NY State Senate Bill 2017-S3618

Senate Bill S3618

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to providing enhanced enforcement of the warranty of habitability for housing accommodations

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to judiciary
Jan 25, 2017	referred to judiciary

co-Sponsors

2017-S3618 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6256
Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Real Property Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §235-b, RP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S5474, A6842
2015-2016: S2758, A6750
2019-2020: S4794, A6266
2021-2022: S5070, A5546
2023-2024: S6010, A2042

2017-S3618 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for enhanced enforcement of the warranty of habitability for housing accommodations; provides court may award punitive damages to a tenant upon finding the landlord's breach of warranty was intentional and malicious.

2017-S3618 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S3618

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the real property law, in relation
to enforcement of the warranty of habitability

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

The purpose of this bill is to amend the Real Property Law by granting
the courts discretion to award punitive damages in cases where the
warranty of habitability is breached intentionally or with conscious
disregard to severe risks to the life, health, or safety of the
tenant.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

This bill is to amend the Real Property Law by granting the courts
discretion to award punitive damages in cases where the warranty of
habitability is breached intentionally or with conscious. disregard to
severe risks to the life, health, or safety of the tenant.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Although the courts have awarded punitive damages for breach of the
warranty of habitability in certain egregious cases, the circumstances
in which punitive damages may be granted are defined solely with
respect to specific fact patterns addressed in existing decisional

law. Without a clear statutory mandate to award punitive damages in
egregious cases where the warranty is breached, the courts may be
reluctant to extend the application of existing case law, even in
cases where doing so may be merited for deterrence purposes.

This bill would remedy that problem by declaring that the policy of
the State of New York is to deter intentional violations of the
warranty of habitability through awards of punitive damages when
necessary. Accordingly, this bill would amend section 235-b of the
Real Property Law by adding a new subdivision to the warranty of
habitability statute. The new subdivision would grant courts the
authority to issue punitive damage awards as a matter of law in cases
where the warranty is breached intentionally or with a conscious
disregard for the life, health, or safety of the tenant. By officially
sanctioning the use of punitive damage awards as for deterrence
purposes in egregious cases, this bill enables courts to award such
damages with the imprimitur of the legislature rather than on the
solely analogical and sometimes speculative basis of existing case
law.

In doing so, this bill would both codify and expand the bases for
awards of punitive awards under existing decisional law. The cases
currently recognize intentional violations of the warranty as a basis
for punitive damages (See Minjak Co., v. Randolph, 140 A.D.2d 245; 528
N.Y.S.2d 554, 1st Dept 1988), but there is no clear basis in case law
for awarding such damages in cases where conclusive evidence of an
intentional breach is lacking, even though the landlord may have
consciously disregarded severe risk to the health and safety of the
tenants. In those cases, this bill would place such damage awards
within the sound discretion of the court and would provide a clear
articulation of the legislative purpose for authorizing such awards.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-16: S.2758/A.6750 - Referred to Judiciary
2013-14: S.5474 - Referred to Judiciary
2009-10: A.5662 - Referred to Housing
2007-08: A.9494A - Died in Rules

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS :
None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill would take effect on the ninetieth day after becoming law.

2017-S3618 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3618
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 25, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to enforcement of the
   warranty of habitability
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Legislative  findings and purpose. The legislature hereby
 finds that the rental housing market in the state of New York remains in
 a state of crisis, due not only to severe shortages in the stock of safe
 and affordable housing but also to the state  of  disrepair  and  blight
 that  afflicts rental housing opportunities available to people of lower
 incomes throughout the state. The legislature  further  finds  that  the
 warranty of habitability set forth in section 235-b of the real property
 law  represents a critical safeguard of the health and safety of tenants
 across the state of New York by requiring that all rental housing accom-
 modations be maintained  in  a  safe  and  sanitary  condition  for  the
 tenants; that enforcement efforts by the several agencies of the city of
 New  York  and the state of New York, although often successful, are not
 always sufficient to deter such breaches of the warranty by such  owners
 and  landlords,  so  that  in  spite of the protections provided by law,
 every year many tenants in the state of New  York  must  endure  housing
 conditions  that  fail to meet the basic standards of safety required by
 law. In light of the foregoing, the legislature hereby  finds  that  the
 state of New York must adopt additional measures to deter the most egre-
 gious  breaches  of  the  warranty  of habitability set forth in section
 235-b of the real property law, and that the codification of law  award-
 ing  punitive  damages to tenants who suffer intentional breaches of the
 warranty is an appropriate method to realize such a purpose. The  legis-
 lature therefore enacts the following law granting the courts discretion
 to  award  punitive  damages in cases where the warranty of habitability
 set forth in section 235-b of the real property law is  breached  inten-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD07368-01-7

 S. 3618                             2
 
 tionally  or  with  conscious  disregard  to  severe  risks to the life,
 health, or safety of the tenant.
   § 2. Section 235-b of the real property law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 4 to read as follows:
   4.  THE  COURT MAY AWARD PUNITIVE DAMAGES TO THE TENANT UPON A FINDING
 THAT THE LANDLORD'S BREACH OF THE WARRANTY SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION WAS
 INTENTIONAL AND MALICIOUS  OR  DEMONSTRATES  A  CONSCIOUS  DISREGARD  OF
 SEVERE RISKS TO THE LIFE, HEALTH, OR SAFETY OF THE TENANT.
   §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.

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Senate Bill S3618

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Sponsored By

Kevin S. Parker