S 1019: Establishes equitable repair and maintenance standards for mixed income residential buildings with twenty or more units to prevent the use of repair and maintenance services as a form of tenant harassment.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1019 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development AN ACT to amend the public housing law, in relation to establishing equitable repair and maintenance standards for certain buildings The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public housing law is amended by adding a new section 2 19-b to read as follows: 3 § 19-b. Equitable repair and maintenance standards for certain build- 4 ings. 1. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for 5 equitable repair and maintenance standards for mixed-use residential 6 buildings with twenty or more units which shall include, but not be 7 limited to: 8 (a) A requirement that landlords maintain a log of repair and mainte- 9 nance requests categorized by whether the unit is market-rate, subsi- 10 dized or rent-stabilized. Such log shall be made available for review by 11 the division upon request and shall detail the nature of the maintenance 12 request, the response and completion times, and the repair specifics, 13 while anonymizing tenant information. 14 (b) A requirement that landlords offer uniform service quality across 15 all units, including equal response times and comparable quality in 16 materials and appliances used for repairs. The commissioner shall 17 promulgate comprehensive standards for what constitutes standardized 18 response times and equitable repairs for the purposes of such require- 19 ments. 20 (c) A prohibition on utilizing repair and maintenance services as a 21 form of tenant harassment, and a grievance procedure for tenants to 22 report service-related issues directly to the division. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02921-01-5 
 S. 1019 2 1 (d) Penalties for non-compliance with rules and regulations promulgat- 2 ed pursuant to this section, including but not limited to fines. 3 2. The division shall have the power to conduct audits and investi- 4 gations to ensure compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated 5 pursuant to this section. 6 3. The division shall annually on or before December thirty-first, 7 publish a report on its public website which provides information on the 8 state of repair and maintenance services provided in mixed-use residen- 9 tial buildings subject to the provisions of this section. 10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 11 ing the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, 12 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces- 13 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 14 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.