§ 304. Penalties for violations. 1. Except as otherwise in this
section specifically provided, every person who shall violate or assist
in the violation of any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable, for a first offense, by a fine of not exceeding
five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for a period of not exceeding
thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment; for the second and
any subsequent offense arising from the failure to remove the violation
upon which the first offense was based, by a fine of not exceeding one
thousand dollars or by imprisonment for a period of not exceeding six
months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

1-a. Every person who shall violate or assist in the violation of any
provision of sections twenty-nine, thirty-seven, sixty-two, eighty
eighty-one, eighty-three or three hundred twenty-five of this chapter
shall be guilty of an offense. The maximum fine for a first violation of
any provision of such sections hereinbefore in this subdivision set
forth, with respect to a particular dwelling, shall be fifty dollars;
the maximum fine for the second offense arising from the failure to
remove the violation upon which the first offense was based shall be two
hundred fifty dollars; the maximum fine for the third or any subsequent
offense arising from the failure to remove the violation upon which the
first and second offenses were based shall be five hundred dollars. Such
a violation under this subdivision shall not be a crime and the penalty
or punishment imposed therefor shall not be deemed for any purpose a
penal or criminal penalty or punishment, and shall not impose any
disability upon or affect or impair the credibility as a witness, or
otherwise, of any person convicted thereof.

2. Any person who, having been served with a notice or order to remove
any nuisance or violation, shall fail to comply therewith within five
days after such service, or shall continue to violate any provision or
requirement of this chapter in the respect named in such notice or
order, shall also be subject to a civil penalty of two hundred fifty
dollars. Such persons shall also be liable for all costs, expenses and
disbursements incurred by any such department or its agent or contractor
in the removal of any such nuisance or violation.

3. In case the notice required by section three hundred twenty-five is
not filed, or the owner of a dwelling does not reside within the state
or cannot after diligent effort be served with process therein, the
existence of a nuisance or of any other violation of this chapter or of
an order or a notice made by the department, shall subject the dwelling
and lot to a penalty of two hundred fifty dollars.

4. An action may be brought in any court of competent civil
jurisdiction for the recovery of any such penalties, costs and
disbursements.

5. All penalties collected shall be paid into the treasury of the
city, but no provision of this chapter shall prohibit the city from
creating and maintaining out of such penalties a separate fund not in
excess of twenty-five thousand dollars, out of which payment may be made
for repairs made by any department charged with the enforcement of this
chapter or its agents or contractors, as provided in section three
hundred nine.

6. No civil or criminal liability or penalty shall attach to any
person who has acquired or shall acquire any tenement or converted
dwelling by foreclosure of a mortgage or deed in lieu of foreclosure of
a mortgage, because of his failure for a period of six months after the
delivery of the referee's deed in foreclosure or the delivery of such
deed in lieu of foreclosure, to comply with the provisions of this
chapter in reference to such tenement or converted dwelling, provided he
remains the owner thereof. Upon the transfer of title by such person
prior to the termination of the said six months, and in any event upon
the termination of such period, such penalties shall apply as provided
in this section.

6-a. No civil or criminal liability or penalty shall attach to any
person who has, by an order of a court, been appointed as a receiver in
a foreclosure action to collect rents, because of his failure for a
period of six (6) months after he qualifies as such receiver, to comply
with any of the provisions of this chapter.

Upon the receiver's discharge by the court prior to the termination of
such period, and in any event upon the termination of such period, the
penalties provided in this section shall thereafter apply.

6-b. No civil or criminal liability or penalty shall attach to any
person who shall by operation of law become an owner of a multiple
dwelling then or thereafter certified and declared a public nuisance to
any extent pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of section three
hundred nine of this chapter, or the holder or beneficial owner of stock
in such owner, if a corporation, because of his failure to comply with
any of the provisions of this chapter for a period of six months after
he acquires ownership of said multiple dwelling or the stock or
beneficial interest in the stock of a corporation which is the owner.

