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(a) In any action for penalties under this article, the defendant may move at any time before the trial of the case for an order to stay the further accumulation of the per diem penalty from the day the action is commenced until the same is finally terminated by judgment or otherwise, including the time necessary for judicial review. The housing part of the civil court shall grant the motion if the defendant shows to the satisfaction of the court that there is a substantial and real issue of fact or law concerning the existence of the violation charged. The court may impose such conditions on the granting of the motion as justice may require.
(b) Nothing in this article shall prevent an owner from contesting the finding of a violation by the department, in advance of the department's action for the collection of penalties in the housing part of the civil court of the city of New York or by any other means provided by law. In any such action or proceeding, the court may stay the further accumulation of the per diem penalty in the same manner and under the same conditions as provided in subdivision (a) of this section.
Article 3: Criminal Penalty
(a) Any person who
(1) Willfully or recklessly violates any provisions of this chapter; or
(2) Willfully or recklessly violates, or fails to comply with, any requirement of an order of the department; or
(3) Willfully makes, or causes any other person to make, any false or misleading statement on any registration statement, notice, or other document required to be filed pursuant to this chapter, or on any application, or any accompanying document, for the granting of any permit or any other action by the department pursuant to this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than one thousand dollars for each such violation, or by imprisonment up to one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) A person commits a willful violation when such person intentionally acts, or intentionally fails to act, to cause a desired result that violates this chapter. A person commits a reckless violation when such person acts, or fails to act, with a conscious disregard of a substantial risk that the act or failure to act will result in a condition, constituting a violation of this code, which will endanger the life, health or safety of another person.
(c) In a prosecution for a willful or reckless violation of a provision of this chapter, evidence of prior service of civil process or of prior judgments for civil penalties arising from the same violation, and relating to the same dwelling, shall be admissible on the issue of the defendant's knowledge of the existence of the violation.
(d) Evidence that the defendant had knowledge or notice of the violation and failed to correct the same for more than six months or take reasonable action to explain to the department this failure or inability to make the correction shall be relevant on the issue of the willfulness of defendant's action. This subdivision shall not be construed to prevent conviction for a willful violation on other grounds.
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