Provides that a homeowners' association may include in its declaration, bylaws, or recorded covenants and restrictions a provision expressly prohibiting the use of a no-impact home-based business; provides that any such provision shall be approved by at least ninety percent of the total eligible voters of the homeowner's association; provides that any declaration, bylaws, or recorded covenants and restrictions prohibiting such use shall also include a provision stating that such prohibition may be eliminated by a simple majority vote.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8718
IN SENATE
January 7, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to the use of a resi-
dence as a no-impact home-based business within a homeowners' associ-
ation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The real property law is amended by adding a new article
2 9-E to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 9-E
4 NO-IMPACT HOME-BASED BUSINESS RIGHTS ACT
5 Section 344. Certain covenants, conditions, and restrictions of homeown-
6 ers' associations prohibited.
7 § 344. Certain covenants, conditions, and restrictions of homeowners'
8 associations prohibited. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this
9 section:
10 (a) "No-impact home-based business" means a business that:
11 (i) is consistent with the residential character of the dwelling unit;
12 (ii) is subordinate to the use of the dwelling unit for residential
13 purposes and requires no external modifications that detract from the
14 residential appearance of the dwelling unit;
15 (iii) uses no equipment or process that creates noise, vibration,
16 glare, fumes, odors, or electrical or electronic interference detectable
17 by neighbors or that causes an increase of common expenses that can be
18 solely and directly attributable to a no-impact home-based business; and
19 (iv) does not involve use, storage, or disposal of any grouping or
20 classification of materials that the United States secretary of trans-
21 portation or the state or any local governing body designates as a
22 hazardous material.
23 2. (a) Subject to the provisions of subdivisions three and four of
24 this section, a recorded covenant or restriction, a provision in a
25 declaration, or a provision of the bylaws or rules of a homeowners'
26 association that prohibits or restricts commercial or business activity
27 in general, but does not expressly apply to no-impact home-based busi-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14110-01-5
S. 8718 2
1 nesses, may not be construed to prohibit or restrict the establishment
2 and operation of a no-impact home-based business.
3 (b) Subject to the provisions of subdivisions three and four of this
4 section, the operation of a no-impact home-based business shall be:
5 (i) considered a residential activity; and
6 (ii) a permitted activity.
7 3. (a)(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph
8 and subject to the provisions of paragraph (b) of this subdivision, a
9 homeowners' association may include in its declaration, bylaws, or
10 recorded covenants and restrictions a provision expressly prohibiting
11 the use of a residence for the operation of a no-impact home-based busi-
12 ness.
13 (ii) A homeowners' association may not include a provision described
14 under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph expressly prohibiting the use
15 of a residence for the operation of a no-impact home-based business in
16 its declaration, bylaws, or recorded covenants and restrictions unless
17 such provision is approved by at least ninety percent of the total
18 eligible voters of the homeowners' association, not including the devel-
19 oper, under the voting procedures contained in the declaration or bylaws
20 of the homeowners' association.
21 (iii) A provision described under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph
22 expressly prohibiting the use of a residence for the operation of a
23 no-impact home-based business shall apply to an existing no-impact home-
24 based business in the homeowners' association.
25 (b) If a homeowners' association includes in its declaration, bylaws,
26 or recorded covenants and restrictions a provision prohibiting the use
27 of a residence as a no-impact home-based business, the homeowners' asso-
28 ciation shall also include a provision stating that such prohibition may
29 be eliminated and individual no-impact home-based businesses may be
30 approved by a simple majority of the total eligible voters of the home-
31 owners' association under the voting procedures contained in the decla-
32 ration or bylaws of the homeowners' association.
33 (c) If a homeowners' association includes in its declaration, bylaws,
34 or recorded covenants and restrictions a provision expressly prohibiting
35 the use of a residence as a no-impact home-based business, such prohibi-
36 tion may be eliminated and no-impact home-based business activities may
37 be permitted by the approval of a simple majority of the total eligible
38 voters of the homeowners' association under the voting procedures
39 contained in the declaration or bylaws of the homeowners' association.
40 4. A homeowners' association may restrict or prohibit a no-impact
41 home-based business in any common areas.
42 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
43 have become a law.
