Amd §26-511, add §§26-511.2 & 26-513.1, NYC Ad Cd; amd §§6, 10 & 9, Emerg Ten Prot Act of 1974
Provides that when a housing accommodation has been vacated after continuous tenancy or occupancy of ten years or more prior to vacancy, and the owner can demonstrate restoration of the unit, the new legal regulated rent shall be the rent agreed to by the owner and first tenant after such restoration and reserved in a lease or other rental agreement; makes related provisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6904
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 26, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, SEPULVEDA, ADDABBO, MARTINEZ,
PARKER, PERSAUD, SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing,
Construction and Community Development
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to certain housing accommodations; and to amend the emergency
tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, in relation to certain
hardship provisions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision c of section 26-511 of the administrative code
2 of the city of New York is amended by adding a new paragraph 16 to read
3 as follows:
4 (16) provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of this chap-
5 ter to the contrary, when a housing accommodation subject to this chap-
6 ter has been vacated after continuous tenancy or occupancy of ten years
7 or more prior to vacancy, and the owner can demonstrate restoration of
8 the unit as set forth in section 26-511.2 of this chapter, the new legal
9 regulated rent shall be the rent agreed to by the owner and first tenant
10 after such restoration and reserved in a lease or other rental agree-
11 ment; provided that such new legal regulated rent: (i) shall not exceed
12 the section 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing
13 agency for a unit of the same size and located within the same zip code
14 that was in effect at the time the lease was executed; and (ii) may be
15 adjusted on audit by the division under section 26-511.2 of this chap-
16 ter, or on application of a tenant or owner under section 26-513.1 of
17 this chapter. The legal regulated rent adjustment set forth in this
18 paragraph shall be known as the local regulated housing restoration
19 adjustment.
20 § 2. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended by
21 adding a new section 26-511.2 to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05862-01-5
S. 6904 2
1 § 26-511.2 The local regulated housing restoration adjustment. a. The
2 division of housing and community renewal, the "division" shall estab-
3 lish a notification procedure and documentation submission guidelines
4 for the local regulated housing restoration adjustment. Documentation
5 to qualify for the local regulated housing restoration adjustment shall
6 be limited to:
7 (1) XRF test results or other documentation demonstrating a lead-free
8 housing accommodation under applicable local definitions;
9 (2) any required tenant protection plans or similar submissions to the
10 local building department in connection with such restoration;
11 (3) any required contractor licenses or certifications;
12 (4) list and specifications of new electric appliances installed;
13 (5) before and after photos;
14 (6) lease or rental agreement listing new legal regulated rent;
15 (7) evidence of renting to a housing subsidy voucher holder, or the
16 section 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing
17 agency for a unit of the same size and located within the same zip code
18 that was in effect at the time the lease was executed;
19 (8) evidence of renting to a housing subsidy voucher holder, or
20 documentation confirming that, as of the date of the commencement of the
21 incoming tenant's lease, any physical condition within the unit that was
22 the basis for a previously issued violation has been corrected; and
23 (9) for units vacated after the effective date of this section, a form
24 to be promulgated by the division and signed by the previous tenant
25 affirming that the vacatur prior to the local regulated housing restora-
26 tion adjustment was voluntary and not the result of unlawful owner
27 harassment. In considering the sufficiency of alternate documentation,
28 and notwithstanding other potentially sufficient documentation, vacatur
29 shall be presumed voluntary and not the result of owner harassment when
30 (i) the owner recovered possession of the unit through judicial
31 proceedings, (ii) the owner demonstrates abandonment of the unit through
32 electronic communications, recordings, or other evidence of voluntary
33 vacatur, or (iii) the owner demonstrates the previous tenant died and
34 the unit was not occupied by a lawful successor.
35 b. The local regulated housing restoration adjustment shall not be
36 permitted:
37 (1) for units that are rented within a twenty-four-month period after
38 an arm's length transfer of ownership;
39 (2) for units that are rented within a thirty-six-month period after
40 determination by the division that the owner has engaged in unlawful
41 harassment with respect to the unit;
42 (3) for units in buildings subject to housing preservation and devel-
43 opment's alternative enforcement program; or
44 (4) after an unlawful eviction.
