Governor Signs Tenant Protection Law

The measure signed by Governor Paterson on October 10th toughens civil penalties against landlords who violate the Division of Housing
and Community Renewal rent-regulated housing codes. The measure aims to protect tenants from being forced out of their
apartments by landlord harassment.

Full press release from the New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal follows:

Governor David A. Paterson
has signed legislation to strengthen tenant protection measures. The
changes had been proposed in a Departmental bill from the state
Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR).

Governor David A. Paterson said: "I am pleased to have worked with
the Legislature to ensure that DHCR can protect residents of rent
regulated housing."

DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen
said: "It is vital for DHCR to have the ability to impose appropriate
penalties for the most egregious violations of the rent regulation
statutes."

The new law increases the penalties against landlords who harass
tenants to cause them to vacate their apartments. The new law also
increases penalties for violating an order of the DHCR Commissioner.
Speaker Sheldon Silver carried the bill in the Assembly and Senator
Jeff Klein in the Senate.

The penalty for violating an order of the Commissioner had been
unchanged for 25 years, and the penalties for tenant harassment had not
been updated since 1997.

The measure increases the penalties for tenant harassment by owners
to $2,000 for a first offense and up to $10,000 for each subsequent
offense. Previously, the penalty for tenant harassment had been $1000
for a first offense and $5,000 for subsequent offenses.

The penalties for violating an order of the Commissioner are now
increased to $1,000 for a first offense and to $2000 for each
subsequent offense. The previous penalties were $250 for a first
offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.