[Added 11-15-2021 by L.L. No. 4-2021]
This division shall apply to all housing accommodations except:
(a)
Owner-occupied premises with less than four units.
(b)
Premises where the possession, use, or occupancy of which is solely
incident to employment and such employment is being lawfully terminated.
(c)
Premises otherwise subject to regulation of rents or evictions pursuant
to state or federal law to the extent that such state or federal law
requires good cause for termination or nonrenewal of such tenancies.
(d)
Premises sublet pursuant to § 226-b of the New York State
Real Property Law or otherwise, where the sublessor seeks in good
faith to recover possession of such housing accommodation for personal
use and occupancy.
(a)
No landlord shall remove a tenant from any housing accommodation,
or attempt such removal or exclusion from possession, notwithstanding
that the tenant has no written lease or that the lease or other rental
agreement has expired or otherwise terminated, except upon order of
a competent jurisdiction entered in an appropriate judicial action
or proceeding in which the petitioner or plaintiff has established
one of the following grounds as good cause for removal or eviction:
(1)
The tenant has failed to pay rent due and owing; provided, however,
that the rent due and owing, or any part thereof, did not result from
a rent increase or pattern of rent increases which, regardless of
the tenant's prior consent, if any, is unconscionable or imposed
for the purpose of circumventing the intent of this division. In determining
whether all or part of the rent due and owing is the result of an
unconscionable rent increase or pattern of rent increases that is
imposed for the purpose of circumventing this division, the court
may consider, among other factors:
a.
The rate of the increase relative to the tenant's ability
to afford said increase and to the relative rate of rent burden;
b.
Improvements made to the subject unit or common areas serving
said unit;
c.
Whether the increase was precipitated by the tenant engaging
in the activity described at § 223-b, Subdivision 1a through
c, of the Real Property Law;
d.
Significant market changes relevant to the subject unit;
e.
The condition of the unit or common areas serving the unit,
and it shall be a rebuttable presumption that the rent for a dwelling
is unconscionable or imposed for the purpose of circumventing the
intent of this division if said rent has been increased in any calendar
year by a percentage exceeding 5%.
(2)
The tenant is violating a legal obligation of their tenancy,
other than the obligation to surrender possession, and has failed
to cure such violation after written notice that the violation ceases
within 10 days of receipt of such written notice; provided, however,
that the obligation of tenancy for which violation is claimed was
not imposed for the purpose of circumventing the intent of this division.
(3)
The tenant is committing or permitting a nuisance in such housing
accommodation, common areas, or other areas of the property, or is
maliciously or by reason of negligence damaging the housing accommodation,
common areas, or other areas of the property; or the tenant's
conduct is such as to interfere with the comfort of the landlord or
other tenants or occupants of the same or adjacent buildings or structures,
including, but not limited to, smoking inside the residential unit
where smoking inside the residential unit has been prohibited by the
landlord and such prohibition has been communicated to the tenant,
failing to dispose of waste created by the tenant's pet(s) from
the property on which the residential unit is located in accordance
with relevant laws, repeatedly engaging in activities that cause an
unreasonable amount of noise or allowing others to do so without taking
appropriate steps to mitigate such noise, and causing the accumulation
of excessive rubbish and/or garbage in the residential unit and common
areas.
(4)
Occupancy of the housing accommodation by the tenant is in violation
of or causes a violation of law and the landlord is subject to civil
or criminal penalties therefor; provided, however, that the City of
Poughkeepsie or other qualified governmental entity has issued an
order requiring the tenant to vacate the housing accommodation. No
tenant shall be removed from the possession of a housing accommodation
on such ground unless the court finds that the cure of the violation
of law requires the removal of the tenant and that the landlord did
not, through neglect or deliberate action or failure to act, create
the condition necessitating the order to vacate. In instances where
the landlord does not undertake to cure conditions of the housing
accommodation causing such violation of the law, the tenant shall
have the right to pay or secure payment, in a manner satisfactory
to the court, to cure such violation, provided that any tenant expenditures
shall be applied against rent to which the landlord is entitled. In
instances where removal of a tenant is absolutely essential to their
health and safety, the removal of the tenant shall be without prejudice
to any leasehold interest or other right of occupancy the tenant may
have and the tenant shall be entitled to resume possession at such
time as the dangerous conditions have been removed. Nothing herein
shall abrogate or otherwise limit the right of a tenant to bring an
action for monetary damages against the landlord to compel compliance
by the landlord with all applicable laws.
