New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle S - Division of Housing and Community Renewal › Chapter VIII - Rent Stabilization Regulations › Subchapter B - Rent Stabilization Code › Part 2520 - Scope › Section 2520.11 - Applicability

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
This Code shall apply to all or any class or classes of
						housing accommodations made subject to regulation pursuant to the RSL or any
						other provision of law, except the following housing accommodations for so long
						as they maintain the status indicated below:
(a) housing accommodations subject to the
					 City Rent Law;
(b) housing
					 accommodations owned, operated or leased by the United States, the State of New
					 York, any political subdivision, agency or instrumentality thereof, any
					 municipality or any public housing authority;
(c) housing accommodations for which rentals
					 are fixed by the DHCR, HPD, New York City Housing Development Corporation, New
					 York State Housing Finance Agency or other governmental agencies or public
					 benefit corporations of the City or State unless, after the establishment of
					 initial rents, the housing accommodations are made subject to the RSL pursuant
					 to such applicable law or agreement, or housing accommodations subject to the
					 supervision of the DHCR or HPD or other governmental agencies or public benefit
					 corporations or under other provisions of law or the New York State Urban
					 Development Corporation, or buildings aided by government insurance under any
					 provision of the National Housing Act to the extent the RSL or any regulation
					 or order issued thereunder is inconsistent with such act. However, housing
					 accommodations in buildings completed or substantially rehabilitated prior to
					 January 1, 1974, and whose rentals were previously regulated under the PHFL or
					 any other State or Federal law, other than the RSL or the City Rent Law, shall
					 become subject to the ETP A, the RSL and this Code, upon the termination of
					 such regulation;
(d) buildings
					 containing fewer than six housing accommodations on the date the building first
					 became subject to the RSL, unless such buildings are otherwise subject to this
					 Code pursuant to the RSL or other statutes and regulations; for the purposes of
					 this subdivision, a building shall be deemed to contain six or more housing
					 accommodations if it was part of a multiple family garden-type maisonette
					 dwelling complex containing six or more housing accommodations having common
					 facilities such as a sewer line, water main or heating plant and was operated
					 as a unit under common ownership on the date the building or complex first
					 became subject to the RSL, notwithstanding that Certificates of Occupancy were
					 issued for portions thereof as one- or two-family dwellings;
(e) housing accommodations in buildings
					 completed or buildings substantially rehabilitated as family units on or after
					 January 1, 1974, except such buildings which are made subject to this Code by
					 provision of the RSL or any other statute that meet the following criteria,
					 which, at the DHCR's discretion, may be effectuated by operational bulletin:
(1) a specified percentage of at least 75
					 percent, of listed building-wide and individual housing accommodation systems,
					 must have been replaced;
(2) the
					 rehabilitation must have been commenced in a building that was in a substandard
					 or seriously deteriorated condition. Space converted from nonresidential use to
					 residential use shall not be required to have been in substandard or seriously
					 deteriorated condition for there to be a finding that the building has been
					 substantially rehabilitated;
(3)
					 the DHCR will not find the building to have been in a substandard or seriously
					 deteriorated condition where it can be established that the owner has attempted
					 to secure a vacancy by an act of arson resulting in criminal conviction of the
					 owner or the owner's agent, or there has been a finding of harassment by the
					 DHCR or other governmental entity as defined pursuant to any applicable rent
					 regulatory law, code or regulation. I f there has been a finding of harassment
					 by a governmental entity other than the DHCR, that finding shall be considered
					 to be in force for three years from the date the finding was made, unless proof
					 of its being lifted is provided or otherwise obtained;
(4) in order for there to be a finding of
					 substantial rehabilitation, all building systems must comply with all
					 applicable building codes and requirements, and the owner must submit copies of
					 the building's certificate of occupancy, if such certificate is required by
					 law, before and after the rehabilitation;
(5) occupied rent regulated housing
					 accommodations shall remain rent regulated until vacated, notwithstanding a
					 finding that the remainder of the building has been substantially
					 rehabilitated, and therefore qualifies for exemption from regulation;
(6) where, because of the existence of
					 hazardous conditions in his or her housing accommodation, a tenant has been
					 ordered by a governmental agency to vacate such housing accommodation, and the
					 tenant has received a court order or an order of the DHCR that provides for
					 payment by the tenant of a nominal rental amount while the vacate order is in
					 effect, and permits the tenant to resume occupancy without interruption of the
					 rent stabilized status of the housing accommodation upon restoration of the
					 housing accommodation to a habitable condition, such housing accommodation will
					 be excepted from any finding of substantial rehabilitation otherwise applicable
					 to the building. However, the exemption from rent regulation based upon
					 substantial rehabilitation will apply to a housing accommodation that is
					 subject to a right of re-occupancy, if the returning tenant subsequently
					 vacates, or if the tenant who is entitled to return pursuant to court or DHCR
					 order chooses not to do so and expresses such intent not to return in writing.
					 The DHCR may waive the requirement that the tenant expresses a desire not to
					 return in writing at its discretion if the owner demonstrates that the tenant
					 could not be found after the owner undertook a good faith effort to locate and
					 contact them, and the tenant has failed to make the nominal rent payment for a
					 period of at least six months;
(7)
					 when an accommodation has been rendered uninhabitable and the tenant has
					 received an order as described in paragraph (6) of this subdivision, the owner
					 will restore the building to a layout that is substantially similar to the
					 building layout prior to the building being rendered uninhabitable, unless the
					 owner can demonstrate that doing so would be financially infeasible. If the
					 owner does not restore the building to a layout that is substantially similar,
					 tenants with orders described in paragraph (6) of this subdivision may, at
					 their discretion, either accept a demolition stipend of an amount determined
					 pursuant to Rent Stabilization Code Section 2524.5 (a)(2)(ii)(b)(3) or begin a
					 rent stabilized tenancy in a re-configured accommodation. In the event a tenant
					 elects to move into a re-configured accommodation, the rent may be determined
					 based on local comparable stabilized rents;
(8) an owner may apply to the DHCR for an
					 advisory prior opinion that the building will qualify for exemption from rent
					 regulation on the basis of substantial rehabilitation, based upon the owner's
					 rehabilitation plan;
(9) specified
					 documentation will be required from an owner in support of a claim of
					 substantial rehabilitation;
(10)
					 the Applicant's lack of evidence for any reason, including passage of time,
					 does not excuse the Applicant's obligation to substantiate the application as
					 required by this section and any related operational bulletins.