[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Buffalo 11-25-2008, effective 12-12-2008. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
A special proceeding to evict a tenant from leased premises
may be maintained upon the ground that the premises, or any part thereof,
have been used or occupied for the purpose of using or possessing
illegal drugs. For purposes of this section, the term "tenant," in
addition to its ordinary meaning, shall include an occupant of one
or more rooms in a rooming house or a resident, not including a transient
occupant, of one or more rooms in a hotel who has been in possession
for 30 consecutive days or longer.
The procedures applicable to summary proceedings to recover
possession of real property under state law shall be applicable to
any proceeding brought under this chapter.
A.
The following persons, corporations and agencies may serve personally
upon the owner or landlord, or upon his agent, of demised real property
used or occupied, in whole or in part, for the use or possession of
illegal drugs a written notice requiring the owner or landlord to
make an application for the removal of the person(s) so using or occupying
the premises:
(1)
Any domestic corporation organized for the suppression of vice, subject
to or which submits to visitation by the State Department of Social
Services or the County Department of Social Services and possesses
a certificate from such department of such fact and of conformity
with regulations of the department.
(2)
Any duly authorized enforcement agency of the state, or of a subdivision
thereof, under a duty to enforce the provisions of the Penal Law or
of any state or local law, ordinance, code, rule or regulation relating
to buildings.
B.
If the owner or landlord, or his agent, does not make such application
within five days thereafter or, having made it, does not in good faith
diligently prosecute it, the person, corporation or enforcement agency
giving notice may bring a proceeding under this chapter for such removal
as though the petitioner were the owner or landlord of the premises,
and shall have precedence over any similar proceeding thereafter brought
by such owner or landlord or to one theretofore brought by him and
not prosecuted diligently and in good faith. Proof of the ill repute
of the demised premises or of the occupants thereof or of those resorting
thereto shall constitute presumptive evidence of the unlawful use
of the demised premises required to be stated in the petition for
removal. Both the person(s) in possession of the property and the
owner or landlord shall be made respondents in the proceeding.
Two or more convictions of any person or persons had, within
a period of one year, for any of the offenses defined in Article 220
or 221 of the Penal Law, arising out of conduct engaged in at the
same real property consisting of a dwelling as that term is defined
in Subdivision 4 of the Multiple Dwelling Law shall be presumptive
evidence of conduct constituting use and occupancy of the premises
for the purpose of using and possessing illegal drugs and of the tenant
knowledge thereof.
A court granting a petition pursuant to this section may, in
addition to any other order provided by law, make an order imposing
and requiring the payment by the respondent of a civil penalty not
exceeding $5,000 to the municipality in which the subject premises
is located and the payment of reasonable attorneys' fees and
the costs of the proceeding to the petitioner. In any such case, multiple
respondents shall be jointly and severally liable for any payment
so ordered, and the amounts of such payments shall constitute a lien
upon the subject real property.
