2023 New York Laws › RPA - Real Property Actions and Proceedings › Article 7 - Summary Proceeding to Recover Possession of Real Property › 715-A - Grounds and Procedure for Removal of Commercial Tenants for Unlicensed Cannabis Retail Sale.

§  715-a.  Grounds and procedure for removal of commercial tenants for
unlicensed cannabis retail sale.   1. Any  duly  authorized  enforcement
agency of the state or of a subdivision thereof, under a duty to enforce
the provisions of the penal law or of any state or local law, ordinance,
code,  rule or regulation relating to buildings, or the cannabis control
board, office of cannabis management or the attorney general pursuant to
section one hundred  thirty-eight-a  of  the  cannabis  law,  may  serve
personally  upon  the  owner  or landlord of real property authorized or
otherwise intended or advertised, in whole or part, for use to buy, sell
or  otherwise  provide  goods  or  services,  or  for  other   business,
commercial,  professional  services or manufacturing activities, or upon
their agent, a written notice requiring the owner or landlord to make an
application for the removal of a commercial tenant so using or occupying
the same for a violation of article two hundred twenty-two of the  penal
law  or article six of the cannabis law involving the unlicensed sale of
cannabis or products marketed or  labeled  as  such.  If  the  owner  or
landlord  or their agent does not make such application within five days
thereafter; or, having made  it,  does  not  in  good  faith  diligently
prosecute  it,  the  enforcement  agency  giving  the notice may bring a
proceeding under this article for such removal as though the  petitioner
were  the  owner  or landlord of the premises, and shall have precedence
over any similar proceeding thereafter brought by such owner or landlord
or to one theretofore brought by them and not prosecuted diligently  and
in  good  faith.  An  enforcement  agency authorized to bring a petition
hereunder may do so on their own initiative or upon a referral  from  an
agency  of  the state or a subdivision thereof. The person in possession
of the property, as well as any lessee or sublessee  and  the  owner  or
landlord shall be made respondents in the proceeding.
2.  A  court, upon a finding of such violation may, in addition to any
other order provided by law:
(a) grant a petition pursuant to this section ordering  the  immediate
removal of such tenant;
(b)  impose  and  require  the payment by any respondent not otherwise
subject to  a  civil  penalty  under  section  sixteen  or  one  hundred
twenty-five  of  the  cannabis law, who has been found to have knowingly
permitted such a violation, a civil penalty not exceeding five times the
amount of rent charged, owed, or paid, as  the  case  may  be,  for  the
duration  of  the  violation,  which may be calculated from the date the
owner or landlord respondent received notice of  the  violation  to  the
date  the unlicensed activity is abated, for which a respondent shall be
required to provide sufficient proof thereof, including but not  limited
to  a  sworn  statement by a local law enforcement or other governmental
entity that the unlicensed activity has been abated; provided,  however,
that  in  a city with a population of over one million the civil penalty
shall be fifty thousand dollars. The landlord or  property  owner  shall
also provide a copy of any executed lease with such tenant;
(c)  order  the  payment of reasonable attorneys fees and the costs of
the proceeding to the petitioner; and
(d) order that any such multiple  respondents  shall  be  jointly  and
severally liable for any payment so ordered under this subdivision.
3. For the purposes of a proceeding under this section, an enforcement
agency  of  the  state or of a subdivision thereof, which may commence a
proceeding under this section,  may  subpoena  witnesses,  compel  their
attendance,  examine  them  under  oath before themselves or a court and
require that  any  books,  records,  documents  or  papers  relevant  or
material  to  the  inquiry  be  turned  over  to  them  for  inspection,
examination or audit, pursuant to the civil practice law and rules.
4. The use or occupancy of premises customarily or habitually for  the
unlicensed  retail  sale  of cannabis or products marketed or labeled as
such shall constitute an illegal trade, manufacture, or  other  business
for  the purposes of section two hundred thirty-one of the real property
law.