BILL NUMBER: S952A
SPONSOR: KAVANAGH
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general obligations law, in relation to the liabil-
ity of a grantee or assignee for deposits made by tenants upon convey-
ance of rent stabilized dwelling units
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To update New York's General Obligation Law to include the protections
afforded for tenants with security deposits under the Housing Stability
and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019 for rent stabilized tenants.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends Section 7-107 of the General Obligations
Law to replicate the provisions in Section 7-108 of the General Obli-
gations Law -security deposits made by tenants of non-rent stabilized
dwelling units -into Section 7-107 of the General Obligations Law to
make the provisions applicable for rent stabilized dwelling units.
Section 2 of the bill sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019 estab-
lished new protections for tenants with Security Deposits, including
requirements that landlords return security deposits within fourteen
days from the tenant's vacatur, provide an itemized list of any damages
beyond wear and tear for which they are deducting any part of the depos-
it return, and conduct an inspection within two weeks of tenants' vaca-
tur to give tenants time to correct any damages.
However, these protections do not extend to the hundreds of thousands of
units that are rent stabilized, since the HSTPA included these
protections in a Section of the General Obligations Law (7-108) that
explicitly excludes rent stabilized dwelling units. These protections
have helped level the playing field for tenants and have eliminated long
standing abuses in the security deposit system; they should be extended
to all tenants in the State of New York.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S2088 (Kavanagh) - PASSED SENATE /A3025 (O'Donnell) - referred to
judiciary
2023: S2088 (Kavanagh)- PASSED SENATE /A3025 (O'Donnell) - referred to
judiciary
2022: S6340 (Kavanagh)- REFERRED TO JUDICIARY/ A4627 (O'Donnell) -
referred to judiciary
2021: S6340 (Kavanagh)- REFERRED TO JUDICIARY/ A4627 (O'Donnell) -
referred to judiciary
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law and shall apply to any lease or rental agreement or renewal
of a lease or rental agreement entered into on or after such date.

Statutes affected:
S952A: 7-107 general obligations law