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a. The tenant or owner of a housing accommodation made subject to this law by the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four may, within sixty days of the local effective date of this section or the commencement of the first tenancy thereafter, whichever is later, file with the commissioner an application for adjustment of the initial legal regulated rent for such housing accommodation. The commissioner may adjust such initial legal regulated rent upon a finding that the presence of unique or peculiar circumstances materially affecting the initial legal regulated rent has resulted in a rent which is substantially different from the rents generally prevailing in the same area for substantially similar housing accommodations.
b. 1. The tenant of a housing accommodation that was regulated pursuant to the city rent and rehabilitation law or this law prior to July first, nineteen hundred seventy-one and that became vacant on or after January first, nineteen hundred seventy-four may file with the commissioner within ninety days after notice has been received pursuant to subdivision d of this section, an application for adjustment of the initial legal regulated rent for such housing accommodation. Such tenant need only allege that such rent is in excess of the fair market rent and shall present such facts which, to the best of his or her information and belief, support such allegation. The rent guidelines board shall promulgate as soon as practicable after the local effective date of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four guidelines for the determination of fair market rents for housing accommodations as to which any application may be made pursuant to this subdivision. In rendering a determination on an application filed pursuant to this subdivision b the commissioner shall be guided by such guidelines and by the rents generally prevailing in the same area for substantially similar housing accommodations. Where the commissioner has determined that the rent charged is in excess of the fair market rent he or she shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies permitted by law, order a refund of any excess paid since January first, nineteen hundred seventy-four or the date of the commencement of the tenancy, whichever is later. Such refund shall be made by the landlord in cash or as a credit against future rents over a period not in excess of six months.
2. The provisions of paragraph one of this subdivision shall not apply to a tenant of a housing accommodation for which the initial legal regulated rent is no greater than the maximum rent that would have been in effect under this law on December thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-three, or for the period commencing January first, nineteen hundred seventy-four and ending December thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-five as calculated pursuant to the city rent and rehabilitation law (if no such maximum rent has been calculated for a particular unit for the period commencing January first, nineteen hundred seventy-four and ending December thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-five, the division of housing and community renewal shall calculate such a rent), as the case may be, if such apartment had not become vacant on or after January first, nineteen hundred seventy-four, plus the amount of any adjustment which would have been authorized under this law for renewal leases or other rental agreement, whether or not such housing accommodation was subject to this law, for leases or other rental agreements commencing on or after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-four.
c. Upon receipt of any application filed pursuant to this section, the commissioner shall notify the owner or tenant, as the case may be, and provide a copy to him or her of such application. Such owner or tenant shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to respond to the application. A hearing may be held upon the request of either party, or the commissioner may hold a hearing on his or her own motion. The commissioner shall issue a written opinion to both the tenant and the owner upon rendering his or her determination.
d. Within thirty days after the local effective date of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four the owner of housing accommodations as to which an application for adjustment of the initial legal regulated rent may be made pursuant to subdivision b of this section shall give notice in writing by certified mail to the tenant of each such housing accommodation on a form prescribed by the commissioner of the initial legal regulated rent for such housing accommodation, the maximum rent at the time such housing accommodation became vacant and of such tenant's right to file an application for adjustment of the initial legal regulated rent of such housing accommodation.
e. Notwithstanding any contrary provision in this law an application for an adjustment pursuant to this section must be filed within ninety days from the initial registration. This subdivision shall not extend any other time limitations imposed by this law.
