Amd §3, Emerg Ten Prot Act of 1974 (as proposed in S.1684-A & A.6843-A)
Authorizes a municipality to impose a civil penalty when an owner or their agent refuses to participate in a vacancy survey or submits knowingly and intentionally false vacancy information.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8499
SPONSOR: Clark TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
ty-four, in relation to authorizing a civil penalty when owners refuse
to participate in a vacancy survey or submits false vacancy information
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to make amendments to Chapter 698 of the
Laws of 2023.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill amends the enacted penalties to provide a municipality may
impose a civil penalty or fee of up to $500 on an owner or their agent
for refusing to participate in the vacancy study or for knowingly and
intentionally submitting false information. The bill repeals a provision
that provided refusal by the owner to participate in the survey may be
deemed cause to deny a rental permit or certificate of occupancy.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State is facing an unprecedented housing crisis - especially
among the renting population. In 2019, the Housing Stability and Tenant.
Protection Act was passed that, among other things, allowed for munici-
palities to opt into tenant protection regulations if their municipality
had a vacancy rate less than 5%. This vacancy rate was to be determined
by the completion of a survey by property owners within a given munici-
pality.
Since the law was enacted, there have been attempts by several munici-
palities across the state to obtain vacancy rate surveys, but they have
been stymied by property owners who choose to not complete the surveys
or deliberately manipulate data for the date or month of the survey.
Most recently, both the City of Kingston in Ulster County and the City
of Rochester attempted surveys, but many landlords ignored requests or
shared inaccurate information leading to results that did reflect true
vacancy rates. This legislation would require property owners to
complete and submit a vacancy rate survey when asked by a municipality
or designee of the municipality to ensure that cities who choose 'to
undergo this opportunity are able to get accurate information. Failure
to submit can result in the loss of a permit of occupancy or a civil
penalty by the municipality and the property will be deemed to have a
zero vacancy rate.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Undetermined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a
chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the emergency tenant protection act
of nineteen seventy-four relating to studies to determine vacancy rates,
as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 1684-A and A.6843-A, takes
effect.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8499
IN ASSEMBLY
January 4, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CLARK -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Housing
AN ACT to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
ty-four, in relation to authorizing a civil penalty when owners refuse
to participate in a vacancy survey or submits false vacancy informa-
tion
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision e of section 3 of section 4 of chapter 576 of
2 the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of
3 nineteen seventy-four, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2023, amend-
4 ing the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four relat-
5 ing to studies to determine vacancy rates, as proposed in legislative
6 bills numbers S. 1684-A and A. 6843-A, is amended to read as follows:
7 e. [Refusal by an] A municipality may impose a civil penalty or fee of
8 up to five hundred dollars on an owner or their agent if the owner or
9 their agent refuses to participate in such vacancy survey and cooperate
10 with the municipality or a designee in such vacancy survey, or
11 [submission of] submits knowingly and intentionally false vacancy infor-
12 mation [may be deemed cause to deny a rental permit or certificate of
13 occupancy for a housing accommodation. Such municipality may addi-
14 tionally impose a civil penalty or fee on such owner or their agent of
15 up to one thousand dollars].
16 § 2. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
17 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2023, amending the emergency tenant
18 protection act of nineteen seventy-four relating to studies to determine
19 vacancy rates, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 1684-A and A.
20 6843-A, takes effect.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05739-04-4
