2023 New York Laws › PBS - Public Service › Article 2 - Residential Gas, Electric and Steam Utility Service › 33 - Discontinuance of Residential Utility Service to Multiple Dwellings.

§ 33. Discontinuance   of  residential  utility  service  to  multiple
dwellings. 1. Notwithstanding any other provisions  of  law,  no  public
utility company or municipality shall discontinue gas, electric or steam
service  to  an  entire  multiple  dwelling  (as defined in the multiple
dwelling law or the multiple residence law)  located  anywhere  in  this
state  for  nonpayment of bills rendered for service unless such utility
shall have given fifteen days written notice  of  its  intention  so  to
discontinue as follows:
(a)  Such  notice  shall  be  served  personally  on  the owner of the
premises  affected,  or  in  lieu  thereof,  to  the  person,  firm,  or
corporation  to  whom or which the last preceding bill has been rendered
and from whom or which the utility has received payment therefor, and to
the superintendent or other person in charge of the building or premises
affected,  if  it  can  be  readily  ascertained  that  there  is   such
superintendent or other person in charge.
(b)  In  lieu  of  personal delivery to the person or persons, firm or
corporation specified in (a) above, such  notice  may  be  mailed  in  a
postpaid  wrapper  to  the  address  of  such person or persons, firm or
corporation.
(c) In addition to the notice prescribed by paragraph (a)  or  (b)  of
this subdivision, fifteen days written notice shall be (i) posted in the
public areas of such multiple dwelling, (ii) mailed to the "Occupant" of
each  unit  in  that multiple dwelling, (iii) mailed to the local health
officer and the  director  of  the  social  services  district  for  the
political subdivision in which the multiple dwelling is located, (iv) if
the  multiple  dwelling is located in a city or a village, mailed to the
mayor thereof, or if there be none, to the manager, or, if the  multiple
dwelling  is  located in a town, then mailed to the town supervisor, (v)
mailed to the county executive of  the  county  in  which  the  multiple
dwelling  is  located, or if there be none, then to the chairman of such
county's legislative body, and (vi) mailed to the office of the New York
state  long  term  care  ombudsman,  if  the  multiple  dwelling  is   a
residential  health  care  facility  as  defined in subdivision three of
section twenty-eight hundred one of the public health law, an adult care
facility as defined in subdivision twenty-one  of  section  two  of  the
social  services  law,  or  an  assisted  living residence as defined in
subdivision one of section forty-six hundred  fifty-one  of  the  public
health  law  as  added  by chapter two of the laws of two thousand four.
Notice required by subparagraphs (iv) and (v) of this paragraph  may  be
mailed   to  the  persons  specified  therein  or  to  their  respective
designees. The  notice  required  by  this  paragraph  shall  state  the
intended  date  of  discontinuance  of  service, the amount due for such
service, and the procedure by which any tenant or public agency may make
such payment and thereby avoid discontinuance of service.
(d) The written notice required by subparagraphs (iii), (iv), (v)  and
(vi)  of  paragraph  (c)  of this subdivision shall be repeated not more
than four days nor less than two days prior to such discontinuance.
1-a. Whenever a notice of intention to discontinue utility service has
been made pursuant to the provisions of  this  section  and  obligations
owed  the  utility  or  municipality have been satisfied, the utility or
municipality shall notify, in the same manner as it gave such notice  of
intention,  the  occupant of each unit that the intention to discontinue
utility service no longer exists.
2. For the purposes of  this  section,  the  department  charged  with
enforcing  the  multiple  dwelling  law  shall prepare a schedule of all
multiple dwellings within its jurisdiction and shall provide a  copy  of
such  schedule to any gas, steam or electric corporation or municipality
subject to the provisions  of  this  section.  Such  schedule  shall  be

revised  semi-annually  and a revised copy provided to such corporation.
Every county, and every municipality to which the multiple dwelling  law
does  not  apply, which county or municipality has compiled or hereafter
may  compile a listing of all multiple dwellings within its jurisdiction
shall make such listing available without charge to any  gas,  steam  or
electric corporation providing service in such county or municipality.
3.  Any  gas,  electric  or  steam  corporation  or municipality which
willfully fails to comply with the provisions of this section  shall  be
liable  for  a  penalty of twenty-five dollars for each occupied unit of
the multiple dwelling for each day during which  service  is  unlawfully
discontinued;  provided, however, that when the only non-compliance with
this section is failure to mail notice to each "Occupant" as required by
clause (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision one above the penalty  shall
be  twenty-five  dollars for each occupied unit of the multiple dwelling
to which notice was not mailed for each  day  during  which  service  is
unlawfully  discontinued.  An  action  to  recover  a penalty under this
section may be brought by the counsel to the commission in any court  of
competent  jurisdiction  in  this state in the name of the people of the
state of New York. Any moneys recovered in such action shall be paid  to
the state treasury to the credit of the general fund.
4.  Any person who willfully interferes with the posting of the notice
specified in clause (i) of paragraph (c) of subdivision one above by any
gas, steam or electric corporation or municipality, willfully defaces or
mutilates any such notice, or willfully removes the same from the  place
where  it  is posted by such company prior to the date specified therein
for the discontinuance of service shall be guilty of  a  violation  and,
upon  conviction,  shall be punished by a fine not exceeding twenty-five
dollars.
5. The commission shall maintain rules and regulations for the payment
by tenants of utility bills for gas, electric  or  steam  service  in  a
multiple  dwelling  to which this section applies where the owner of any
such multiple dwelling, or the person, firm or corporation  to  whom  or
which  the  last  preceding bill has been rendered or from whom or which
the utility or municipality has received payment therefor, has failed to
pay such utility bills. Such rules and  regulations  shall  (a)  provide
that  utility  service  may  not  be  discontinued  to any such multiple
dwelling as long as the tenants continue  to  make  timely  payments  in
accordance  with  established  procedures; (b) include designation of an
office to advise tenants of the rights and procedures available pursuant
to such rules and regulations; (c) assure  that  tenants  shall  not  be
liable  for  bills  more than two months in arrears; and (d) require the
commission upon petition of twenty-five percent of the tenants  of  such
multiple  dwelling  to meet with representatives of such tenants and the
owner, person, firm or corporation to whom or which the  last  preceding
bill  has  been  rendered or from whom or which the utility has received
payment therefor.