Rockland County Water Testing Law Upheld

Landlord asked the court to declare that Rockland County Local Law No. 1 of 2005 was unconstitutional, invalid, and unenforceable. The law requires landlords and sellers of any residential property served by a private water system within the county to have the water system tested and certified to ensure compliance with water-quality standards. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and lost. Contrary to landlord's claims, Real Property Law Article 12-A, which regulates activities of real estate brokers to prevent fraud, didn't represent a state law that already covered this area. Nor did Real Property Law Article 14, which regulates disclosure of information pertaining to sales of homes. Local Law No. 1 was enacted to regulate and minimize the contamination of private water systems. The county has a reasonable, legitimate interest in doing this, and the law is constitutional.

DiFrancesco v. County of Rockland: NYLJ, 6/25/07, p. 37, col. 5 (App. Div.2 Dept.; Schmidt, JP, Rivera, Angiolillo, Balkin, JJ)