A 7705: Relates to the de-regulation of rent-stabilized housing accommodations; eliminates rent regulation for any regulated housing accommodation that becomes vacant on or after June 16, 2026; makes exceptions.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7705 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY April 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. FITZPATRICK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing AN ACT to amend the emergency housing rent control law, the local emer- gency housing rent control act, the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the de-regulation of rent-stabilized housing accommodations upon vacancy The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (i) of subdivision 2 of section 2 of chapter 274 2 of the laws of 1946, constituting the emergency housing rent control 3 law, as amended by chapter 576 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read 4 as follows: 5 (i) housing accommodations which become vacant on and after June 6 sixteenth, two thousand twenty-six, provided, however, that this 7 exemption shall not apply or become effective where the commission 8 determines or finds that the housing accommodations became vacant 9 because the landlord or any person acting on [his] such landlord's 10 behalf, with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, engaged in any course 11 of conduct (including, but not limited to, interruption or discontin- 12 uance of essential services) which interfered with or disturbed or was 13 intended to interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace or 14 quiet of the tenant in [his] such tenant's use or occupancy of the hous- 15 ing accommodations; [and further provided that housing accommodations as 16 to which a housing emergency has been declared pursuant to the emergency 17 tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four shall be subject to the 18 provisions of such act for the duration of such emergency;] or 19 § 2. The second undesignated paragraph of subdivision 5 of section 1 20 of chapter 21 of the laws of 1962, constituting the local emergency 21 housing rent control act, as amended by chapter 82 of the laws of 2003, 22 is amended to read as follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08978-01-5 
 A. 7705 2 1 Notwithstanding any local law or ordinance, housing accommodations 2 which [became] become vacant (a) on or after July first, nineteen 3 hundred seventy-one [or which hereafter become vacant], but before June 4 sixteenth, two thousand twenty-six shall be subject to the provisions of 5 the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seventy-four, and (b) on 6 or after June sixteenth, two thousand twenty-six shall be exempt from 7 regulations and control; provided, however, that [this provision] these 8 exemptions shall not apply or become effective with respect to housing 9 accommodations which, by local law or ordinance, are made directly 10 subject to regulation and control by a city housing rent agency and such 11 agency determines or finds that the housing accommodations became vacant 12 because the landlord or any person acting on [his] such landlord's 13 behalf, with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, engaged in any course 14 of conduct (including but not limited to, interruption or discontinuance 15 of essential services) which interfered with or disturbed or was 16 intended to interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace or 17 quiet of the tenant in [his] such tenant's use or occupancy of the hous- 18 ing accommodations. The removal of any housing accommodation from regu- 19 lation and control of rents pursuant to the vacancy [exemption] 20 exemptions provided for in this paragraph shall not constitute or oper- 21 ate as a ground for the subjection to more stringent regulation and 22 control of any housing accommodation in such property or in any other 23 property owned by the same landlord, notwithstanding any prior agreement 24 to the contrary by the landlord. The vacancy exemption provided for in 25 subparagraph (a) of this paragraph shall not arise with respect to any 26 rented plot or parcel of land otherwise subject to the provisions of 27 this act, by reason of a transfer of title and possession occurring on 28 or after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-one, but before June 29 sixteenth, two thousand twenty-six, of a dwelling located on such plot 30 or parcel and owned by the tenant where such transfer of title and 31 possession is made to a member of the tenant's immediate family provided 32 that the member of the tenant's immediate family occupies the dwelling 33 with the tenant prior to the transfer of title and possession for a 34 continuous period of two years. 35 § 3. Subdivision a of section 5 of section 4 of chapter 576 of the 36 laws of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nine- 37 teen seventy-four, is amended by adding a new paragraph 3-a to read as 38 follows: 39 (3-a) housing accommodations which become vacant on or after June 40 sixteenth, two thousand twenty-six, provided, however, that this 41 exemption shall not apply to or become effective with respect to housing 42 accommodations which the commissioner determines or finds became vacant 43 because the landlord or any person acting on such landlord's behalf, 44 with intent to cause the tenant to vacate, engaged in any course of 45 conduct (including, but not limited to, interruption or discontinuance 46 of required services) which interfered with or disturbed or was intended 47 to interfere in such tenant's use or occupancy of the housing accommo- 48 dations; 49 § 4. Section 26-504 of the administrative code of the city of New York 50 is amended by adding a new subdivision d to read as follows: 51 d. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this section or title or 52 any other provisions of law, this law shall not apply to any housing 53 accommodation which becomes vacant on or after June sixteenth, two thou- 54 sand twenty-six provided, however, that this exemption shall not apply 55 to or become effective with respect to housing accommodations which the 56 commissioner determines or finds became vacant because the landlord or 
 A. 7705 3 1 any person acting on such landlord's behalf, with intent to cause the 2 tenant to vacate, engaged in any course of conduct (including but not 3 limited to, interruption or discontinuance of required services) which 4 interfered with or disturbed or was intended to interfere with or 5 disturb the comfort, repose, peace or quiet of the tenant in such 6 tenant's use or occupancy of the housing accommodations. 7 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 8 the amendments to the local emergency housing rent control act, made by 9 section two of this act, shall remain in full force and effect only so 10 long as the public emergency requiring the regulation and control of 11 residential rents and evictions continues, as provided in section 1 of 12 chapter 21 of the laws of 1962, as amended; and provided further that 13 the amendments to the rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty- 14 nine, made by section four of this act, shall expire on the same date as 15 such law expires and shall not affect the expiration of such law as 16 provided under section 26-520 of the administrative code of the city of 17 New York.