7. None of the civil or criminal penalties provided in this section
shall apply to any person because of his failure to comply with the
provisions of section two hundred thirty-three, subdivision four of
section two hundred thirty-eight, subdivision three of section two
hundred forty or subdivisions two and three of section two hundred fifty
in reference to any old-law tenement, if he agrees in writing with the
department to comply with such provisions or to vacate or demolish such
tenement, within a period not exceeding six months fixed by the
department. Such agreement shall be in form satisfactory to the
department, and shall contain provisions to secure the performance
thereof and such other terms as may be mutually agreed upon. The
transfer of title or control by such person, or the termination of such
period by limitation, shall subject the person then directly or
indirectly in control of such tenement to the penalties prescribed by
this section, if violations of such provisions then exist.

8. Whenever a multiple dwelling shall have been declared a public
nuisance to any extent pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of
section three hundred nine of this chapter and such declaration shall
have been filed as therein provided, all officers, directors and persons
having an interest, as holder or beneficial owner thereof, in more than
ten per cent of the issued and outstanding stock of any corporation,
other than a banking organization as defined in section two of the
banking law, a national banking association, a federal savings and loan
association, The Mortgage Facilities Corporation, Savings Banks Life
Insurance Fund, The Savings Banks Retirement System, an authorized
insurer as defined in section one hundred seven of the insurance law, or
a trust company or other corporation organized under the laws of this
state all the capital stock of which is owned by at least twenty savings
banks or a subsidiary corporation all of the capital stock of which is
owned by such trust company or other corporation, then in operation and
control of such multiple dwelling, shall, in addition to all other
liabilities and penalties provided in this chapter and elsewhere, be
jointly and severally liable for all injury to person or property
thereafter sustained by any tenant of such multiple dwelling or any
other person by reason of the condition constituting such public
nuisance and for all costs and disbursements including attorneys' fees
of any suit brought by such tenant or other person.

9. No civil or criminal liability or penalty shall attach to any
person by reason of his ownership or beneficial ownership of stock in a
corporation owning a multiple dwelling declared to be a public nuisance
pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of section three hundred nine
of this chapter because of his failure to comply with any of the
provisions of this chapter, whose interest in such corporation is less
than twenty-five per cent of the issued and outstanding stock thereof,
as owner or beneficial owner thereof, and who has sustained the burden
of proving that he has not participated directly or indirectly in the
management, operation or control of such multiple dwelling.

10. No criminal liability or penalty shall attach to any person by
reason of his ownership or beneficial ownership of stock in a
corporation owning a multiple dwelling declared to be a public nuisance
pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of section three hundred nine
of this chapter because of his failure to comply with any of the
provisions of this chapter unless and until he has had a reasonable
period of time to comply following his having become an owner as defined
in this chapter.

11. The term "person" as used in this section shall include the owner,
mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of rents, receiver,
executor, trustee, lessee, agent or any other person, firm or
corporation directly or indirectly in control of a dwelling or part
thereof. Whenever a multiple dwelling shall have been declared a public
nuisance to any extent pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of
section three hundred nine of this chapter and such declaration shall
have been filed as therein provided, the term "person" shall be deemed
to include, in addition to those mentioned hereinabove, all the
officers, directors and persons having an interest in more than ten
percent of the issued and outstanding stock of the owner as herein
defined, as holder or beneficial owner thereof, if such person be a
corporation other than a banking organization as defined in section two
of the banking law, a national banking association, a federal savings
and loan association, The Mortgage Facilities Corporation, Savings Banks
Life Insurance Fund, The Savings Banks Retirement System, an authorized
insurer as defined in section one hundred seven of the insurance law, or
a trust company or other corporation organized under the laws of this
state all the capital stock of which is owned by at least twenty savings
banks or a subsidiary corporation all of the capital stock of which is
owned by such trust company or other corporation.