S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4818
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 26, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. PARKER, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and  when  printed  to  be  committed  to  the  Committee  on Housing,
   Construction and Community Development
 
 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.
                                                            LBD07406-01-9
              

 S. 4818                             2
 
 REPORT OF THE INSPECTION WITH THE CITY RENT AGENCY FOR CONSIDERATION  IN
 THE DETERMINATION OF SUCH APPLICATION; OR
   § 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-

 S. 4818                             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;
   § 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
   § 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.