45 c. The division shall establish an audit process to review a percent-
46 age, as established by the division, of housing accommodations that
47 register adjusted legal regulated rents under the local regulated hous-
48 ing restoration adjustment. The division's established audit process
49 shall be subject to the following requirements:
50 (1) any audit shall be limited to: (i) confirmation that documentation
51 set forth in subdivision a of this section has been submitted; and (ii)
52 unless rented to a housing subsidy voucher holder, confirmation that the
53 unit's agreed rent does not exceed the section 8 voucher payment stand-
54 ard adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of the same size
55 and located within the same zip code that was in effect at the time the
56 lease was executed. Such audit shall be initiated within one year of
S. 6904 3
1 the filing of an annual apartment registration indicating an adjustment
2 to the legal regulated rent under the local regulated housing restora-
3 tion adjustment; and
4 (2) if an audit under this subdivision determines that (i) an owner
5 has failed to submit documentation set forth in subdivision a of this
6 section and the owner then fails to submit any missing documentation
7 after sixty days' written notice from the division, or (ii) the local
8 housing restoration adjustment exceeds the section 8 voucher payment
9 standard adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of the same
10 size and located within the same zip code that was in effect at the time
11 the lease was executed, the division shall set the subject unit's legal
12 regulated rent at an amount equal to seventy-five percent of the section
13 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing agency for
14 a unit of the same size and located within the same zip code that was in
15 effect at the time the lease was executed, except that the legal regu-
16 lated rents for units subject to housing subsidy vouchers shall be
17 established at the contract rent amount approved by the agency adminis-
18 tering the voucher.
19 (3) Any required refunds shall be made in accordance with section
20 26-513.1 of this chapter.
21 d. To encourage rental of units subject to a local housing restoration
22 adjustment to individuals and families with housing subsidy vouchers or
23 that are in communities of need, the division shall establish incen-
24 tives, in addition to those already contained in this section, for hous-
25 ing providers who rent to housing subsidy voucher holders located in
26 very low- and low-income zip codes.
27 e. Access to the documentation submitted as part of the local regu-
28 lated housing restoration adjustment shall be governed by the same laws
29 governing access to building and apartment registrations filed with the
30 division.
31 § 3. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended by
32 adding a new section 26-513.1 to read as follows:
33 § 26-513.1 Application for adjustment of local regulated housing
34 restoration adjustment. a. The tenant of a housing accommodation that
35 was vacant on, or became vacant after, June 14, 2019, and has been
36 subject to the local regulated housing restoration adjustment, may file
37 with the commissioner of housing and community renewal within 120 days
38 after notice has been received under subdivision c of this section an
39 application for the adjustment of the rent for such housing accommo-
40 dation. Such applications shall be subject to the following:
41 (1) in the application, the tenant must allege that the local regu-
42 lated housing restoration adjustment rent exceeds the section 8 voucher
43 payment standard adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of
44 the same size and located within the same zip code that was in effect at
45 the time the lease was executed.
46 (2) in determining an application filed pursuant to this section, the
47 commissioner shall only consider whether the subject rent exceeds the
48 section 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing
49 agency for a unit of the same size and located within the same zip code
50 that was in effect at the time the lease was executed.
51 (3) the owner of the housing accommodation subject to an application
52 under this section shall be given an opportunity to submit a written
53 answer to any application.
54 (4) when the local regulated housing restoration adjustment rent
55 amount is determined to exceed the section 8 voucher payment standard
56 adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of the same size and
S. 6904 4
1 located within the same zip code that was in effect at the time the
2 lease was executed, the commissioner of housing and community renewal
3 shall order that the legal regulated rent for the subject unit shall be
4 equal to seventy-five percent of the section 8 voucher payment standard
5 adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of the same size and
6 located within the same zip code that was in effect at the time the
7 lease was executed; except that the legal regulated rents for units
8 subject to housing subsidy vouchers shall be equal to the contract rent
9 amount approved by the local housing authority that issues the voucher.
10 Any required refunds shall be made by the owner in cash or as a credit
11 against unpaid rent over a period not to exceed six months.
12 b. Notwithstanding subdivision a of this section, provided that the
13 owner has submitted to the division documentation in accordance with
14 subdivision a of section 26-511.2 of this chapter, the division shall
15 only determine whether the tenancy is subject to a housing subsidy
16 voucher and, if not, whether the rent charged to the first tenant after
17 the local regulated housing restoration adjustment exceeds the section 8
18 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing agency for a
19 unit of the same size located within the same zip code that was in
20 effect at the time the lease was executed. Any documentation deficien-
21 cies shall be resolved through the audit process set forth in section
22 26-511.2 of this chapter.
