§ 2. Definitions. When used in this act, unless a different meaning
clearly appears from the context, the following terms shall mean and
include:

1. "Commission". Prior to July first, nineteen hundred sixty-four, the
temporary state housing rent commission created by this act. On and
after July first, nineteen hundred sixty-four, the division of housing
and community renewal in the executive department.

2. "Housing accommodation." Any building or structure, permanent or
temporary, or any part thereof, occupied or intended to be occupied by
one or more individuals as a residence, home, sleeping place, boarding
house, lodging house or hotel, together with the land and buildings
appurtenant thereto, and all services, privileges, furnishings,
furniture and facilities supplied in connection with the occupation
thereof, including (a) entire structures or premises as distinguished
from the individual housing accommodations contained therein, wherein
twenty-five or less rooms are rented or offered for rent by any lessee,
sublessee or other tenant of such entire structure or premises, and (b)
housing accommodations which were previously exempt, or not subject to
control as a result of conversion or a change from a non-housing to a
housing use and which have subsequently been certified by a municipal
department having jurisdiction to be a fire hazard or in a continued
dangerous condition or detrimental to life or health but only so long as
such illegal or hazardous condition continues and further certification
with respect thereto shall not be required notwithstanding any
inconsistent provision of this act, and any plot or parcel of land which
had been rented prior to May first, nineteen hundred fifty, for the
purpose of permitting the tenant thereof to construct or place his own
dwelling thereon, unless exempt or excluded from control pursuant to any
other provision of this act, except that it shall not include structures
in which all of the housing accommodations are exempt or not subject to
control under this act or any regulation issued thereunder; or

(a) a hospital, convent, monastery, asylum, public institution, or
college or school dormitory or any institution operated exclusively for
charitable or educational purposes on a non-profit basis; or

(b) notwithstanding any previous order, finding, opinion or
determination of the commission, housing accommodations in any
establishment which on March first, nineteen hundred fifty, was and
still is commonly regarded as a hotel in the community in which it is
located and which customarily provides hotel services such as maid
service, furnishing and laundering of linen, telephone and secretarial
or desk service, use and upkeep of furniture and fixtures and bellboy
service, provided, however, that the term hotel shall not include any
establishment which is commonly regarded in the community as a rooming
house, nor shall it include any establishment not identified or
classified as a "hotel", "transient hotel" or "residential hotel"
pursuant to the federal act, irrespective whether such establishment
provides either some services customarily provided by hotels, or is
represented to be a hotel, or both; and provided further that housing
accommodations in hotels only within the cities of Buffalo and New York
which have been and still are occupied by a tenant who has resided in
such hotel continuously since December second, nineteen hundred
forty-nine, so long as such tenant occupies the same, shall continue to
remain subject to control under this act; or

(c) any motor court, or any part thereof; any trailer, or trailer
space used exclusively for transient occupancy or any part thereof; or
any tourist home serving transient guests exclusively, or any part
thereof; or

(d) nonhousekeeping, furnished housing accommodations, located within
a single dwelling unit not used as a rooming or boarding house, but only
if (1) no more than two tenants for whom rent is paid (husband and wife
being considered one tenant for this purpose), not members of the
landlord's immediate family live in such dwelling unit, and (2) the
remaining portion of such dwelling unit is occupied by the landlord or
his immediate family; or

(e) housing accommodations operated by the United States, the state of
New York, or any political subdivision thereof, or by any municipal or
public authority, only so long as they are so operated; or housing
accommodations in buildings in which rentals are fixed by or subject to
the supervision of the commissioner of housing and community renewal
pursuant to powers granted under laws other than the emergency housing
rent control law;

(f) housing accommodations in buildings operated exclusively for
charitable purposes on a non-profit basis; or

(g) housing accommodations which were completed on or after February
first, nineteen hundred forty-seven, provided, however, that maximum
rents established under the veterans emergency housing act for priority
constructed housing accommodations completed on or after February first,
nineteen hundred forty-seven, shall continue in full force and effect,
if such accommodations are being rented to veterans of world war II or
their immediate families, who, on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred
forty-seven, either occupied such housing accommodations or had a right
to occupy such housing accommodations at any time on or after July
first, nineteen hundred forty-seven, under any agreement whether written
or oral; or which are (1) housing accommodations created by a change
from a non-housing to a housing use on or after February first, nineteen
hundred forty-seven, or which are (2) additional housing accommodations,
other than rooming house accommodations, created by conversion on or
after February first, nineteen hundred forty-seven; provided, however,
that any housing accommodations created as a result of any conversion of
housing accommodations on or after May first, nineteen hundred fifty,
shall continue to be subject to rent control as provided for herein
unless the commission issues an order decontrolling them which it shall
do if there has been a structural change involving substantial
alterations or remodeling and such change has resulted in additional
housing accommodations consisting of self-contained family units as
defined by regulations issued by the commission; provided further,
however, that such order of decontrol shall not apply to that portion of
the original housing accommodation occupied by a tenant in possession at
the time of the conversion but only so long as that tenant continues in
occupancy; and provided further, that no such order of decontrol shall
be issued unless such conversion occurred after the entire structure, or
any lesser portion thereof as may have been thus converted, was vacated
by voluntary surrender of possession or in the manner provided in
section five of this act; or

(h) housing accommodations which are rented after April first,
nineteen hundred fifty-three, and have been continuously occupied by the
owner thereof for a period one year prior to the date of renting;
provided, however, that this paragraph shall not apply where the owner
acquired possession of the housing accommodation after the issuance of a
certificate of eviction under subdivision two of section five of this
act within the two year period immediately preceding the date of such
renting, and provided further, that this exemption shall remain
effective only so long as the housing accommodations are not occupied
for other than single family occupancy; or