In order to collect a rent adjustment authorized pursuant to the provisions of subdivision d of section 26-510 of this chapter an owner must file with the state division of housing and community renewal, on a form which the commissioner shall prescribe, a written certification that he or she is maintaining and will continue to maintain all services furnished on the date upon which the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four becomes a law or required to be furnished by any state law or local law, ordinance or regulation applicable to the premises. In addition to any other remedy afforded by law, any tenant may apply to the state division of housing and community renewal, for a reduction in the rent to the level in effect prior to its most recent adjustment and for an order requiring services to be maintained as provided in this section, and the commissioner shall so reduce the rent if it is found that the owner has failed to maintain such services. The owner shall also be barred from applying for or collecting any further rent increases. The restoration of such services shall result in the prospective elimination of such sanctions. The owner shall be supplied with a copy of the application and shall be permitted to file an answer thereto. A hearing may be held upon the request of either party, or the commissioner may hold a hearing upon his or her own motion. The commissioner may consolidate the proceedings for two or more petitions applicable to the same building or group of buildings or development. If the commissioner finds that the owner has knowingly filed a false certification, it shall, in addition to abating the rent, assess the owner with the reasonable costs of the proceeding, including reasonable attorneys' fees, and impose a penalty not in excess of two hundred fifty dollars for each false certification. The amount of the reduction in rent ordered by the state division of housing and community renewal under this subdivision shall be reduced by any credit, abatement or offset in rent which the tenant has received pursuant to section two hundred thirty-five-b of the real property law, that relates to one or more conditions covered by such order.
a. An owner seeking to recover possession pursuant to subparagraph (c) of paragraph nine of subdivision c of section 26-511 of this chapter shall notify the tenant in occupancy not more than one hundred fifty and not less than one hundred twenty days prior to the end of the tenant's lease term, by mail, of such owner's intention not to renew such lease in order to recover the dwelling unit for its charitable or educational purposes. The owner may give such notice within one hundred twenty days of the expiration of the tenant's lease term, provided it may not commence a summary proceeding to recover the dwelling unit until the expiration of one hundred twenty days from the giving of such notice and, provided, further, that the tenant may remain in occupancy until the commencement of such proceeding at the same rent and upon the same terms and conditions as were provided in his or her expired lease. The notice of intention not to renew the tenant's lease shall be accompanied by a notice on a form prescribed by the division of housing and community renewal setting forth the penalties to which an owner may be subject for his or her failure to utilize the tenant's dwelling unit for the charitable or educational purpose for which recovery of the dwelling unit is sought.
b. If any owner who recovers a dwelling unit pursuant to such subparagraph (c), or any successor in interest, utilizes such unit for purposes other than those permitted under such subparagraph, then such owner or successor shall, unless for good cause shown, be liable to the removed tenant for three times the damages sustained on account of such removal plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs as determined by the court, provided that such tenant commences such action within three years from the date of recovery of the unit. The damages sustained by such tenant shall be the difference between the rent paid by such tenant for the recovered dwelling unit, and the rental value of a comparable rent regulated dwelling unit on the open market. In addition to any other damage, the reasonable cost of removal of the tenant's property shall be a lawful measure of damages.
c. Where a dwelling unit has been recovered pursuant to such subparagraph (c) and within four years of such recovery is rented to a person or entity for purposes other than those permitted pursuant to such subparagraph (c), unless for good cause shown, the rent charged by such owner or any successor in interest for four years following such recovery shall not exceed the last regulated rent payable prior to such recovery.
d. If the owner is found by the commissioner, to have recovered possession of a dwelling unit pursuant to such subparagraph (c) and within four years of such recovery such owner or any successor in interest shall have utilized such unit for purposes other than those permitted pursuant to such subparagraph (c), unless for good cause shown, the commissioner shall impose upon such owner or successor in interest, by administrative order after hearing, a civil penalty for any such violation. Such penalty shall be in an amount of up to one thousand dollars for each offense. Such order shall be deemed a final determination for the purposes of judicial review. Such penalty may, upon the expiration of the period for seeking review pursuant to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules, be docketed and enforced in the manner of a judgment of the supreme court.
