§ 285. Owner protection. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section
three hundred two or three hundred twenty-five of this chapter, the
owner of an interim multiple dwelling may recover rent payable from
residential occupants qualified for the protection of this article on or
after April first, nineteen hundred eighty, and maintain an action or
proceeding for possession of such premises for non-payment of rent,
provided that he is in compliance with this article.

2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, an owner may
apply to the loft board for exemption of a building or portion thereof
from this article on the basis that compliance with this article in
obtaining a legal residential certificate of occupancy would cause an
unjustifiable hardship either because: (i) it would cause an
unreasonably adverse impact on a non-residential conforming use tenant
within the building or (ii) the cost of compliance renders legal
residential conversion infeasible. Residential and other tenants shall
be given not less than sixty days notice in advance of the hearing date
for such application. If the loft board approves such application, the
building or portion thereof shall be exempt from this article, and may
be converted to non-residential conforming uses, provided, however, that
the owner shall, as a condition of approval of such application, agree
to file an irrevocable recorded covenant in form satisfactory to the
loft board enforceable for fifteen years by the municipality, that the
building will not be re-converted to residential uses during such time.
The standard for granting such hardship application for a building or
portion thereof shall be as follows: (a) the loft board shall only grant
the minimum relief necessary to relieve any alleged hardship with the
understanding if compliance is reasonably possible it should be achieved
even if it requires alteration of units, relocation of tenants to vacant
space within the building, re-design of space or application for a
non-use-related variance, special permit, minor modification or
administrative certification; (b) self-created hardship shall not be
allowed; (c) the test for cost infeasibility shall be that of a
reasonable return on the owner's investment not maximum return on
investment; (d) the test for unreasonably adverse impact on a
non-residential conforming use tenant shall be whether residential
conversion would necessitate displacement. Such hardship applications
shall be submitted to the loft board within nine months of the
establishment of the loft board (or, in the case of interim multiple
dwellings referred to in subdivision four of section two hundred
eighty-one of this article, within nine months of July twenty-seventh,
nineteen hundred eighty-seven or in the case of interim multiple
dwellings made subject to this article by subdivision five of section
two hundred eighty-one of this article, within nine months of the
effective date of such subdivision five, or, for units that became
subject to this article pursuant to the chapter of the laws of two
thousand thirteen which amended this paragraph, within nine months of
the promulgation of all necessary rules and regulations pursuant to
section two hundred eighty-two-a of this article, but shall not be
considered, absent a waiver by the loft board, unless the owner has also
filed an alteration application. In determination of any such hardship
application, the loft board may demand such information as it deems
necessary. In approving any such hardship application, the loft board
may fix reasonable terms and conditions for the vacating of residential
occupancy.

3. An owner of an interim multiple dwelling shall be exempt from
paying a conversion contribution required by the zoning resolution of
the city of New York for that portion of any building or structure
determined by the loft board to be an interim multiple dwelling.