Governor Approves Legislative Amendments to Rent Regulatory Law with Proviso

On Dec. 22, 2023, NYS Governor Hochul signed into law State Senate Bill 2980-C, the long-awaited amendments to the the Rental Stabilization Law, ETPA, and rent control laws. As pointed out in in her "Approval Memorandum," filed with the enacted rent regulation laws, S. 2980-C includes provisions: (a) establishing legal regulated rents for newly created apartments; (b) amending ETPA concerning exemptions from rent stabilization due to substantial rehabilitation; (c) defining clearly the fraud exception to the pre-HSTPA four-year lookback period for calculating rents; and (d) amending the rent laws in connection with failure by owners to file rent registration statements.

The governor approved S. 2980-C on condition, and with agreement by the State Legislature, that certain changes be added in a "Chapter Amendments" bill that is presently pending in the Legislature. The Chapter Amendments are expected to cover: (a) procedures for calculating legal rents in combined or altered apartments; (b) the definition of "permanently vacated" for purposes of a relative's succession rights; (c) the repeal of regulations that have been superseded by HSTPA; (d) a process for the DHCR to approve building deregulation due to substantial rehabilitation; (e) the standards for determining whether a landlord has engaged in a fraudulent scheme to deregulate a rent-stabilized unit (if there are penalties for late registration of rent-stabilized units); and (g) the DHCR's authority to enforce the rent stabilization laws.

Memorandum Filed by NY Governor Hochul with State Senate Bill 2980-C (Approval #82, Ch. #760; 12/22/23)[1-pg. document]