a. Subject to the conditions and limitations of this subdivision, any owner of housing accommodations who, upon complaint of a tenant, or of the state division of housing and community renewal, is found by the state division of housing and community renewal, after a reasonable opportunity to be heard, to have collected an overcharge above the rent authorized for a housing accommodation subject to this chapter shall be liable to the tenant for a penalty equal to three times the amount of such overcharge. If the owner establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge was not willful, the state division of housing and community renewal shall establish the penalty as the amount of the overcharge plus interest. After a complaint of rent overcharge has been filed and served on an owner, the voluntary adjustment of the rent and/or the voluntary tender of a refund of rent overcharges shall not be considered by the division of housing and community renewal or a court of competent jurisdiction as evidence that the overcharge was not willful. (i) Except as to complaints filed pursuant to clause (ii) of this paragraph, the legal regulated rent for purposes of determining an overcharge, shall be the rent indicated in the most recent reliable annual registration statement filed and served upon the tenant six or more years prior to the most recent registration statement, (or, if more recently filed, the initial registration statement) plus in each case any subsequent lawful increases and adjustments. The division of housing and community renewal or a court of competent jurisdiction, in investigating complaints of overcharge and in determining legal regulated rent, shall consider all available rent history which is reasonably necessary to make such determinations. (ii) As to complaints filed within ninety days of the initial registration of a housing accommodation, the legal regulated rent shall be deemed to be the rent charged on the date six years prior to the date of the initial registration of the housing accommodation (or, if the housing accommodation was subject to this chapter for less than six years, the initial legal regulated rent) plus in each case, any lawful increases and adjustments. Where the rent charged on the date six years prior to the date of the initial registration of the accommodation cannot be established, such rent shall be established by the division.
Where the prior rent charged for the housing accommodation cannot be established, such rent shall be established by the division provided that where a rent is established based on rentals determined under the provisions of the local emergency housing rent control act such rent must be adjusted to account for no less than the minimum increases which would be permitted if the housing accommodation were covered under the provisions of this chapter, less any appropriate penalties.
(1) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal or court of competent jurisdiction shall apportion the owner's liability between or among two or more tenants found to have been overcharged by such owner during their particular tenancy of a unit.
(2) A complaint under this subdivision may be filed with the state division of housing and community renewal or in a court of competent jurisdiction at any time, however any recovery of overcharge penalties shall be limited to the six years preceding the complaint. A penalty of three times the overcharge shall be assessed upon all overcharges willfully collected by the owner starting six years before the complaint is filed.
(3) Any affected tenant shall be notified of and given an opportunity to join in any complaint filed by an officer or employee of the state division of housing and community renewal.
(4) An owner found to have overcharged shall be assessed the reasonable costs and attorney's fees of the proceeding and interest from the date of the overcharge at the rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant to section five thousand four of the civil practice law and rules.
(5) The order of the state division of housing and community renewal awarding penalties may, upon the expiration of the period in which the owner may institute a proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules, be filed and enforced by a tenant in the same manner as a judgment or not in excess of twenty percent thereof per month may be offset against any rent thereafter due the owner.
b. In addition to issuing the specific orders provided for by other provisions of this law, the state division of housing and community renewal shall be empowered to enforce this law and the code by issuing, upon notice and a reasonable opportunity for the affected party to be heard, such other orders as it may deem appropriate.
c. If the owner is found by the commissioner:
(1) to have violated an order of the division the commissioner may impose by administrative order after hearing, a civil penalty at minimum in the amount of one thousand but not to exceed two thousand dollars for the first such offense, and at a minimum in the amount of two thousand but not to exceed three thousand dollars for each subsequent offense; or
(2) to have harassed a tenant to obtain vacancy of his or her housing accommodation, the commissioner may impose by administrative order after hearing, a civil penalty for any such violation. Such penalty shall be at a minimum in the amount of two thousand but not to exceed three thousand dollars for the first such offense, and at minimum in the amount of ten thousand but not to exceed eleven thousand dollars for each subsequent offense or for a violation consisting of conduct directed at the tenants of more than one housing accommodation.
d. Any proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules seeking review of any action pursuant to this chapter shall be brought within sixty days of the expiration of the ninety day period and any extension thereof provided in subdivision h of this section or the rendering of a determination, whichever is later. Any action or proceeding brought by or against the commissioner under this law shall be brought in the county in which the housing accommodation is located.
