S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    738
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 9, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Housing
 
 AN ACT to amend the emergency tenant protection act of  nineteen  seven-
   ty-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  opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of subdivision a of
 section 12 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting
 the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended
 by chapter 116 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
   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 opportu-
 nity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent author-
 ized for a housing accommodation subject to this act shall be liable  to
 the  tenant  for  a  penalty  equal  to [three] AT LEAST THREE TIMES THE
 AMOUNT, NOT TO EXCEED FIVE times the amount of such  overcharge.  In  no
 event  shall such [treble damage] A 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 division of housing and
 community renewal shall establish the penalty as the amount of the over-
 charge plus interest at the rate  of  interest  payable  on  a  judgment
 pursuant  to  section  five  thousand four of the civil practice law and
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00529-01-9

 A. 738                              2
 
 rules. (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 deemed to be the rent indicated in the annual registra-
 tion  statement  filed  four years prior to the most recent registration
 statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration  state-
 ment) plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases and adjustments.
 Where  the  amount  of  rent  set  forth in the annual rent registration
 statement filed four years prior to the most recent registration  state-
 ment  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. (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 the  date  of  the  initial
 registration  of  the housing accommodation (or, if the housing accommo-
 dation was subject to this act for less than  four  years,  the  initial
 legal  regulated  rent)  plus  in  each  case,  any lawful increases and
 adjustments. Where the rent charged on the date four years prior to  the
 date  of  the initial registration of the accommodation cannot be estab-
 lished, 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.
   §  2. The opening paragraph of 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 to read as follows:
   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] AT LEAST THREE TIMES
 THE  AMOUNT,  NOT TO EXCEED FIVE times the amount of such overcharge. In
 no event shall such [treble damage] A 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 interest. (i) Except as to
 complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of this  paragraph,  the  legal
 regulated  rent  for purposes of determining an overcharge, shall be the
 rent indicated in the annual registration  statement  filed  four  years
 prior  to  the most recent registration statement, (or, if more recently
 filed, the initial registration statement) plus in each case any  subse-
 quent  lawful  increases  and  adjustments. 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.   (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 the date of the initial
 registration of the housing accommodation (or, if the  housing  accommo-
 dation was subject to this chapter for less than four years, the initial

 A. 738                              3
 
 legal  regulated  rent)  plus  in  each  case,  any lawful increases and
 adjustments. Where the rent charged on the date four years prior to  the
 date  of  the initial registration of the accommodation cannot be estab-
 lished, such rent shall be established by the division.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that
   a.  the amendments to the opening paragraph of paragraph 1 of subdivi-
 sion a of section 12 of the emergency tenant protection act of  nineteen
 seventy-four  made  by  section one 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 section 26-516 of chapter 4 of title  26  of  the
 administrative  code of the city of New York 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.