23 c. In the lease execution package for the first lease after the legal
24 rent was adjusted under the local regulated housing restoration adjust-
25 ment, the owner shall give notice, both in the lease and subsequently in
26 writing by certified mail, or by electronic delivery if the tenant has
27 opted to receive electronic delivery of documents, to the tenant of such
28 housing accommodation on a form prescribed by the commissioner of hous-
29 ing and community renewal that the local regulated housing restoration
30 adjustment was applied, including notification of the prior legal regu-
31 lated rent, a description of work completed, the building address and
32 the section 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing
33 agency for a unit of the same size and located within the same zip code
34 that was in effect at the time the lease was executed, and such tenant's
35 right to file an application challenging the new legal regulated rent of
36 such housing accommodation.
37 § 4. Paragraph 5 of subdivision d of section 6 of section 4 of chapter
38 576 of the laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection
39 act of nineteen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 102 of the laws of
40 1984, is amended and a new paragraph 6 is added to read as follows:
41 (5) as an alternative to the hardship application provided under para-
42 graph four of this subdivision, owners of buildings acquired by the same
43 owner or a related entity owned by the same principals three years prior
44 to the date of application may apply to the division for increases in
45 excess of the level of applicable guideline increases established under
46 this law based on a finding by the commissioner that such guideline
47 increases are not sufficient to enable the owner to maintain an annual
48 gross rent income for such building which exceeds the annual operating
49 expenses of such building by a sum equal to at least five percent of
50 such gross rent. For the purposes of this paragraph, operating expenses
51 shall consist of the actual, reasonable, costs of fuel, labor, utili-
52 ties, taxes, other than income or corporate franchise taxes, fees,
53 permits, necessary contracted services and non-capital repairs, insur-
54 ance, parts and supplies, management fees and other administrative costs
55 and mortgage interest. For the purposes of this paragraph, mortgage
56 interest shall be deemed to mean interest on a bona fide mortgage
S. 6904 5
1 including an allocable portion of charges related thereto. Criteria to
2 be considered in determining a bona fide mortgage other than an institu-
3 tional mortgage shall include; condition of the property, location of
4 the property, the existing mortgage market at the time the mortgage is
5 placed, the term of the mortgage, the amortization rate, the principal
6 amount of the mortgage, security and other terms and conditions of the
7 mortgage. The commissioner shall set a rental value for any unit occu-
8 pied by the owner or a person related to the owner or unoccupied at the
9 owner's choice for more than one month at the last regulated rent plus
10 the minimum number of guidelines increases or, if no such regulated rent
11 existed or is known, the commissioner shall impute a rent consistent
12 with other rents in the building. The amount of hardship increase shall
13 be such as may be required to maintain the annual gross rent income as
14 provided by this paragraph. The division shall not grant a hardship
15 application under this paragraph or paragraph four of this subdivision
16 for a period of three years subsequent to granting a hardship applica-
17 tion under the provisions of this paragraph. The collection of any
18 increase in the rent for any housing accommodation pursuant to this
19 paragraph shall not exceed six percent in any year from the effective
20 date of the order granting the increase over the rent set forth in the
21 schedule of gross rents, with collectability of any dollar excess above
22 said sum to be spread forward in similar increments and added to the
23 rent as established or set in future years. No application shall be
24 approved unless the owner's equity in such building exceeds five percent
25 of: (i) the arms length purchase price of the property; (ii) the cost of
26 any capital improvements for which the owner has not collected a
27 surcharge; (iii) any repayment of principal of any mortgage or loan used
28 to finance the purchase of the property or any capital improvements for
29 which the owner has not collected a surcharge; and (iv) any increase in
30 the equalized assessed value of the property which occurred subsequent
31 to the first valuation of the property after purchase by the owner. For
32 the purposes of this paragraph, owner's equity shall mean the sum of (i)
33 the purchase price of the property less the principal of any mortgage or
34 loan used to finance the purchase of the property, (ii) the cost of any
35 capital improvement for which the owner has not collected a surcharge
36 less the principal of any mortgage or loan used to finance said improve-
37 ment, (iii) any repayment of the principal of any mortgage or loan used
38 to finance the purchase of the property or any capital improvement for
39 which the owner has not collected a surcharge, and (iv) any increase in
40 the equalized assessed value of the property which occurred subsequent
41 to the first valuation of the property after purchase by the owner[.];
42 or
43 (6) provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter
44 to the contrary, when a housing accommodation subject to this chapter
45 has been vacated after continuous tenancy or occupancy of ten years or
46 more prior to vacancy, and the owner can demonstrate restoration of the
47 unit as set forth in subdivision (a-1) of section ten of this chapter,
48 the new legal regulated rent shall be the rent agreed to by the owner
49 and first tenant after such restoration and reserved in a lease or other
50 rental agreement; provided that such new legal regulated rent: (i)
51 shall not exceed the section 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a
52 local public housing agency for a unit of the same size and located
53 within the same zip code that was in effect at the time the lease was
54 executed; and (ii) may be adjusted on audit by the division under subdi-
55 vision (a-1) of section ten of this chapter, or on application of a
56 tenant or owner under subdivision d-1 of section nine of this chapter.