e. Violations of this law, or of the code and orders issued pursuant thereto may be enjoined by the supreme court upon proceedings commenced by the state division of housing and community renewal which shall not be required to post bond.
f. In furtherance of its responsibility to enforce this law, the state division of housing and community renewal shall be empowered to administer oaths, issue subpoenas, conduct investigations, make inspections and designate officers to hear and report. The division shall safeguard the confidentiality of information furnished to it at the request of the person furnishing same, unless such information must be made public in the interest of establishing a record for the future guidance of persons subject to this law.
g. Except where a specific provision of this law requires the maintenance of rent records for a longer period, including records of the useful life of improvements made to any housing accommodation or any building, any owner who has duly registered a housing accommodation pursuant to section 26-517 of this chapter shall not be required to maintain or produce any records relating to rentals of such accommodation for more than six years prior to the most recent registration or annual statement for such accommodation. However, an owner's election not to maintain records shall not limit the authority of the division of housing and community renewal and the courts to examine the rental history and determine legal regulated rents pursuant to this section.
h. The division of housing and community renewal, and the courts, in investigating complaints of overcharge and in determining legal regulated rents, shall consider all available rent history which is reasonably necessary to make such determinations, including but not limited to (i) any rent registration or other records filed with the state division of housing and community renewal, or any other state, municipal or federal agency, regardless of the date to which the information on such registration refers; (ii) any order issued by any state, municipal or federal agency; (iii) any records maintained by the owner or tenants; and (iv) any public record kept in the regular course of business by any state, municipal or federal agency. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall limit the examination of rent history relevant to a determination as to:
(i) whether the legality of a rental amount charged or registered is reliable in light of all available evidence including but not limited to whether an unexplained increase in the registered or lease rents, or a fraudulent scheme to destabilize the housing accommodation, rendered such rent or registration unreliable;
(ii) whether an accommodation is subject to the emergency tenant protection act or the rent stabilization law;
(iii) whether an order issued by the division of housing and community renewal or by a court, including, but not limited to an order issued pursuant to section 26-514 of this chapter, or any regulatory agreement or other contract with any governmental agency, and remaining in effect within six years of the filing of a complaint pursuant to this section, affects or limits the amount of rent that may be charged or collected;
(iv) whether an overcharge was or was not willful;
(v) whether a rent adjustment that requires information regarding the length of occupancy by a present or prior tenant was lawful;
(vi) the existence or terms and conditions of a preferential rent, or the propriety of a legal registered rent during a period when the tenants were charged a preferential rent;
(vii) the legality of a rent charged or registered immediately prior to the registration of a preferential rent; or
(viii) the amount of the legal regulated rent where the apartment was vacant or temporarily exempt on the date six years prior to a tenant's complaint.
i. The state division of housing and community renewal may, by regulation, provide for administrative review of all orders and determinations issued by it pursuant to this chapter. Any such regulation shall provide that if a petition for such review is not determined within ninety days after it is filed, it shall be deemed to be denied. However, the division may grant one extension not to exceed thirty days with the consent of the party filing such petition; any further extension may only be granted with the consent of all parties to the petition. No proceeding may be brought pursuant to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules to challenge any order or determination which is subject to such administrative review unless such review has been sought and either (1) a determination thereon has been made or (2) the ninety day period provided for determination of the petition for review (or any extension thereof) has expired.
(Am. 2015 N.Y. Laws Ch. 20 Pt. A § 23, 6/26/2015, eff. 6/26/2015; Am. 2019 N.Y. Laws Ch. 36 Pt. F §§ 4, 5, 6/14/2019, eff. 6/14/2019)
a. Each housing accommodation which is subject to this law shall be registered by the owner thereof with the state division of housing and community renewal prior to July first, nineteen hundred eighty-four upon forms prescribed by the commissioner. The data to be provided on such forms shall include the following:
(1) the name and address of the building or group of buildings or development in which such housing accommodation is located and the owner and the tenant thereof;
(2) the number of housing accommodations in the building or group of buildings or development in which such housing accommodation is located;
(3) the number of housing accommodations in such building or group of buildings or development subject to this code and the number of such housing accommodations subject to the local emergency housing rent control act;
(4) the rent charged on the registration date;
(5) the number of rooms in such housing accommodation; and
(6) all services provided on the date that the housing accommodation became subject to this chapter.