(i) housing accommodations which become vacant provided, however, that
this exemption shall not apply or become effective where the commission
determines or finds that the housing accommodations became vacant
because the landlord or any person acting on his behalf, with intent to
cause the tenant to vacate, engaged in any course of conduct (including,
but not limited to, interruption or discontinuance of essential
services) which interfered with or disturbed or was intended to
interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace or quiet of the
tenant in his use or occupancy of the housing accommodations; and
further provided that housing accommodations as to which a housing
emergency has been declared pursuant to the emergency tenant protection
act of nineteen seventy-four shall be subject to the provisions of such
act for the duration of such emergency; or

(j) housing accommodations (not otherwise exempt or excluded from
control) in two family houses occupied in whole or in part by the owner
thereof, and in one family houses whether or not so occupied, on and
after July first, nineteen hundred fifty-five, in the counties of
Monroe, Nassau, Oneida, Onondaga and Schenectady, and, on and after July
first, nineteen hundred fifty-seven, any housing accommodations in the
county of Onondaga containing four rental units or less, provided,
however, that this exemption with respect to one and two family houses
shall remain effective only so long as the housing accommodations are
not occupied for other than single family occupancy, and provided
further, however, that this exemption shall become or remain effective
in any city or town within the counties of Monroe, Oneida or Schenectady
subject to the provisions of subdivision four of section twelve hereof
providing for the continuance or reestablishment of controls with
respect to such housing accommodations therein; or

(k) housing accommodations (not otherwise exempt or excluded from
control) elsewhere than in the city of New York, except housing
accommodations used as boarding houses or rooming houses in the county
of Westchester, which are or become vacant on or after July first,
nineteen hundred fifty-seven, provided, however, that this exemption
shall not apply or become effective in any case where the vacancy in the
housing accommodations occurred or occurs because of the removal of the
tenant to another housing accommodation in the same building, or because
of the eviction of the tenant after the issuance of a final order in a
summary proceeding to recover possession of the housing accommodation,
whether after a trial of the issues or upon the consent or default of
the tenant or otherwise without a trial, and provided, further, however
that this exemption shall become effective in any city or town subject
to the provisions of subdivision five of section twelve hereof providing
for the continuance of control with respect to such housing
accommodations, and provided further, that this exemption shall remain
effective only so long as the housing accommodations are not occupied
for other than single family occupancy.

(l) housing accommodations which are not occupied by the tenant in
possession as his or her primary residence provided, however, that any
such housing accommodation shall continue to be subject to rent control
as provided herein unless the commission issues an order decontrolling
such accommodation which the commission shall do upon application by the
landlord, whenever it is established by any facts and circumstances
which, in the judgment of the commission, may have a bearing upon the
question of residence, that the tenant maintains his or her primary
residence at some place other than at such housing accommodation. For
the purposes of determining primary residency, a tenant who is a victim
of domestic violence, as defined in section four hundred fifty-nine-a of
the social services law, who has left the unit because of such violence,
and who asserts an intent to return to the housing accommodation shall
be deemed to be occupying the unit as his or her primary residence.

(m) upon the issuance of an order of deregulation by the division,
housing accommodations which: (1) are occupied by persons who have a
total annual income, as defined in and subject to the limitations and
process set forth in section two-a of this law, in excess of the
deregulation income threshold as defined in section two-a of this law in
each of the two preceding calendar years; and (2) have a maximum rent
that equals or exceeds the deregulation rent threshold as defined in
section two-a of this law.

2-a. The landlord of a housing accommodation specified in paragraph
(h) or (i) or (j) or (k) of subdivision two of this section shall file a
report with the commission within thirty days following the date of
first rental of such accommodation after decontrol. No copy of such
report shall be required to be served upon the new tenant of such
housing accommodation.

3. "Rent." Consideration, including any bonus, benefit or gratuity
demanded or received for or in connection with the use or occupancy of
housing accommodations or the transfer of a lease of such housing
accommodations.

4. "Maximum rent." The maximum lawful rent for the use of housing
accommodations. Maximum rents may be formulated in terms of rents and
other charges and allowances.

5. "Person." An individual, corporation, partnership, association, or
any other organized group of individuals or the legal successor or
representative of any of the foregoing.

6. "Landlord." An owner, lessor, sublessor, assignee, or other person
receiving or entitled to receive rent for the use or occupancy of any
housing accommodation or an agent of any of the foregoing.

7. "Tenant." A tenant, subtenant, lessee, sublessee, or other person
entitled to the possession or to the use or occupancy of any housing
accommodation.

8. "Documents." Records, books, accounts, correspondence, memoranda
and other documents, and drafts and copies of any of the foregoing.

9. "Municipality." A city, town or village.

10. "Local governing body."

a. In the case of a city, the council, common council or board of

aldermen and the board of estimate, board of estimate and
apportionment or board of estimate and contract, if there be one.

b. In the case of a town, the town board.

c. In the case of a village, the board of trustees.

11. "Local laws." The local laws specified in chapter one of the laws
of nineteen hundred fifty, namely local laws numbers twenty-one,
twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five and seventy-three of the local
laws of the city of New York for the year nineteen hundred forty-nine;
and local law number three of the city of Buffalo for the year nineteen
hundred forty-seven.

12. "Federal act." The emergency price control act of nineteen hundred
forty-two, and as thereafter amended and as superseded by the housing
and rent act of nineteen hundred forty-seven, and as the latter was
thereafter amended prior to May first, nineteen hundred fifty, and
regulations adopted pursuant thereto.