAYS OF THE RENT ON A UNIT BEING RAISED. THE
A. 7221 4
OWNER SHALL PROVIDE EACH TENANT THEN IN OCCUPANCY WITH A COPY OF THAT
PORTION OF SUCH STATEMENT AS PERTAINS TO THE TENANT'S UNIT.
J. THE OWNER SHALL SUPPLY WITH EACH LEASE (1) LITERATURE ON RENT
HISTORY PRODUCED BY THE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL AND
(2) A COPY OF SUCH UNIT'S ENTIRE RENT HISTORY.
§ 5. Subdivision a of section 26-516 of the administrative code of
the city of New York, as amended by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is
amended and a new subdivision i is added to read as follows:
a. Subject to the conditions and limitations of this subdivision, any
owner of housing accommodations who, upon complaint of a tenant, or of
the state division of housing and community renewal, is found by the
state division of housing and community renewal, after a reasonable
opportunity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent
authorized for a housing accommodation subject to this chapter shall be
liable to the tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of
such overcharge. [In no event shall such treble damage penalty be
assessed against an owner based solely on said owner's failure to file a
timely or proper initial or annual rent registration statement.] If the
owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge
was not willful, the state division of housing and community renewal
shall establish the penalty as the amount of the overcharge plus inter-
est. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of this
paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of determining an over-
charge, shall be the AMOUNT OF rent indicated in [the] PRIOR annual
registration [statement filed four years prior to the most recent regis-
tration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration
statement)] STATEMENTS plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases
and adjustments, LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES. [Where the amount of
rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement filed four
years prior to the most recent registration statement is not challenged
within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of any
registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.] THE
DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL, IN INVESTIGATING COMPLAINTS
OF OVERCHARGE AND IN DETERMINING LEGAL REGULATED RENT, SHALL CONSIDER
ALL AVAILABLE RENT HISTORY WHICH IS REASONABLY NECESSARY TO MAKE SUCH
DETERMINATIONS. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety days of the
initial registration of a housing accommodation, the legal regulated
rent shall be deemed to be the rent charged [on the date four years
prior to] AS OF the date of the initial registration of the housing
accommodation (or, if the housing accommodation was NOT PREVIOUSLY
subject to this chapter [for less than four years], the initial legal
regulated rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and adjustments,
LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES. Where the rent charged [on the date four
years prior to] AS OF the date of the initial registration of the accom-
modation cannot be established, such rent shall be established by the
division.
Where the PRIOR rent charged [on the date four years prior to the date
of initial registration of] FOR the housing accommodation cannot be
established, such rent shall be established by the division provided
that where a rent is established based on rentals determined under the
provisions of the local emergency housing rent control act such rent
must be adjusted to account for no less than the minimum increases which
would be permitted if the housing accommodation were covered under the
provisions of this chapter, LESS ANY APPROPRIATE PENALTIES. [Where the
amount of rent set forth in the annual rent registration statement filed
four years prior to the most recent registration statement is not chal-
A. 7221 5
lenged within four years of its filing, neither such rent nor service of
any registration shall be subject to challenge at any time thereafter.]
(1) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal
shall apportion the owner's liability between or among two or more
tenants found to have been overcharged by such owner during their
particular tenancy of a unit.
(2) Except as provided under clauses (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, a
complaint under this subdivision [shall] MAY be filed with the state
division of housing and community renewal [within four years of the
first overcharge alleged and no determination of an overcharge and no
award or calculation of an award of the amount of an overcharge may be
based upon an overcharge having occurred more than four years before the
complaint is filed] AT ANY TIME. (i) [No] A penalty of three times the
overcharge may be based upon an overcharge having occurred [more than
two years] AT ANY TIME before the complaint is filed [or upon an over-
charge which occurred prior to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-
four. (ii) Any complaint based upon overcharges occurring prior to the
date of filing of the initial rent registration as provided in section
26-517 of this chapter shall be filed within ninety days of the mailing
of notice to the tenant of such registration. This paragraph shall
preclude examination of the rental history of the housing accommodation
prior to the four-year period preceding the filing of a complaint pursu-
ant to this subdivision].
(3) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an opportunity
to join in any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state
division of housing and community renewal.
(4) An owner found to have overcharged may be assessed the reasonable
costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding and interest from the date
of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant
to section five thousand four of the civil practice law and rules.
(5) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal
awarding penalties may, upon the expiration of the period in which the
owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of
the civil practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in
the same manner as a judgment or not in excess of twenty percent thereof
per month may be offset against any rent thereafter due the owner.
I. A PENALTY SHALL BE ASSESSED AGAINST AN OWNER WHO FAILS TO FILE A
TIMELY OR PROPER INITIAL, ANNUAL OR SUPPLEMENTAL RENT REGISTRATION
STATEMENT OR FAILS TO SUPPLY THE UNIT'S RENT HISTORY WITH A LEASE UNDER
SECTION 26-517 OF THIS CHAPTER OF TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS PER UNIT FOR
BUILDINGS WITH LESS THAN FIFTEEN UNITS AND OF FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER
UNIT FOR BUILDINGS WITH FIFTEEN UNITS OR MORE. SUCH PENALTY SHALL BE
PAID TO THE TENANT OF THE UNIT, EITHER AS CASH, CHECK OR A CREDIT TOWARD
THEIR MONTHLY RENT. SHOULD THE TENANT'S LEASE EXPIRE BEFORE THE CREDIT
TOWARD THEIR MONTHLY RENT IS PAID, THEN THE REMAINDER OF THE CREDIT WILL
BE PAID OUT AS A CASH AWARD. THE CHOICE OF CASH, CHECK, OR RENT CREDIT
SHALL BE DETERMINED BY THE TENANT.
§ 6. Section 26-517 of the administrative code of the city of New York
is amended by adding two new subdivisions h and i to read as follows:
H. A SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT SHALL BE FILED CONTAINING THE CURRENT RENT
FOR EACH UNIT AND SUCH OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED IN SUBDIVISION A OF
THIS SECTION AS SHALL BE REQUIRED BY THE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMU-
NITY RENEWAL WITHIN NINETY DAYS OF THE RENT ON A UNIT BEING RAISED. THE
OWNER SHALL PROVIDE EACH TENANT THEN IN OCCUPANCY WITH A COPY OF THAT
PORTION OF SUCH STATEMENT AS PERTAINS TO THE TENANT'S UNIT.
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I. THE OWNER SHALL SUPPLY WITH EACH LEASE (1) LITERATURE ON RENT
HISTORY PRODUCED BY THE STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL
AND (2) A COPY OF SUCH UNIT'S ENTIRE RENT HISTORY.
§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that:
a. the amendments to section 12 and section 12-a of the emergency
tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four made by sections three
and four 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 567 of the laws of 1974; and
b. the amendments to sections 26-516 and 26-517 of chapter 4 of title
26 of the administrative code of the city of New York made by sections
five and six 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.