a-1. Within thirty days of changing his address, the managing agent or, if there is no managing agent, the owner, of a building or group of buildings or development, such agent or owner shall advise the state division of housing and community renewal and all tenants of his new address.
b. Registration pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the freedom of information law provided that registration information relative to a tenant, owner, lessor or subtenant shall be made available to such party or his or her authorized representative.
c. Housing accommodations which become subject to this chapter after the initial registration period must be registered within ninety days thereafter. Registration of housing accommodations subject to the local emergency housing rent control act immediately prior to the date of initial registration as provided in this section shall include, in addition to the items listed above, where existing, the maximum base rent immediately prior to the date that such housing accommodations become subject to this chapter.
d. Copies of the registration shall be filed with the state division of housing and community renewal in such place or places as it may require. In addition, one copy of that portion of the registration statement which pertains to the tenant's unit must be mailed by the owner to the tenant in possession at the time of initial registration or to the first tenant in occupancy if the apartment is vacant at the time of initial registration.
e. The failure to file a proper and timely initial or annual rent registration statement shall, until such time as such registration is filed, bar an owner from applying for or collecting any rent in excess of the legal regulated rent in effect on the date of the last preceding registration statement or if no such statements have been filed, the legal regulated rent in effect on the date that the housing accommodation became subject to the registration requirements of this section. The filing of a late registration shall result in the prospective elimination of such sanctions and provided that increases in the legal regulated rent were lawful except for the failure to file a timely registration, the owner, upon the service and filing of a late registration, shall not be found to have collected an overcharge at any time prior to the filing of the late registration. In addition to all other requirements set forth in this subdivision, in the event a timely rent registration is not filed and after notice of such delinquency is provided by the state division of housing and community renewal to the owner in the form of electronic mail and mail to the address listed in the owner's most recent registration statement, the owner shall be subject to a fine of five hundred dollars per unregistered unit for each month the registration is delinquent. Such a fine shall be imposed by order, and such order imposing a fine shall be deemed a final determination for the purposes of judicial review. Such fine may, upon the expiration of the period for seeking review pursuant to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules, be docketed and enforced in the manner of a judgment of the supreme court by the state division of housing and community renewal.
f. An annual statement shall be filed containing the current rent for each unit and such other information contained in subdivision a of this section as shall be required by the division. The owner shall provide each tenant then in occupancy with a copy of that portion of such annual statement as pertains to the tenant's unit.
g. Each housing accommodation for which a timely registration statement was filed between April first, nineteen hundred eighty-four and June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-four, pursuant to subdivision a of this section shall designate the rent charged on April first, nineteen hundred eighty-four, as the rent charged on the registration date.
(Am. 2023 N.Y. Laws Ch. 760, 12/22/2023, eff. 12/22/2023)
a. The department of finance shall collect from the owner of each housing accommodation registered pursuant to section 26-517 of this chapter an annual fee in the amount of twenty dollars per year for each unit subject to this law, in order to defray costs incurred by the city pursuant to subdivision c of section eight of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen hundred seventy-four.
b. (1) Pursuant to the provisions of subdivision d of section eight of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, the failure to pay the fee imposed by the provisions of subdivision a of this section shall constitute a charge due and owing the city. All such fees due and owing the city shall constitute a debt recoverable from the owner and the city may commence an action or proceeding for the recovery of such fees or may file a lien upon the building and lot. If the payment of such fees is not received by the city within sixty days of the date contained in the written notice requesting such payment, the city shall provide a second written notice to the owner setting forth the amount of fees due and owing the city and a demand for payment within thirty days thereof.
