NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7915
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to prohibiting insurers
from requiring a property owner to disclose the presence of tenants
receiving rental assistance
PURPOSE:
This legislation would prohibit insurance companies from requesting
information on the use of rental subsidies in a particular building.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
- Section one amends the insurance law by adding a new section 3462.
Section two establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Protections against source of income discrimination have been enacted by
both the state and federal government to ensure tenants are not turned
away simply because they use a housing voucher. However, no such laws
exist to prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage on buildings
that provide apartments to voucher holders.
A July 2023 article in the Gothamist detailed how many insurers include
questions on their applications about the number of units in a building
that receive federal Section 8 or other rental subsidies. Insurance
companies claim this information is used to help calculate the risk of
insuring a building. However, insurance companies use this information
to often deny coverage entirely, or in other cases, impose exorbitant
premiums. The higher cost of insuring the building hurts landlords that
take housing vouchers and tenants struggling to find a place to live.
Source of income discrimination is illegal, but insurance companies have
been able to skirt these laws, harming tenants and building owners look-
ing to provide affordable housing. This legislation would prohibit
insurance companies from including questions on applications about the
number of units in a building that are occupied by those receiving
rental subsidies.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7915
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
August 4, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to prohibiting insurers
from requiring a property owner to disclose the presence of tenants
receiving rental assistance
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 3462
2 to read as follows:
3 § 3462. Rental assistance disclosure. No insurer shall, on an appli-
4 cation for a policy of insurance on property, require a property owner
5 to disclose whether such property owner rents any portion of the proper-
6 ty to a tenant who receives any rental assistance provided by a city,
7 state, or federal agency, housing authority, or other entity wherein the
8 tenant's portion of the rent is limited to a percentage of the tenant's
9 income.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11957-03-3
