Relates to public members of a rent guidelines board; reduces the number of years of experience required in finance, economics or housing from five to two and restricts anyone employed by an organization, law firm or other entity which predominantly represents or advises landlords from being appointed as a public member.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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2890
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 18, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. STEWART-COUSINS -- 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 emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
ty-four, in relation to public members of a rent guidelines board
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision a of section 4 of section 4 of chapter 576 of
2 the laws of 1974 constituting the emergency tenant protection act of
3 nineteen seventy-four, as amended by chapter 349 of the laws of 1979, is
4 amended to read as follows:
5 a. In each county wherein any city having a population of less than
6 one million or any town or village has determined the existence of an
7 emergency pursuant to section three of this act, there shall be created
8 a rent guidelines board to consist of nine members appointed by the
9 commissioner of housing and community renewal upon recommendation of the
10 county legislature which recommendation shall be made within thirty days
11 after the first local declaration of an emergency in such county; two
12 such members shall be representative of tenants, two shall be represen-
13 tative of owners of property, and five shall be public members each of
14 whom shall have had at least [five] two years experience in either
15 finance, economics or housing. The public members may not be employed by
16 an organization, law firm, or other entity which predominantly repres-
17 ents or advises landlords or tenants as part of their business or prac-
18 tice. One public member shall be designated by the commissioner to serve
19 as chairman and shall hold no other public office. No member, officer or
20 employee of any municipal rent regulation agency or the state division
21 of housing and community renewal and no person who owns or manages real
22 estate covered by this law or who is an officer of any owner or tenant
23 organization shall serve on a rent guidelines board. One public member,
24 one member representative of tenants and one member representative of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02496-01-7
S. 2890 2
1 owners shall serve for a term ending two years from January first next
2 succeeding the date of their appointment; one public member, one member
3 representative of tenants and one member representative of owners shall
4 serve for terms ending three years from the January first next succeed-
5 ing the date of their appointment and three public members shall serve
6 for terms ending four years from January first next succeeding the dates
7 of their appointment. Thereafter, all members shall serve for terms of
8 four years each. Members shall continue in office until their succes-
9 sors have been appointed and qualified. The commissioner shall fill any
10 vacancy which may occur by reason of death, resignation or otherwise in
11 a manner consistent with the original appointment. A member may be
12 removed by the commissioner for cause, but not without an opportunity to
13 be heard in person or by counsel, in his defense, upon not less than ten
14 days notice. Compensation for the members of the board shall be at the
15 rate of one hundred dollars per day, for no more than twenty days a
16 year, except that the chairman shall be compensated at the rate of one
17 hundred twenty-five dollars a day for no more than thirty days a year.
18 The board shall be provided staff assistance by the division of housing
19 and community renewal. The compensation of such members and the costs of
20 staff assistance shall be paid by the division of housing and community
21 renewal which shall be reimbursed in the manner prescribed in this
22 section [four of this act]. The local legislative body of each city
23 having a population of less than one million and each town and village
24 in which an emergency has been determined to exist as herein provided
25 shall be authorized to designate one person who shall be representative
26 of tenants and one person who shall be representative of owners of prop-
27 erty to serve at its pleasure and without compensation to advise and
28 assist the county rent guidelines board in matters affecting the adjust-
29 ment of rents for housing accommodations in such city, town or village
30 as the case may be.
31 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
32 ments to section 4 of the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen
33 seventy-four made by section one of this act shall expire on the same
34 date as such act expires and shall not affect the expiration of such act
35 as provided in section 17 of chapter 576 of the laws of 1974.
