State Lawmakers Attempt To Quietly Pass Destructive Housing Bills

The bills would retroactively change settled law and expose affordable housing providers to millions of dollars of liability in overcharges, penalize housing providers for actions on the buildings before they were purchased, drive down investment in affordable housing, further increase scarcity of affordable housing and deter participation in government housing subsidy programs.

(New York, NY) — After failing to pass any legislation that would create affordable housing or advance meaningful tenant protections, the housing chairs of the State Legislature are attempting to sneak through destructive and unconstitutional bills designed solely to allow a small cottage industry of tenant attorneys to bring lawsuits that will bankrupt rent stabilized buildings.

The bills, S2980c/A6216b and S2943/A4047 would hold current housing providers liable for actions that occurred dating back to 1986, when apartment registrations were first required to be filed with DHCR. Worse, these bills attempt to circumvent two Court of Appeals rulings that struck down the retroactive application of HSTPA and held that any laws increasing liability for past actions or changing statutes of limitations were unconstitutional.

“These bills were written by lawyers to drum up more business for themselves at the expense of both renters and their housing providers,” Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) Executive Director Jay Martin said. “We have a housing supply crisis and the respective housing chairs are advancing a bill that would drive up scarcity. If renters want to know who is most responsible for high rents in this city, it is the housing chairs in the Senate and Assembly.”

These bills would make a housing provider who purchased a building five years ago liable for a mistaken registration from twenty years ago, which will deter investment in rent-stabilized buildings. It will also drive away future investment in affordable housing, as the state legislature continues to show they are more interested in being retroactively punitive than proactively advancing pro-housing solutions.

Regina Metropolitan v. DHCR, and Casey v. Whitehouse Estates are the Court of Appeals rulings the bill is attempting to circumvent. Regina rightfully determined that the HSTPA cannot be applied retroactively without violating the constitution. Secondarily, Regina also held that attempts to label inaccurate apartment registrations during J-51 uncertainty as fraudulent activity in order to pierce the statute of limitations was improper. Casey was decided three years after and reaffirmed the holding in Regina, unanimously.

For decades, the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) told property owners that apartments receiving J-51 tax abatements could be deregulated, until 2009 when the Court of Appeals overruled that guidance. However, the proper way to re-register units was not decided until 2020 in Regina, which was affirmed again by Casey. This bill attempts to undo those court decisions and place additional liability on housing providers who were caught up in the J-51 confusion.

“These bills are about punishing property owners. Plain and simple. The changes in the rent laws in 2019 were about deterring future fraud, not creating a scheme where owners are guilty until proven innocent,” Martin said. “In most of these buildings, DHCR expressly instructed property owners that they no longer needed paperwork that they would now be required to provide under this bill.”

CHIP believes these bills are unconstitutional and we urge the state legislature to reject them. If they do not, we implore Governor Hochul to veto them. And if necessary, we will rigorously challenge them in the courts.

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If you want to help in our efforts to block this bill from passage, we encourage you to call the members of the State Senate listed below and tell them: “Please inform Senate Leadership that you oppose S2980c/A6216b and do not vote for this destructive and unconstitutional bill.

Senator Joe Addabbo: (518) 455–2322

Senator Jamal Bailey: (518) 455–2061

Senator Iwen Chu: (518) 455–3401

Senator Leroy Comrie: (518) 455–2701

Senator Jeremy Cooney: (518) 455–2909

Senator Nathalie Fernandez: (518) 455–3595

Senator Andrew Gounardes: (518) 455–3270

Senator Peter Harckham: (518) 455–2340

Senator Michelle Hinchey: (518) 455–2350

Senator Tim Kennedy: (518) 455–2426

Senator John Mannion: (518) 455–3511

Senator Monica Martinez: (518) 455–2765

Senator Kevin Parker: (518) 455–2580

Senator Roxanne Persaud: (518) 455–2788

Senator Sean Ryan: (518) 455–3240

Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton: (518) 455–2437

Senator Luis Sepulveda: (518) 455–2511

Senator Kevin Thomas: (518) 455–3260