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Budget, Education & City Services
Intro. No. 627 – Tenant Harassment Bill
WHEREAS, A new bill was introduced by City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Councilmembers Dan Garodnick and Melissa Mark-Viverito that creates a new harassment violation providing extra protection for tenants; and
WHEREAS, Under the current legal framework, tenants are limited in taking their landlords to Housing Court only for violations relating to the physical condition of the apartment or failures to provide essential services, like heating and hot water; and
WHEREAS, This new Tenant Harassment Bill defines the actions that qualify as harassment such as:
- using force or making threats against a lawful occupant
- repeated or prolonged interruption of essential services
- repeated frivolous court proceedings
- removing possessions of the lawful occupant
- removing the occupant's entry door, removing the lock or making it inoperable, changing the locks and not supplying the key to the new lock
- repeated acts that interfere with the lawful occupant's ability to live in comfort, peace and quiet; and
WHEREAS, The new bill states that the owner shall neither cause nor permit any harassment of tenants or lawful occupant; and
WHEREAS, Civil penalties for judicial findings of harassment range from $1,000 to $5,000; and
WHEREAS, Provisions have been made in the bill to protect the owner as well, for example:
- An owner may seek protection from frivolous harassment claims and may ask the court for an order preventing the tenant from pursuing another judicial proceeding (if the tenant has initiated more than 2 proceedings in a 10 year period)
- If the court determines that a tenant harassment claim against an owner is frivolous, the court may award attorneys fees to the owner; and
WHEREAS, 97% of housing court cases are owners pursuing tenants, thus there is little concern that this legislation will create an upsurge in frivolous lawsuits by tenants; and
WHEREAS, This legislation protects all tenants not just rent-regulated tenants (the NY State Division of Housing and Community Renewal currently calls for harassment protection against rent regulated tenants only); and
WHEREAS, This legislation is of utmost relevance in light of the current surge of high-end real estate development driving tenants of moderate and affordable housing out of our district; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five urges the New York City Council to pass this Tenant Harassment legislation and the Mayor to sign it into law.
The above resolution passed by a vote of 25 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.