§ 4. Establishment of rent guidelines boards; duties. a. In each
county wherein any city having a population of less than one million or
any town or village has determined the existence of an emergency
pursuant to section three of this act, there shall be created a rent
guidelines board to consist of nine members appointed by the
commissioner of housing and community renewal upon recommendation of the
county legislature, except that a rent guidelines board created
subsequent to the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two
thousand nineteen that amended this section shall consist of nine
members appointed by the commissioner of housing and community renewal
upon recommendations of the local legislative body of each city having a
population of less than one million or town or village which has
determined the existence of an emergency pursuant to section three of
this act. Such recommendation shall be made within thirty days after the
first local declaration of an emergency in such county; two such members
shall be representative of tenants, two shall be representative of
owners of property, and five shall be public members each of whom shall
have had at least five years experience in either finance, economics or
housing. One public member shall be designated by the commissioner to
serve as chairman and shall hold no other public office. No member,
officer or employee of any municipal rent regulation agency or the state
division of housing and community renewal and no person who owns or
manages real estate covered by this law or who is an officer of any
owner or tenant organization shall serve on a rent guidelines board. One
public member, one member representative of tenants and one member
representative of owners shall serve for a term ending two years from
January first next succeeding the date of their appointment; one public
member, one member representative of tenants and one member
representative of owners shall serve for terms ending three years from
the January first next succeeding the date of their appointment and
three public members shall serve for terms ending four years from
January first next succeeding the dates of their appointment.
Thereafter, all members shall serve for terms of four years each.
Members shall continue in office until their successors have been
appointed and qualified. The commissioner shall fill any vacancy which
may occur by reason of death, resignation or otherwise in a manner
consistent with the original appointment. A member may be removed by the
commissioner for cause, but not without an opportunity to be heard in
person or by counsel, in his defense, upon not less than ten days
notice. Compensation for the members of the board shall be at the rate
of one hundred dollars per day, for no more than twenty days a year,
except that the chairman shall be compensated at the rate of one hundred
twenty-five dollars a day for no more than thirty days a year. The board
shall be provided staff assistance by the division of housing and
community renewal. The compensation of such members and the costs of
staff assistance shall be paid by the division of housing and community
renewal which shall be reimbursed in the manner prescribed in section
four of this act. The local legislative body of each city having a
population of less than one million and each town and village in which
an emergency has been determined to exist as herein provided shall be
authorized to designate one person who shall be representative of
tenants and one person who shall be representative of owners of property
to serve at its pleasure and without compensation to advise and assist
the county rent guidelines board in matters affecting the adjustment of
rents for housing accommodations in such city, town or village as the
case may be.

a-1. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section
to the contrary, in each county that became subject to this act pursuant
to the chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen that amended this
section, the commissioner shall reconstitute the existing rent
guidelines board subsequent to any initial local declaration of
emergency within such county for the purpose of ensuring representation
of all cities having a population of less than one million and all towns
and villages within such county having determined the existence of an
emergency in accordance with this act are represented, pursuant to rules
and regulations promulgated by the division of housing and community
renewal.

b. A county rent guidelines board shall establish annual guidelines
for rent adjustments which, at its sole discretion may be varied and
different for and within the several zones and jurisdictions of the
board, and in determining whether rents for housing accommodations as to
which an emergency has been declared pursuant to this act shall be
adjusted, shall consider among other things (1) the economic condition
of the residential real estate industry in the affected area including
such factors as the prevailing and projected (i) real estate taxes and
sewer and water rates, (ii) gross operating maintenance costs (including
insurance rates, governmental fees, cost of fuel and labor costs), (iii)
costs and availability of financing (including effective rates of
interest), (iv) over-all supply of housing accommodations and over-all
vacancy rates, (2) relevant data from the current and projected cost of
living indices for the affected area, (3) such other data as may be made
available to it. As soon as practicable after its creation and
thereafter not later than July first of each year, a rent guidelines
board shall file with the state division of housing and community
renewal its findings for the preceding calendar year, and shall
accompany such findings with a statement of the maximum rate or rates of
rent adjustment, if any, for one or more classes of accommodation
subject to this act, authorized for leases or other rental agreements
commencing during the next succeeding twelve months. The standards for
rent adjustments may be applicable for the entire county or may be
varied according to such zones or jurisdictions within such county as
the board finds necessary to achieve the purposes of this subdivision. A
rent guidelines board shall not establish annual guidelines for rent
adjustments based on the current rental cost of a unit or on the amount
of time that has elapsed since another rent increase was authorized
pursuant to this chapter.

The standards for rent adjustments established annually shall be
effective for leases commencing on October first of each year and during
the next succeeding twelve months whether or not the board has filed its
findings and statement of the maximum rate or rates of rent adjustment
by July first of each year. If such lease is entered into before such
filing by the board, it may provide for the rent to be adjusted by the
rates then in effect, subject to change by the applicable rates of rent
adjustment when filed, such change to be effective as of the date of the
commencement of the lease. Said lease must provide that, if the new
rates of rent adjustment differ for leases of different terms, the
tenant has the option of changing the original lease term to any other
term for which a rate of rent adjustment is set by the board, with the
rental to be adjusted accordingly.

Where a city, town or village shall act to determine the existence of
public emergency pursuant to section three of this act subsequent to the
establishment of annual guidelines for rent adjustments of the
accommodations subject to this act, the rent guidelines board as soon as
practicable thereafter shall file its findings and rates of rent
adjustment for leases or other rental agreements for the housing
accommodations in such a city, town or village, which rates shall be
effective for leases or other rental agreements commencing on or after
the effective date of the determination.

c. In a city having a population of one million or more, the rent
guidelines board shall be the rent guidelines board established pursuant
to the New York city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred
sixty-nine as amemded, and such board shall have the powers granted
pursuant to the New York city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred
sixty-nine as amended.

d. Maximum rates of rent adjustment shall not be established more than
once annually for any housing accommodation within a board's
jurisdiction. Once established, no such rate shall, within the one-year
period, be adjusted by any surcharge, supplementary adjustment or other
modification.

e. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the adjustment for
vacancy leases covered by the provisions of this act shall be determined
exclusively pursuant to section ten of this act. Rent guidelines boards
shall no longer promulgate adjustments for vacancy leases.