A 8454: Requires a notice informing tenants of their rights to be provided to tenants at the time they execute a residential lease and to be posted in certain buildings.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8454 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY May 16, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to creating the tenants' bill of rights The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "tenants' 2 bill of rights". 3 § 2. The real property law is amended by adding a new section 230-a to 4 read as follows: 5 § 230-a. Tenants' bill of rights. 1. Any tenant who occupies a rental 6 property as their primary residence shall have the following rights: 7 (a) the right to premises that are fit for human habitation as 8 provided by the warranty of habitability provided by section two hundred 9 thirty-five-b of this article; 10 (b) the right to form, join or participate in tenants' groups as 11 provided in section two hundred thirty of this article; 12 (c) the right to be evicted only for good cause as provided in section 13 two hundred thirty-one-c of this article; 14 (d) the right to be free from retaliation by landlord against the 15 tenant as provided in section two hundred twenty-three-b of this arti- 16 cle; 17 (e) the right to sublease or assign the tenant's rights to the unit in 18 accordance with the provisions of section two hundred twenty-six-b of 19 this article; 20 (f) the right to notice of rent increase or non-renewal of the resi- 21 dential tenancy as provided in section two hundred twenty-six-c of this 22 article; 23 (g) the right to terminate the lease in accordance with the provisions 24 of section two hundred twenty-seven-a, two hundred twenty-seven-b or two 25 hundred twenty-seven-c of this article; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13051-01-5 
 A. 8454 2 1 (h) the right to terminate the tenancy as provided in section two 2 hundred thirty-two-a or two hundred thirty-two-b of this article; 3 (i) the right to offset payments made to a utility company against the 4 rent due as provided in section two hundred thirty-five-a of this arti- 5 cle; 6 (j) the right to receive a receipt for the payment of rent as provided 7 in section two hundred thirty-five-a of this article; 8 (k) the right not to utilize an electronic billing and/or payment 9 system as the only method for the payment of rent as provided in section 10 two hundred thirty-five-g of this article; and 11 (l) the rights pertaining to security depositor advance payment of 12 rent as provided in section 7-103, 7-105, 7-107 and/or 7-108 of the 13 general obligations law. 14 2. Subject to the provisions of subdivision three of this section, 15 each landlord renting a residential unit in this state shall: 16 (a) attach a copy of the tenants' bill of rights to each written lease 17 and provide the same to the tenant with the executed lease; 18 (b) provide a copy of the tenants' bill of rights to each tenant 19 entering into an oral lease at the time the tenant agrees to the lease; 20 and 21 (c) for units containing more than six rental units, affix a notice to 22 tenants of the rights described in this section to the front entrance to 23 the rental premises or elsewhere in the building in a location readily 24 available to the tenants. 25 3. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subdivision, the 26 provisions of this section apply to written and/or oral leases for resi- 27 dential property, including leases for subsidized, rent-regulated or 28 rent stabilized units. 29 (b) The following properties are exempt from the provisions of this 30 section: 31 (i) units in owner occupied buildings with six or fewer units; 32 (ii) units in hotels, motels, rooming houses, unless rent is paid on a 33 monthly basis and such unit is occupied for more than thirty-two days; 34 (iii) school dormitory rooms; 35 (iv) shelters; 36 (v) employees' quarters; 37 (vi) non-residential rental properties; and 38 (vii) owner-occupied co-ops and condominiums. 39 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 40 have become a law.