(2) If such payment is not made to the city within such time, all unpaid fees shall constitute a lien upon the premises and shall be filed in the office of the city collector as an entry of the account stated in the book in which such charges against the premises are to be entered. Such lien shall have priority over all other liens and encumbrances on the premises except for the lien of taxes and assessments. However, no lien created pursuant to this subdivision against any premises shall be enforced against an owner or mortgagee of such premises who acquired in good faith an interest therein subsequent to the period for which the fee was imposed but prior to the creation of any such lien.
(3) A notice pursuant to paragraph one of this subdivision, stating the amount due and the nature of the charge, shall be mailed by the city collector, within five days after such entry, to the last known address of the owner or agent.
(4) If such charge is not paid within thirty days from the date of entry, it shall be the duty of the city collector to receive interest thereon at the same rate as is imposed on a delinquent tax on real property, to be calculated to the date of payment from the date of entry.
(5) Such charge and the interest thereon shall continue to be, until paid, a lien on the premises. Such lien shall be a tax lien within the meaning of sections 11-319 and 11-401 of this code and may be sold, enforced or foreclosed in the manner provided in chapters three and four of title eleven of this code.
(6) The provisions set forth in this subdivision shall be the sole remedy for the enforcement of this section.
c. The provisions of subdivision a of this section shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect as of April first, nineteen hundred eighty-four.
(Am. 2019 N.Y. Laws Ch. 36 Pt. K § 15, 6/14/2019, eff. 6/14/2019)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1986/026, L.L. 1986/066 and L.L. 2001/036.
a. The hotel industry stabilization association registered with the department of housing preservation and development is hereby divested of all its powers and authority under this law. The stabilization code heretofore promulgated by such association, as approved by the department of housing preservation and development, is hereby continued to the extent that it is not inconsistent with law. Such code may be amended from time to time provided, however, that no such amendments shall be promulgated except by action of the commissioner of the division of housing and community renewal and provided further, that prior to the adoption of any such amendments, the commissioner shall (i) submit the proposed amendments to the commissioner of the department of housing preservation and development and allow such commissioner thirty days to make comments or recommendations on the proposed amendments, (ii) review the comments or recommendations, if any, made pursuant to clause (i) of this subdivision and make any revisions to the proposed amendments which the commissioner of the division of housing and community renewal deems appropriate provided that any such review and revision shall be completed within thirty days of receipt of such comments or recommendations and (iii) thereafter hold a public hearing on the proposed amendments. No provision of such code shall impair or diminish any right or remedy granted to any party by this law or any other provision of law.
b. A code shall not be approved hereunder unless it appears to the commissioner of the division of housing and community renewal that it provides for a cash refund or a credit to be applied against future rent, in the amount of the excess, if any, of rent paid since January first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine, over the permissible fair increase, and that it gives a hotel tenant the right to request a six month lease at the permissible rent rate within thirty days of the approval of such code, or, if his or her tenancy commences after such thirty day period, within thirty days of the commencement of his or her tenancy, and that is in compliance with the standards set forth in subdivision c of section 26-511 to the extent such standards are applicable to the hotel industry, and that it provides specifically that no owner shall refuse to extend or renew a tenancy for the purpose of preventing a hotel tenant from becoming a permanent tenant.
c. Each landlord who is made subject to this law pursuant to section 26-505 or 26-506 of this code shall furnish to each permanent tenant signing a new or renewal lease, a rider describing the rights and duties of owners and tenants as provided under the rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine. Such rider shall be in a form promulgated by the commissioner and shall conform to the intent of section 5-702 of the general obligations law and shall be in a print size larger than the print size of the lease to which the rider is attached.
The department of housing preservation and development may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, suspend the registration of an association if it finds that the articles, code, rules or other conduct thereof do not conform to the requirements of this law and any such suspension shall remain in effect until such administration issues an order determining that such articles, rules, code or other conduct have been modified to conform with such requirements. For the purposes of this law, the members in good standing of the association shall be deemed to be members in good standing of an association registered with the department of housing preservation and development during and only during, the first sixty days of such period of suspension.
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