L.L. 2015/082

Enactment date: 9/3/2015

Int. No. 700-A

By Council Members Williams, Garodnick, Espinal, Barron, Chin, Cumbo, Gibson, Johnson, King, Koslowitz, Lander, Levin, Rosenthal, Cohen, Menchaca, Rodriguez, Kallos and Wills

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to required disclosures by persons making buyout offers

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Declaration of legislative intent and findings.

   a.   The council finds and declares that:

      1.   While there are legitimate reasons for building owners to make buyout offers to tenants by offering money or other valuable consideration to vacate their apartments, some tenants do not understand their rights with respect to buyout offers, including their right to reject such an offer and remain in their apartment or to seek guidance from an attorney, and some tenants do not understand what a buyout offer is or that such offer is being made on behalf of the owner of the building in which they reside;

      2.   Tenants cannot meaningfully accept, reject or negotiate such offers without such an understanding; and

      3.   The city has a substantial interest in balancing the rights of building owners to make these buyout offers with the rights of tenants to meaningfully accept, reject or negotiate such offers or to refuse contact regarding such offers.

   b.   The council finds that it is necessary and appropriate to require the disclosure of certain factual and uncontroversial information in connection with buyout offers in order to protect tenants from confusion or deception.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 3. This local law takes effect on the same date as a local law of the city of New York for the year 2015 amending the administrative code of the city of New York relating to amending the definition of harassment to include certain buyout offers, as proposed in introduction number 757-A, takes effect.