S. 6904 6
1 The legal regulated rent adjustment set forth in this paragraph shall be
2 known as the local regulated housing restoration adjustment.
3 § 5. Section 10 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974,
4 constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-
5 four is amended by adding a new subdivision (a-1) to read as follows:
6 (a-1) the division of housing and community renewal shall establish a
7 notification procedure and documentation submission guidelines for the
8 local regulated housing restoration adjustment. a. Documentation to
9 qualify for the local regulated housing restoration adjustment shall be
10 limited to:
11 (1) XRF test results or other documentation demonstrating a lead-free
12 housing accommodation under applicable local definitions;
13 (2) any required tenant protection plans or similar submissions to the
14 local building department in connection with such restoration;
15 (3) any required contractor licenses or certifications;
16 (4) list and specifications of new electric appliances installed;
17 (5) before and after photos;
18 (6) lease or rental agreement listing new legal regulated rent;
19 (7) evidence of renting to a housing subsidy voucher holder, or the
20 section 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing
21 agency for a unit of the same size and located within the same zip code
22 that was in effect at the time the lease was executed;
23 (8) evidence of renting to a housing subsidy voucher holder, or
24 documentation confirming that, as of the date of the commencement of the
25 incoming tenant's lease, any physical condition within the unit that was
26 the basis for a previously issued violation has been corrected; and
27 (9) for units vacated after the effective date of this subdivision, a
28 form to be promulgated by the division and signed by the previous tenant
29 affirming that the vacatur prior to the local regulated housing restora-
30 tion adjustment was voluntary and not the result of unlawful owner
31 harassment. In considering the sufficiency of alternate documentation,
32 and notwithstanding other potentially sufficient documentation, vacatur
33 shall be presumed voluntary and not the result of owner harassment when
34 (i) the owner recovered possession of the unit through judicial
35 proceedings, (ii) the owner demonstrates abandonment of the unit through
36 electronic communications, recordings, or other evidence of voluntary
37 vacatur, or (iii) the owner demonstrates the previous tenant died and
38 the unit was not occupied by a lawful successor.
39 b. The local regulated housing restoration adjustment shall not be
40 permitted:
41 (1) for units that are rented within a twenty-four-month period after
42 an arm's length transfer of ownership;
43 (2) for units that are rented within a thirty-six-month period after
44 determination by the division that the owner has engaged in unlawful
45 harassment with respect to the unit;
46 (3) for units in buildings subject to housing preservation and devel-
47 opment's alternative enforcement program; or
48 (4) after an unlawful eviction.
49 c. The division of housing and community renewal shall establish an
50 audit process to review a percentage, as established by the division, of
51 housing accommodations that register adjusted legal regulated rents
52 under the local regulated housing restoration adjustment. The divi-
53 sion's established audit process shall be subject to the following
54 requirements:
55 (1) any audit shall be limited to: (i) confirmation that documentation
56 set forth in paragraph a of this subdivision has been submitted; and
S. 6904 7
1 (ii) unless rented to a housing subsidy voucher holder, confirmation
2 that the units agreed upon rent as reserved in a lease agreement does
3 not exceed the section 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local
4 public housing agency for a unit of the same size and located within the
5 same zip code that was in effect at the time the lease was executed.
6 Such audit shall be initiated within one year of the filing of an annual
7 apartment registration indicating an adjustment to the legal regulated
8 rent under the local regulated housing restoration adjustment; and
9 (2) if an audit under this subdivision determines that: (i) an owner
10 has failed to submit documentation set forth in subdivision a of this
11 section and the owner then fails to submit any missing documentation
12 after sixty days' written notice from the division; or (ii) the local
13 housing restoration adjustment exceeds the section 8 voucher payment
14 standard adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of the same
15 size and located within the same zip code that was in effect at the time
16 the lease was executed, the division shall set the subject unit's legal
17 regulated rent at an amount equal to seventy-five percent of the section
18 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing agency for
19 a unit of the same size and located within the same zip code that was in
20 effect at the time the lease was executed, provided, however, that the
21 legal regulated rents for units subject to housing subsidy vouchers
22 shall be established at the contract rent amount approved by the agency
23 administering the voucher.
