BILL NUMBER: S6691A
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen seven-
ty-four and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
to rent registration statements filed by a limited liability company
 
PURPOSE:
To create greater transparency in rent registration statements filed
with the New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal (NYS
DHCR).
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 12-a of section 4 of chapter 576 of the laws
of 1974, constituting the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen
seventy-four, by adding a new subdivision b-1.
Section two establishes the effective date.
Amendment filed on 5.11 adds definition of "beneficial owner."
 
JUSTIFICATION:
To meet the affordable housing demand, the preservation of rent-stabi-
lized apartments becomes even more critical. Since the passage of 2019's
Housing Security and Tenant Protection Act, data obtained from rent
registration statements has shown thousands of apartments being kept
vacant. A May 2022 memo compiled by NYS DHCR showed 61,593 rent-stabi-
lized apartments were registered as vacant in 2021. During the prior
year, 33,667 of these units were registered as vacant. Data from the
2021 New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey found 42,860 vacant units.
Complicating efforts to determine the true number of vacant units and
determine which buildings' units are not registered is the fact that
many owners are listed as limited liability companies without naming the
principals of the company. When registrations are entered as an LLC, it
provides anonymity to landlords that intentionally withhold many units
from the market, ensuring that the registrations do not show the true
number of units they have kept vacant.
By requiring the disclosure of members of an LLC on the registration
statement filed with NYS DHCR, this bill will create more transparency
and help identify buildings engaged in systematic warehousing.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.