S 127: Provides that any small property owner that owns twenty units or less shall be entitled to free legal services if such small property owner can prove a loss of at least twenty percent of rent payments in a calendar year; defines "small property owner" as any lessor in a residential real property transaction, and includes an owner of twenty units or less who lists residential real property for lease with an agent, whether or not a lease results, or who receives an offer to lease twenty units of residential real property or less.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 127 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1 AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the real property actions and proceedings law, in relation to granting legal services to small property owners The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 26-1301 of the administrative code of the city of 2 New York, as added by local law number 136 for the year 2017, is amended 3 by adding a twelfth undesignated paragraph to read as follows: 4 "Small property owner" shall mean any lessor in a residential real 5 property transaction, and includes an owner of twenty units or less who 6 lists residential real property for lease with an agent, whether or not 7 a lease results, or who receives an offer to lease twenty units of resi- 8 dential real property or less in the city of New York. 9 § 2. Section 26-1303 of the administrative code of the city of New 10 York is amended by adding a new subdivision e to read as follows: 11 e. Any small property owner shall be entitled to free legal services 12 if such small property owner can prove a loss of at least twenty percent 13 of rent payments in a calendar year. 14 § 3. The real property actions and proceedings law is amended by 15 adding a new section 703 to read as follows: 16 § 703. Small property owner; legal services. Any small property owner 17 shall be entitled to free legal services if such small property owner 18 can prove a loss of at least twenty percent of rent payments in a calen- 19 dar year. For the purposes of this section, "small property owner" 20 shall mean any lessor in a residential real property transaction, and 21 includes an owner of twenty units or less who lists residential real 22 property for lease with an agent, whether or not a lease results, or who EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00712-01-5 
 S. 127 2 1 receives an offer to lease twenty units of residential real property or 2 less. 3 § 4. The real property actions and proceedings law is amended by 4 adding a new section 770-a to read as follows: 5 § 770-a. Small property owner; legal services. Any small property 6 owner shall be entitled to free legal services if such small property 7 owner can prove a loss of at least twenty percent of rent payments in a 8 calendar year. For the purposes of this section, "small property owner" 9 shall mean any lessor in a residential real property transaction, and 10 includes an owner of twenty units or less who lists residential real 11 property for lease with an agent, whether or not a lease results, or who 12 receives an offer to lease twenty units of residential real property or 13 less. 14 § 5. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 15 have become a law.