(5)
The tenant is using or permitting the housing accommodation
to be used for an illegal purpose.
(6)
The tenant has unreasonably refused the landlord access to the
housing accommodation for the purpose of making necessary repairs
or improvements required by law or for the purpose of showing the
housing accommodation to a prospective purchaser, mortgagee, or other
person having a legitimate interest therein.
(7)
The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of a
housing accommodation located in a building containing fewer than
12 units because of immediate and compelling necessity for their own
personal use and occupancy as their principal residence, or the personal
use and occupancy as principal residence of their partner, spouse,
parent, child, stepchild, father-in-law or mother-in-law, when no
other suitable housing accommodation in such building is available.
This subsection shall permit recovery of only one housing accommodation
and shall not apply to a housing accommodation occupied by a tenant
who is 62 years of age or older or who is a disabled person.
(8)
The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of any
or all housing accommodations located in a building with less than
five units to personally occupy such housing accommodations as their
principal residence.
(9)
The owner-landlord has in good faith entered into a contract
for the sale of the housing accommodation and such contract requires
that the housing accommodation be transferred free and clear of any
and all residential tenancy obligations as a condition of such sale
where the owner-landlord has no shared financial or other interest
with the potential buyer other than the sale of the housing accommodation
in question and submitted sufficient proof to the court thereof.
(10)
Where the tenant has refused in bad faith to enter into a written
lease which has been offered in good faith to the tenant by the landlord,
subject to the following:
a.
The proposed written lease must have been offered to the tenant
in writing on at least two occasions at least two weeks apart, and
such written offer shall include:
1.
An original and one copy of the proposed written lease, executed
by the landlord or their designee;
2.
Notice of the landlord's intention to pursue eviction if
the tenant rejects the proposed written lease and/or does not enter
into said lease within 30 days of the initial offer and specifying
that the landlord may pursue eviction at any time between the expiration
of the 45 days and 120 days of the date of such offer;
3.
Clear instructions to the tenant concerning the manner in which
the tenant is to communicate to the landlord acceptance or rejection
of the written lease;
4.
Notice of any proposed increase in rent equal to or greater
than 5% shall be provided in compliance with Real Property Law § 226-c;
b.
The proposed written lease shall not supersede an existing,
active lease to which the landlord and the tenant are parties;
c.
The terms of the proposed written lease may not:
1.
Be unconscionable and/or mandate or prescribe activities not rationally related to the regulation of activities that would create a nuisance at the property or cause discomfort to the tenants or occupants of the same or adjacent buildings or structures, including, but not limited to activities described in Subdivision (3) of Subsection (a) above; or
2.
Substantially alter the terms any of any existing lease other
than to provide reasonable clarification of the terms and conditions
of the tenancy;
d.
The proposed written lease shall not be offered for the purposes
of circumventing this division;
e.
The tenant shall be entitled to dismissal of any eviction petition
brought for the tenant's refusal to enter into a lease according
to these terms if:
1.
The tenant consents to enter into the proposed written lease
presented in the first offer pursuant to Subsection (a)(10)a at any
time prior to the earlier of the execution of the warrant of eviction
or the good-faith execution of an enforceable lease agreement between
the landlord and a different party in an arm's-length transaction
for the premises occupied by the tenant regardless of landlord's
willingness to accept said consent at the time it is communicated;
and/or
2.
Prior to the commencement of the eviction proceeding the tenant
attempted in good faith to negotiate the terms of the proposed written
lease without substantially altering the terms of the prior lease
agreement and that the landlord refused in bad faith to engage in
such negotiation; and/or
3.
The tenant's failure to enter into the proposed written
lease was due to a good-faith failure to comprehend the terms of the
proposed written lease;
4.
The tenant is a victim of domestic violence as defined by NY
Social Service Law § 459-a and is unable to safely enter
into the proposed written lease due to good-faith concerns for the
tenant's personal safety; and/or
f.
That any proceeding for eviction pursuant to this subsection
shall have been commenced within 120 days of the proposed written
lease first having been offered to the tenant; provided, however,
the landlord may commence the process for execution of a lease pursuant
to this subdivision by submitting a new or revised lease to the tenant
that would recommence the 120-day time period for a potential eviction
action pursuant to this subdivision.
