Allocates fines to the anti-discrimination in housing fund which shall be used to fund grants for not-for-profit agencies specializing in anti-housing discrimination efforts.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10024
IN ASSEMBLY
March 4, 2020
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JEAN-PIERRE -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the real property law and the state finance law, in
relation to allocating fines to the anti-discrimination in housing
fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 441-c of the real
2 property law, as amended by chapter 81 of the laws of 1995, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 (a) The department of state may revoke the license of a real estate
5 broker or salesman or suspend the same, for such period as the depart-
6 ment may deem proper, or in lieu thereof may impose a fine not exceeding
7 [one] two thousand dollars payable to the department of state, twenty-
8 five percent of all moneys received by the department of state shall be
9 payable to the county human rights commission in the county where the
10 violation occurred and twenty-five percent of all moneys received by the
11 department of state shall be payable to the anti-discrimination in hous-
12 ing fund established pursuant to section eighty-a of the state finance
13 law, or a reprimand upon conviction of the licensee of a violation of
14 any provision of this article, or for a material misstatement in the
15 application for such license, or if such licensee has been guilty of
16 fraud or fraudulent practices, or for dishonest or misleading advertis-
17 ing, or has demonstrated untrustworthiness or incompetency to act as a
18 real estate broker or salesman, as the case may be. In the case of a
19 real estate broker engaged in the business of a tenant relocator,
20 untrustworthiness or incompetency shall include engaging in any course
21 of conduct including, but not limited to, the interruption or discontin-
22 uance of essential building service, that interferes with or disturbs
23 the peace, comfort, repose and quiet enjoyment of a tenant.
24 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 80-a to
25 read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15065-01-0
A. 10024 2
1 § 80-a. Anti-discrimination in housing fund. 1. There is hereby estab-
2 lished in the custody of the state comptroller a special fund to be
3 known as the "anti-discrimination in housing fund".
4 2. The anti-discrimination in housing fund shall consist of moneys
5 appropriated thereto, funds transferred from any other fund or sources,
6 and twenty-five percent of all fines and forfeitures collected pursuant
7 to section four hundred forty-one-c of the real property law. Nothing
8 contained in this section shall prevent the state from receiving grants,
9 gifts or bequests for the purposes of the fund as defined in this
10 section and depositing them into the fund according to law.
11 3. The moneys in the anti-discrimination in housing fund shall be kept
12 separate from and shall not be commingled with any other moneys in the
13 custody of the state comptroller. Such moneys shall be made available to
14 the commissioner of the division of human rights to allocate and expend
15 solely for grants for duly applying not-for-profit agencies specializing
16 in anti-housing discrimination.
17 4. The commissioner of the division of human rights shall establish
18 the application criteria for such not-for-profit agencies for the
19 purposes of the fund as defined in this section.
20 5. The monies shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant
21 of the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the commission-
22 er of the division of human rights.
23 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
24 have become a law.