24 (3) Any required refunds shall be made in accordance with section
25 26-513.1 of the administrative code of the city of New York.
26 d. To encourage rental of units subject to a local housing restoration
27 adjustment to individuals and families with housing subsidy vouchers or
28 that are in communities of need, the division shall establish incen-
29 tives, in addition to those already contained in this section, for hous-
30 ing providers who rent to housing subsidy voucher holders located in
31 very low- and low-income zip codes.
32 e. Access to the documentation submitted as part of the local regu-
33 lated housing restoration adjustment shall be governed by the same laws
34 governing access to building and apartment registrations filed with the
35 division.
36 § 6. Section 9 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974,
37 constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-
38 four is amended by adding a new subdivision d-1 to read as follows:
39 d-1. (1) The tenant of a housing accommodation that was vacant on, or
40 became vacant after, June 14, 2019, and has been subject to the local
41 regulated housing restoration adjustment, may file with the commissioner
42 within 120 days after notice has been received under paragraph three of
43 this subdivision an application for the adjustment of the rent for such
44 housing accommodation. Such applications shall be subject to the
45 following:
46 (i) in the application, the tenant must allege that the local regu-
47 lated housing restoration adjustment rent exceeds the section 8 voucher
48 payment standard adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of
49 the same size and located within the same zip code that was in effect at
50 the time the lease was executed;
51 (ii) in determining an application filed pursuant to this section, the
52 commissioner of housing and community renewal shall only consider wheth-
53 er the subject rent exceeds the section 8 voucher payment standard
54 adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of the same size and
55 located within the same zip code that was in effect at the time the
56 lease was executed;
S. 6904 8
1 (iii) the owner of the housing accommodation subject to an application
2 under this section shall be given an opportunity to submit a written
3 answer to any application; and
4 (iv) when the local regulated housing restoration adjustment rent
5 amount is determined to exceed the section 8 voucher payment standard
6 adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of the same size and
7 located within the same zip code that was in effect at the time the
8 lease was executed, the commissioner of housing and community renewal
9 shall order that the legal regulated rent for the subject unit shall be
10 equal to seventy-five percent of the section 8 voucher payment standard
11 adopted by a local public housing agency for a unit of the same size and
12 located within the same zip code that was in effect at the time the
13 lease was executed; provided, however, that the legal regulated rents
14 for units subject to housing subsidy vouchers shall be equal to the
15 contract rent amounts approved by the local housing agency administering
16 the voucher. Any required refunds shall be made by the owner in cash or
17 as a credit against unpaid rent over a period not to exceed six months.
18 (2) Notwithstanding paragraph a of this subdivision, provided that the
19 owner has submitted to the division documentation in accordance with
20 subdivision (a-1) of section ten of this chapter, the division shall
21 only determine whether the tenancy is subject to a housing subsidy
22 voucher and, if not, whether the rent charged to the first tenant after
23 the local regulated housing restoration adjustment exceeds the section 8
24 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing agency for a
25 unit of the same size located within the same zip code that was in
26 effect at the time the lease was executed. Any documentation deficien-
27 cies shall be resolved through the audit process set forth in subdivi-
28 sion (a-1) of section ten of this chapter.
29 (3) In the lease execution package for the first lease after the legal
30 rent was adjusted under the local regulated housing restoration adjust-
31 ment, the owner shall give notice, both in the lease and subsequently in
32 writing by certified mail, or by electronic delivery if the tenant has
33 opted to receive electronic delivery of documents, to the tenant of such
34 housing accommodation on a form prescribed by the commissioner of hous-
35 ing and community renewal that the local regulated housing restoration
36 adjustment was applied, including notification of the prior legal regu-
37 lated rent, a description of work completed, the building address and
38 the section 8 voucher payment standard adopted by a local public housing
39 agency for a unit of the same size and located within the same zip code
40 that was in effect at the time the lease was executed, and such tenant's
41 right to file an application for adjustment of the new legal regulated
42 rent of such housing accommodation.
43 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately; and provided that the
44 amendments to chapter 4 of title 26 of the administrative code of the
45 city of New York made by sections one, two and three of this act shall
46 expire on the same date as such law expires and shall not affect the
47 expiration of such law as provided under section 26-520 of such law.
