The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA) is a New York state statute that introduced major changes to landlord-tenant law.[1]
History
After the 2018 elections – in which Democrats took control of the New York State Senate for the first time in a decade and just the third time in 50 years[2] – momentum began on behalf of changes to landlord-tenant law.[3][4] Eventually, a package of nine bills emerged which incorporated a large number of proposed changes.[5]
According to Sharon Otterman and Matthew Haag of The New York Times, the HSTPA "mark[s] a turning point" for the millions of New Yorkers living in rent-stabilized apartments "after a steady erosion of protections and the loss of tens of thousands of regulated apartments."[7]
Among the HSTPA's reforms are limits on security deposits to just one month's worth of rent, new protections against evictions, prohibitions on the use of tenant blacklists, the elimination of vacancy decontrol and high-income deregulation, and the closing of the owner use loophole.[7][8] The law institutes new limits on the amount spent on major capital improvements (MCIs) and individual apartment improvements (IAIs) that can be recovered through increased rent,[9][10] which tenant groups contended were subject to "routin[e] abuse" by landlords seeking to "jack up rents and push out tenants."[6] The "look back" window for rent overcharge claims was extended from four to six years.[11][12]
The HSTPA also instituted a number of new protections for residents of mobile homes.[13] Furthermore, the law permits other New York municipalities to institute their own rent regulations.[10] In addition, the HSTPA – unlike its predecessors, which had to be renewed – is permanent.[13][14]
The one major proposal which did not pass was a "good cause" eviction bill, which would have made it far more difficult for landlords to evict tenants from their apartments in the absence of misdeeds by the tenants.[8][14]
The HSTPA rent regulation laws did not expel all exit paths for buildings to remove themselves from regulation though. Building owners can still use demolition, substantial rehabilitation, conversion to and from commercial use, and economic infeasibility to continue deregulating their apartments.[15][16] If a landlord can not prove substantial rehabilitation, though, their rent histories may be seen as unreliable keeping them from moving away from regulation.[17]
Reaction
Reaction to the HSTPA was divided.[18][19] Tenant groups cheered the bill's passage.[11][19] Meanwhile, landlord groups worried that some of its provisions would undermine their ability to build and maintain apartment buildings.[18][20]
^Tobias, Jimmy (May 30, 2019). "In the Heart of Real-Estate Power, a Housing Movement Nears Victory". The Nation. Archived from the original on July 20, 2019. The push to enact new rent regulations comes at a politically fortuitous time for the tenants' movement. During the 2018 statewide elections, a slew of left-wing candidates, many of whom rejected real-estate-industry campaign contributions, swept into office and increased the influence of New York progressives just as Democrats regained control of the state Senate for the first time in a decade.
^Ferré-Sadurní, Luis (April 17, 2019). "Tenants May Get More Protections in New York City, After Decades of Battles. Here's Why". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved July 20, 2019. For years, Republicans controlled the State Senate, and stymied Democratic efforts to strengthen laws affecting about one million rent-regulated apartments in the city. But with a newfound monopoly over the state legislature and governor's mansion, Democrats have wasted little time introducing a cadre of bills aimed at protecting tenants.
